The GM Food Debate: Is Science Going Too Far?
By FRANCIS ODUPUTE – Indeed the future is here, and its both amazing and terrifying altogether. Have you heard? Very soon, women all over the world may not need to breastfeed their newborn babies with human milks from their own breasts. Even men who used to “loan” their wives’ breasts to their new burns and infants for say, one year of exclusive “baby friendly” before they come back to continue ravishing their wives breasts will not need to wait for all that hell of a time to get human break milk to feed on. Have I got news for you? The cows will provide enough human breast milk for men to drink and for newborn babies to such for good knows how long.
An earlier warning to those of you tradition lists and pan African culture advocates who complain that our youths nowadays behave very much like cows because they were fed with more cow milk rather than with human milk from their mother breasts you haven’t seen nothing yet. In few years from now cows will take over production of “human milk” from women so that they can go ahead to “re-youth” their breasts and keep them from sagging even when they turn 90 years of age.
As the saying goes, “science is discovery”, and as you read this now, scientists in China have discovered how we can forget the natural order set by God Almighty for the production of human breast milk, for a more productive and faster approach so as to feed a famished and hungry global population, without regards to ethics or rationality.
On Monday June 6, 2011, I read on the internet that “Chinese GM cows make Human Break Milk”. At first I thought it was one of those sensational gimmicks and mischievousness of my colleagues in the pen profession to attract readers. But after perusing the report, it dawned on me that the end of the world is indeed closer than I thought or imagined hitherto.
Now, the full gist is that an online news report by Holly Williams, Beijing correspondent of Sky News, has it that “Chinese scientists have genetically modified dairy cows to produce human breast milk, and hope to be selling it in supermarkets within three years”.
According to Holly Williams, the milk produced by the transgenic cows is identical to the human variety and has the same immune boosting and antibacterial qualities as break milk, scientists at China’s Agricultural University in Beijing say. The transgenic herd of 300 was bred by inserting human genes into cloned cow embryos which were them implanted into surrogate cows. The technology was similar to that used to produce Dolly the sheep, Williams reported. He said the milk is still undergoing safety tests but with government permission it will be sold to consumers as a more nutritious dairy drink than cows milk. “Workers at the University’s dairy farm have already tasted the milk, and say it is sweeter and stronger than the usual bovine variety,” he wrote.
First of all, I am an Artist, not a scientist, so I must salute such great feat in human creativity, imagination and innovation. I cannot question such grand scientific breakthrough by a team of scientists who have proved their mettle globally. Yet, I’m afraid I have my fears and want to question the real underlying motive for these counter – cultural new frontiers in science and technology especially if my understanding of the sanctity and sacredness of the human life is anything to go by.
I think Professor Li Ning, director of the research project, needs to really be patient enough with “doubting Thomas’s” like me (if that’s what my fears have made of me!) and explain to the world somewhat more on why cows should produce human breast milk for human beings to consume, all because we doubt that we will get enough human breast milk to drink.
I remember that the first reactions and criticisms that followed that report were that “Is this right? Is this ethical? Is this normal and needful?” and other similar questions. But that is not the business of Prof. Ning. He doesn’t care what novices like me feel about cows producing human breast milk for me and others around the world to eat. Rather, what Prof. Ning said was that.
“There are 1.5 billion people in the world who don’t get enough to eat. It’s our duty to develop science and technology not to hold it back. We need to feed people first, before we consider ideals and convictions”.
While I totally agree with Prof. Ning on the point of us developing science and technology without holding back, I disagree sharply with him that feeding people was primary to considering ideals. Haba! Even a blind man knows when the sun is shining and when it’s raining. I don’t believe that a “good motive” is an excuse for “wrong actions”. Prof. Ning’s statement, no matter how informed it seems, is to me a negation of the truth within the context of human life and its importance, sanctity and supremacy to animal or plant lives, etc.
Granted that the ultimate goal of the “transgenic cows” is to sell the milk as an alternative to cow milk, which is less nutritious than human milk, and like those who have tasted the milk say, tastes stronger and sweeter than cow’s milk, one questions the perpetual safety of this modification to human health, psycho motive and Intelligence quittance (I.Q), and it long term effect on the human environment, etc.
No doubt China is living up to the challenge that “if nobody has ever attempted it, go do it”, Genetically engineered food is becoming more and more associated with the emerging world power with the world’s highest population. China is famous for having a more liberal approach toward genetically modified (GM) food. In contrast with Europe, China has enthusiastically embraced genetically modified food. The country has already created modified fruits and vegetables such as papayas potatoes and tomatoes, as well as GM cooking oil; insect resistant rice and corn modified to help pigs absorb more nutrients were both recently approved by the government.
The questions begging for answers now are as this culture of genetically modified food gradually spread across the globe, what are its unreported implications, especially to underdeveloped and developing economies of the world like my country, Nigeria? How safe are we really? How safe is our agriculture and our lands? Are GM good really good and better than naturally grown goods as we are now made to believe and imbibe? And talking of the global population problem, do we really need to modify cows in other to address the demographic dilemma?
What if we left the foods in their natural order and seek better ways to address the hunger issue? What if we tell ourselves the gospel truth that God has given humanity enough food to go round even in our present demographic state, but that many people are hungry everywhere, not really because there is no food but because the wealthy ones amongst us have it all and are just unwilling to let go of some of their profits and or loots to enable the abundant to natural resources be distributed fairly and equitably? How many hundreds of thousands of empty vast lands do we have in Sub-Saharan Africa alone that are begging to be farmed for us to have more food to eat? But our rulers and their allies across the world keep raping our lands, stealing our commonwealth and caring less for the citizenries across Africa Nigeria being the chief culprit!
More questions: what about the “animal rights” of these cows to good health that you and I badly need in or not to contract diseases from eating them? Did our Chinese scientists consider that the inhumane process may lead to some kind of defects and ill-health for the GM animals as well as painful pregnancies and births for the surrogated mothers, due to some chemical reactions that are at variance with the natural order the animals are created?
If I remember my Biology lessons very (in my secondary school days) and my Agric. Lessons too, cars produce milk to feed their young with so do humans and not the other way round methinks science is gradually going loco in our digital age, and China should watch it. The global community must rethink the boundaries between science and non-sense, especially when it seems that willingly, in the name of innovation and more money, we are eroding nature and compromising so many things that are central to human life and dignity.
As someone rightly argued, “nature has proven itself more than capable of getting things right with species, man is simply arrogant to think he can do better”. Take it or leave it, it seems there is more to this GM food saga than truly meats the eyes which needs more investigations and reporting, especially in Africa, before we annihilate ourselves and our off springs because of greed and a mad rush to destroy mother earth in the guise of science and technology. If care is not taken, one day soon, cows will donate blood to human beings at a hospital near you – until then, bravo to the scientists working hard on thus possibility in China! But never forget the sanctity of human life and the dignity of humanity.
