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APRIL — MAY 2000 © REVIEWS diversity and biopiracy, terminator technolo- Looking back on the era of the Crusades, B oO oO K Ss gy, patents on life, rBST milk, and the no one could have expected that a ‘humble' , inability of GE technology to live up its friar named Dominic would start a purge in Reviewed by Ruth Parnell "feed the world" promise. P the early 13th century that led to the deaths GENETIC ENGINEERING, FOOD, Anderson targets the so-called "life sci- of millions of so-called heretics, unbeliev- AND OUR ENVIRONMENT ences" corporations and their pathetic PR ers, Jews, pagans, women who were or were by Luke Anderson campaigns aimed at allaying consumer con- not witches, Scientists, Freemasons and any Publisher: Scribe, Aust/NZ, 2000 (first cerns about GE food, and highlights the other free-thinkers who could be subjugated published by Green Books, UK. 1999) importance of the Precautionary Principle in over the next 600-odd years. Even the ISBN: 0-908011-43-1 (1 91 pp pb); setting up mechanisms so that human, ani- dreaded Spanish Inquisition of both Crown 1-870098-78-1 (pb, UK, USA) , mal and environmental health can be proper- and Church was only part of the story, its ly protected. This edition has an informative 1478 imprimatur only revoked in 1834. The foreword by Bob Phelps of the Gene Ethics mass burnings (especially of women) in Price: AUD$17.95; NZD$24.95; £3.95 Available: Australia/NZ— Scribe ae Network, covering GE specifics on the Europe over hundreds of years can only be eeocations, pasate aia Australian/NZ scene, and an extensive list of _ interpreted as a total repudiation of Nature }00Ks, te! { , e-mal GE info resources worldwide. by the Church—a pattern which has been greenbooks@gn.apc.org; USA—Chelsea ongoing for near-on 2,000 years. Green, tel (802) 295 6300 The authors emphasise that they don't wish THE INQUISITION iP! y he backlash against genetically engi- . . . . to denigrate i s jor- neered food is eaining pace worldwide, by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh ity of Ly ha oreo) bat howe not only on a consumer level but at a global Publisher: Viking/Penguin, UK, 1999 their book it's obvious the Catholic Church trade level, as more people become aware of ISBN: 0-670-88032-9 (318pp he) has so much for which to answer. the implications for agriculture, health and Price: AUD$45.00; NZD$49.95; £16.99; z the environment from an inadequately tested NLGf 66,90; CAD$40.00 technology. This brief guidebook, Genetic Available: Aust/NZ/UK/Canada— ___ Engineering, Food, and Our Environment, is Penguin Books; Europe—NEXUS Office, recommended reading for background on tel +31 (0)1321 380558 genetic science as well as on up-to-date y the time you read this, the Pope may developments (as at February 2000) on have apologised for some of the excess- diverse GE-related subjects. es committed in the name of Jesus Christ in The author, Luke Anderson, is a UK-based __ the past 2,000 years. But if the Inquisition is writer, campaigner and speaker on GE on the agenda, it's unlikely to be the subject issues, and here he does an admirable job in _ of a direct apology because, as Michael paring down his research into a succinct Baigent and Richard Leigh describe in their summary of these often complex matters. latest work, The Inquisition, it lives on under He looks at potential allergic reactions and the title "Congregation for the Doctrine of antibiotic resistance with GE food, genetic the Faith", having only lost its contemptuous pollution of crops from unchecked transfer name in 1908. Before then, however, the of genes, dangers with herbicide- and insect- Papal Infallibility Bill of 1870 pronounced resistant crops, and the environmental haz- what is tantamount to an intellectual ards of glyphosate (the active ingredient in Inquisition—one that continues in its vari- the herbicide Roundup). He considers bio- ous guises to this very day. diversity and biopiracy, terminator technolo- gy, patents on life, rBST milk, and the inability of GE technology to live up its "feed the world" promise. Anderson targets the so-called "life sci- ences" corporations and their pathetic PR campaigns aimed at allaying consumer con- cerns about GE food, and highlights the importance of the Precautionary Principle in setting up mechanisms so that human, ani- mal and environmental health can be proper- ly protected. This edition has an informative foreword by Bob Phelps of the Gene Ethics Network, covering GE specifics on the Australian/NZ scene, and an extensive list of GE info resources worldwide. NEXUS +73