This makes it imperative that citizens be alert where a minister emphasises the benefits of new technologies and where R75-million is allocated to the government Innovation Fund which will reward, inter alia, GMO research. GM white maize will, by 2002, be harvested in South Africa, according to reports. The consumer and the producer need to be informed and consulted. Now that the buzzwords are change and transformation, South Africans are eager to adopt whatever is new. Dr Winston Hide, director of the South African National Bio-informatics Institute at the University of the Western Cape, advocates vigilance.
Genes naturally jump between species all the time.
However, if a gene is artificially inserted in a crop, it can jump into a soil bacterium. It is precisely in plants and soil bacteria where TB gets its virulent disease genes. Once the artificially inserted gene enters the natural environment, it can't be controlled. The government passed the GMO Act last year. For some, this legislation is inadequate.