ITHACA, NY - A Cornell
University scientist is playing a
key role in shaping national policy
on ways to protect the public and
the environment from potential
dangers of genetically engineered
microorganisms created by the
biotechnology industry.
Martin Alexander, a soil
microbiologist and microbial
ecologist, headed the 10-merhber
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency study group that recom
mends stepped-up research to
develop safeguards against such
organisms that could find their
way into the environment on a
large scale. The groups report
was issued Jan. 30.
“I know of no major technology
that has not had some deleterious
effect,” declares Alexander, who
teaches in the New York State
College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences at Cornell.
Risks are small when a few
genetically manipulated species
find their way into the en
vironment, but the likelihood of
harm increases greatly when a
large number of different kinds of
these organisms are released,
Alexander argues. The rapidly
growing biotechnology industry is
expected to come up with many
different strains of organisms for
agriculture and pollution control,
for example.
For Alexander, though, the
question is whether such exotic
creatures not only will be
beneficial, as promised, but also do
some harm.
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Cornell soil expert heads biotechnology study group
EPA’s Biotechnology Research
and Information Needs” the
national panel strongly recom
mends that EPA develop scientific
tests for evaluating the survival,
multiplication, dispersal, and
possible harmful effects of
genetically engineered organisms.
EPA says it will spend $5.5
million in 1986 to determine the
risks from products created
through gene-splicing techniques.
The agency’s science advisory
board, in the report prepared by
the panel on biotechnology, says a
“broader” effort is needed.
Such research is essential for the
agency to gain the scientific
knowledge to determine, or even
predict, the potential risks of those
organisms before such
microorganisms find their way
ANNAPOLIS - A six member
Maryland trade team is in Europe
this week visiting tobacco
manufacturers in an effort to
stimulate sales of Maryland Type
-32 leaf in advance of the. 1986
market season.
Led by Ernest C. Shea, Assistant
Secretary of Agriculture at the
Maryland Department of
Agriculture (MDA), the group will
visit 24 companies in Switzerland,
Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany
and the Netherlands in an effort to
strengthen and rekindle interest in
tobacco from Southern Maryland.
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into the environment on a large
scale, Alexander emphasizes.
“There is always a possibility of
a problem,” Alexander says.
“Until you have had extensive
experience with a particular
technology, you don’t know the
probability of danger It’s like
writing an insurance policy before
an accident occurs.”
In the case of microorganisms
created through recombinant DNA
techniques, a system to assess the
potential risks involved before new
strains of such organisms cause
any problem is a must, he stresses.
In urging EPA to develop a
reliable risk assessment system,
the study group recommends that
the agency focus its efforts on
several key scientific questions.
These include the ability of a
Accompanying Mr. Shea on the
mission are: Bradley H. Powers,
Chief of the Marketing Services
Section, MDA; Dr. Gaude G.
McKee of the University of
Maryland and a member of the
Maryland State Tobacco
Authority; Edward Gieske,
President of the Maryland
Tobacco Improvement Foun
dation; Roland E. Darcey of Upper
Marlboro, a tobacco grower and a
member of the Governor’s Export
Trade Council; and Gary Hodge,
Executive Secretary of the Tri-
County Council of Southern
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genetically altered organism to
survive, to grow, to multiply, to
transfer its genetic material to
other naturally occurring
organisms, and to spread from the
site of the initial release.
In addition, the research effort
should be directed toward
developing means of determining
the effects of such an organism on
the environment as well as the
organism’s capacity to cause
disease.
The panel also recommends that
EPA coordinate its efforts with
other federal regulatory agencies,
such as the Food and Drug Ad
ministration, the National In
stitutes of Health, and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, in
establishing a comprehensive risk
assessment system to prevent
Maryland.
According to Mr. Shea, “The
mission was conceived by
Maryland Secretary of
Agriculture, Wayne A. Cawley, Jr.
over the past several years as a
result of his listening to Southern
Maryland farmers’ concerns over
the future of their number one
crop. Sales to Western Europe
dropped from almost six million
pounds in 1981 to two and one-half
million pounds in 1984.
“We want to talk directly with
our traditional European
customers on their turf to learn
what we can do to retain and,
hopefully, expand our sales to
them. Over the years, there have
been concerns over price, quality
and numerous other factors m the
international tobacco trade and we
want to listen to their side of the
story.
The effort being made this week
on behalf of Maryland tobacco is
part of Governor Hughes’ “In
ternational Trade Initiatives”
announced last year.
The overall export promotion
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communicable diseases caused by
genetically altered organisms.
Another Cornellian, Ralph
Hardy, a visiting professor of life
sciences and president of
BioTechnica International, a
biotechnology firm in
Massachusetts, was a member of
the study group. Other members
were; Ralph Baker, Colorado State
University; Rita Colwell,
University of Maryland; Stanley
Falkow, Stanford University
Medical School; Don Kaplan, Dow
Chemical Corp.; Francis Macrina,
Virginia Commonwealth
University; James Moulder,
University of Chicago; Gil Omenn,
University of Washington; and
Robert P. Williams, Baylor
College of Medicine.
program which, for agriculture,
emphasizes value-added products
(such as processed foods) as well
as raw agricultural products (such
as grain and tobacco), has been a
continuing effort in Maryland
since the inception of the Depart
ment of Agriculture in 1973.
Members of the Department’s
Marketing Services staff par
ticipate in food and agricultural
trade shows throughout the world
to familiarize foreign customers
with local products. In addition to a
new export exhibit to be used at
shows, the Marketing Office is
currently updating its Export
Directory, researching new
markets for Maryland products,
developing bi-lingual brochures
about specific commodities and
advertising Maryland com
modities overseas.
The most immediate project now
underway, the tobacco trade
mission, will culminate with
business meetings in Amsterdam
and, finally, return of the team to
Maryland on February 27.
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