Thirteenth report : the release of genetically engineered organisms to the environment / Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution ; Chairman Lord Lewis of Newnham.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
Date:
1989
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Thirteenth report : the release of genetically engineered organisms to the environment / Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution ; Chairman Lord Lewis of Newnham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    organism where it replicates and functions. Such ‘genetically engineered’ organisms may contain genetic information and exhibit properties that have evolved in the context of an unrelated species. The organisms may contain combinations of genes that are extremely unlikely to have occurred in nature in situations in which the organisms in question could multiply. Genetic engineering allows genes from almost any organism to be introduced into almost any other organism, regardless of sexual compatibility or evolutionary relationship. In this respect it is qualitatively different from traditional breeding techniques. 11.7 Progress in breeding techniques has, however, produced a grey area of overlap between them and genetic engineering. For this reason, and also because of rapid development in the science of genetic engineering itself, it is not easy to arrive at a precise definition of genetic engineering. The essential feature is the deliberate ‘engineering’ of an organism’s nucleic acid. This may involve the insertion of genes from other organisms, the rearrangement or duplication of genes, the deletion of genes or the construction of novel genes. Techniques which come within this concept of genetic engineering include recombinant DNA (rDNA) techniques, micro-injection and protoplast fusion. In our view, whether a process is considered to be genetic engineering depends on the technique involved and not on whether the outcome might have occurred naturally and an organism should not be excluded from consideration simply on those grounds. This is of particular relevance in the case of gene deletions. It is important that any definition should be kept under review. 11.8 We adopt the Health and Safety Commission’s definition of a deliber- ate release to the environment, namely any use ‘without provision for containment such as special procedures, equipment and installations or facilities that provide physical barriers to minimise [the organism’s] spread (and that of its nucleic acid) to the environment.’ Biotechnology 11.9 Genetic engineering at present represents a small proportion of all the activities classed as biotechnology, which also encompasses processes as traditional as cheese making and brewing. Many processes involving biotechnology take place in contained facilities such as vinegar factories. There is also, however, a long history of organisms used by man in the open environment as well as the traditionally bred crop plants and animals discussed above. Many pesticide preparations based on naturally occurring viruses are commercially available. The soil bacterium Rhizobium is used worldwide to improve the growth of peas, beans and related crops. The technology of genetic engineering will make possible an enormous increase in the number of releases, in the diversity of the organisms released and in the scale on which the releases take place. : 11.10 Vaccines, drugs and diagnostic kits developed using genetic engineer- ing techniques are already on the market. New pest resistant plants are being developed. Applications in food processing, pollution control and many other areas are likely to follow. The environmental impact of released organisms 11.11 As with many new technologies the potential for improvement is accompanied by a risk of undesirable effects. Releases have so far been on an experimental scale and have had no known adverse environmental effects. Organisms which survive and become established could, however, affect the environment in a variety of ways—both beneficial and undesirable. Some
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