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From Cindy Frye.  Cindy Frye is our "food scientist expert" for the
Houston chapter. Her first degree was in Food Science. Some of you know
her.  jyr

Janet,

I believe that Celiac Organizations need to take a strong stand against
genetically engineered foods.  I speak from a position of knowledge.  I work
daily with molecular biology techniques in my job as a medical research lab
manager and as a Masters Degree candidate in Cell Biology.  The scientific
community simply does not know enough about the implications of genetically
altering the genes of plants,animals and especially humans.  Companies like
Monsanto stand to make a great deal of money from "products" they sell that
are genetically engineered and will seek that profit even if it is not done
ethically and if the products are marketed prematurely without extensive
testing.

It has been shown that the inserted DNA from a food plant can cross
pollinate and affect native plants.  Pest resistance genetically engineered
into food plants is  believed to not only kill pest insects but is harming
beneficial insects such as pollinating butterflies.  For these reasons there
are many in the organic foods arena that are calling for a stop to genetic
engineering of plants.  As Celiacs we have an even greater concern if the
genetic engineering confers the DNA sequence for the offending proteins to
even more plants than we currently must contend with.

We need to take a united stand that at the very least there should be clear,
concise and visible labeling of genetically engineered foods and preferably
a ban all together.

I could go on and make a long list of reasons why  we should not endorse
genetic engineering at this time and give references of researchers that
agree that we simply don't know enough.  Just this week Nature published an
article by Ian Wilmut's group, they cloned the sheep, Dolly, and it
reiterates the same message. We still don't know enough.  Apparrently
Dolly's cells are "old" having very short telomeres for an animal of her
age.  This was not a totally unexpected outcome.  It shows that while we
have technologies that make genetic engineering possible we still have alot
to learn about how to use the technology and it is premature to use it to
effect changes in our food and especially our bodies.  We simply cannot
anticipate all of the consequences of the changes in the genetic code that
we are making because there is still too much that we have not figured out
yet!

Again, as a group Celiacs need to make a statement against genetic
engineering. We  would probably be more effective in our message if we could
organize with other groups who could be likewise affected, such as those
with food allergies.  There is also a large lobby against genetic
engineering within the organic foods community.

Janet, feel free to forward my comments on to those who might be interested.

Thank you,
Cindy Frye

Janet in Houston
Celiacs Helping Celiacs
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