Congress Members Weigh in on Biotechnology

June 30, 2000

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) believes technologies that win acceptance eventually are those that demonstrate "a clear benefit to society with few risks." Rep. Tony Hall (D-OH), however, believes biotechnology has little relevance to poor and hungry people, "and its potential is uncertain." The views were expressed Thursday at an educational forum on biotechnology and world hunger held at the Capitol.

"Technology, spawned by the limitless bounds of human intellect, continues to evolve as knowledge and understanding of our world increases," said Lugar. "The advent of mechanical refrigeration quickly supplanted the ice that often failed when most needed. Innovation often

provides fixes for earlier deficiencies but in the process may lead to a different set of concerns.’

An example, he added, is refrigeration and air conditioning, so important in summer months. But both are driven by electrical power that contributes to a net increase in greenhouse gases. Opposition frequently accompanies technological innovation, said Lugar. And opposition "arises from fact, myth or cherished belief. The obvious difficulty is to determine an elusive truth."

Just why agricultural biotechnology has attracted intense levels of opposition, especially in Europe, "deserves consideration," Lugar added. Biotechnology could hold "enormous potential to improve the human condition" If staple foods such as rice and corn that the "poorest of the poor children eat each day could be fortified with additional Vitamin A through the application of biotechnology, a worldwide scourge of blindness from dietary deficiencies could be alleviated."

Also worth considering, said Lugar, are the environmental implications of not developing agricultural biotechnology. If agricultural efficiency remains static, then more land will be needed to grow more food. "Faced with the choice of starvation or cutting down forests, mankind will have few options. An alternative does exist, and if developed with the intent to improve the lives

of people everywhere, biotechnology can increase agricultural efficiency, reduce use of chemical pesticides and improve food's nutritional value."

Hall, claiming that biotechnology is a "big if," said he would be "wary of efforts to stifle" scientific work on biotechnology. "Scare tactics could do just that," he added, "particularly if they milk the concerns of people in developed nations and use those concerns to block solutions to the very different problems people in developing nations face."

He confessed he did not hold the "certainty" that Lugar held for biotechnology. "What I do know is, if this is just about money, I’m not interested; if it’s about helping hungry people, I am."