theprovince.com
The future of the University of Guelph’s Enviropig project, touted by supporters as having a good shot of becoming the first genetically-engineered animal approved for human consumption, is now in limbo after the industry group Ontario Pork decided to pull its research support.
The Ontario university, which holds the patent for the GE pig, says the plan — pending any last-minute corporate support secured by June — “would be depopulating the herd” and “putting the genetics in long-term storage,” spokeswoman Lori Bona Hunt said Monday.
There are currently 16 animals in the herd, part of the eighth generation of the Enviropig. Created in 1999 with a snippet of mouse DNA introduced into their chromosomes, the Yorkshire pigs were engineered to produce low-phosphorus feces as a way to reduce polluting phosphorus from large factory farms.
Critics of the Enviropig pounced on Ontario Pork’s decision to end its financial support of the project, saying Health Canada should now refuse to consider the university’s application to bring the pig to market now that active research is effectively finished.
“Health Canada has already wasted precious public funds reviewing a GE pig that consumers and farmers do not want,” Lucy Sharratt, co-ordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, told reporters on Parliament Hill Monday.
Sharratt was accompanied by Paul Slomp, youth vice-president of the National Farmers Union. Les Gills, a hog farmer from Eastern Ontario, also participated via teleconference, saying he was “relieved” by the funding withdrawal.
“Our government should reserve the talents of our scientific evaluators for useful and socially-desirable technologies,” said Sharratt, pointing out there’s a cost-effective hog feed supplement that achieves the same cut in phosphorous promised by the Enviropig.
The University of Guelph previously filed applications with Environment Canada and Health Canada to commercialize the GE pig. A similar application was filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The university cleared an important hurdle in Canada in February 2010, when Environment Canada determined the GE pig does not harm the environment under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and accepted the University of Guelph’s notice of significant new activity — meaning the GE pig could be farmed commercially.
Health Canada has yet to make any pronouncement on the university’s application for the Enviropig to become meat on Canadian kitchen tables. The department does not comment on the status of any application.
1) Huge risk of biodiversity loss here – a threat to ecosystem food webs. Sounds like there is a better alternative by food selection and/or responsible nutrient/compost recycling. Leave procreation to nature please. It’s had MANY more years of natural relationship adaptations than any number of scientists can provide and prove.
2) Imagine trying to coerse social change that would need to happen in order for frankenpigs to sell. Once people know it’s fake and they’re eating it, you get crackback. How can science show there will be no new diseases or viruses this could spread? Would take millions and millions of dollars to influence perception and still a very tough road.
3) Luckily for these chemical biology hybridization type projects that build wealth for some chemical companies, climate change and pollution is threatening to muck things up; which may eventually play into your greedy little palms.
Its really sad but all these animals should be euthanized and cremated with the utmost care and all the research carefully stored or better yet cremated with there frankinpigs! All GMO”s, clones, G.E. animals and related unnatural creations should be stopped! We don’t know how many of these projects have been let out in our environment that are contaminating our world, ie the salmon and anything else that may be getting dropped on us everyday by chem trails. I see them everyday overhead dropping on the planet. I see the difference in the soil in my garden and each year for the past 4 years have observed the changes effecting the different plants and vegetables I grow.
Canada you have some great people watching out for you but beware of the two faced bastards that are infiltrating our groups!! GOD bless Canada n America