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Árpád Pusztai (September 8. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz 1930) is a Hungarian-born protein scientist who has spent most of his career, from 1968-1995, at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl The Rowett Research Institute is a research centre for studies into Food and Nutrition located in Aberdeen, Scotland. Aberdeen ( pronounced; Aiberdeen Obar Dheathain is Scotland 's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. He is considered the world's foremost expert on plant lectins, and is the author of 270 papers and three books on the subject. Lectins are sugar-binding Proteins which are highly specific for their sugar Moieties.

In 1998 Pusztai publicly announced that the results of his research show eating genetically modified potato causes harm to rats, leading to his dismissal from the institute. Genetically modified (GM foods are food items that have had their DNA changed through Genetic engineering. The resulting controversy over the dismissal and the validity of his research's conclusions became known as the Pusztai affair.

In 2005, he received the Whistleblower Award from the German Section of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and the Federation of German Scientists (VDW). [1][2][3]


Contents

GM potato controversy

Between 1995 and 1998 he performed a series of experiments on some genetically modified potatoes which had been developed by an English biotech company, Cambridge Agricultural Genetics, later called Axis Genetics. Genetic engineering, Recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation (GM and gene splicing are terms that apply to the direct They had been field-grown at Rothamsted, and were intended for commercialisation. The Rothamsted Experimental Station, one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world is located at Harpenden in Hertfordshire, England The potatoes were the widely grown desiree red variety, modified with a gene taken from snowdrop (Galanthus) plants, that caused the potatoes to express snowdrop lectin, a protein which Árpád Pusztai had previously shown to be toxic to insects but harmless to mammals. The Désirée is a red-skinned main crop Potato originally bred in the Netherlands in 1962 The common snowdrop ( Galanthus nivalis) is the best-known representative of a small Genus of about 20 species in the family Amaryllidaceae that The common snowdrop ( Galanthus nivalis) is the best-known representative of a small Genus of about 20 species in the family Amaryllidaceae that

Initially Pusztai and his team observed a lack of correlation between levels of the lectin in the potato leaves and their toxicity to insects. Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described Subsequently they experimented by feeding rats on raw and cooked genetically modified potatoes, using Desiree Red potatoes as controls. The potato is a Starchy Tuberous crop Vegetable from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae The Désirée is a red-skinned main crop Potato originally bred in the Netherlands in 1962 Scientific controls allow Experiments to study one Variable at a time and are a vital part of the Scientific method. One of the controls was unmodified desiree red potatoes mixed with snowdrop lectin. The common snowdrop ( Galanthus nivalis) is the best-known representative of a small Genus of about 20 species in the family Amaryllidaceae that Lectins are sugar-binding Proteins which are highly specific for their sugar Moieties. The rats fed on the genetically modified potatoes showed lower intestine damage and harm to their immune systems. These effects were not observed in rats fed on unmodified potatoes, or unmodified potatoes mixed with snowdrop lectin. The team concluded that the effects observed were a result of the genetic modification, not the snowdrop lectin.

The following paragraph was taken from an interview of Dr. Pusztai, "We had two kinds of potatoes - one GM and the other non-GM. I had expected that the GM potato, with 20 micrograms of a component against the several grams of other components, should not cause any problems. But we found problems. Our studies clearly show that the effects were not due to that little gene expression, but it depended on the way the gene had been inserted into the potato genome and what it did to the potato genome. "[4]

On 10th October, the day that the documentary was due to be broadcast he was invited onto an early morning television debate, but informed beforehand by the Rowett Institute that he was not permitted to discuss details of the experiment. That morning, the Rowett Institute received two phone calls from 10 Downing Street. [5] According to Professor Robert Orskov OBE, who worked at the Rowett for 33 years and is one of Britain's leading nutrition experts. The phone calls went from Monsanto, the American firm which produces 90% of the world's GM food, to Bill Clinton and then to Tony Blair, and then to Rowett direcor Philip James. William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to [6]

'Clinton rang Blair and Blair rang James,' says Professor Orskov.

Phone calls to Árpád Pusztai's office were diverted, and Árpád Pusztai was suspended and legally gagged, along with his wife and colleague Susan Bardocz. His data was confiscated and his team were disbanded. The potatoes were subsequently destroyed, along with all details of their modification (a commercial secret of Cambridge Agricultural Genetics, which subsequently ceased business).

Initially the Rowett Institute claimed that they were not doing any research on GM crops. The Rowett Research Institute is a research centre for studies into Food and Nutrition located in Aberdeen, Scotland. Later the Rowett Institute claimed that Árpád Pusztai had voluntarily retired, and apologised for his "mistake". According to this version of the story, the experiments had never been performed and a student had accidentally confused control data with experimental data. It was claimed that Pusztai had modified the potatoes with toxic Jack Bean lectin. Sir Robert May told Radio 4's Today programme: "If you mix cyanide with vermouth in a cocktail and find that it is not good for you, I don't draw sweeping conclusions that you should ban all mixed drinks. Robert McCredie May Baron May of Oxford, OM, AC, FRS (born Australia, 8 January 1936) has been Chief Scientific Adviser Today, sometimes referred to as the Today programme to avoid ambiguity is BBC Radio 4 's long-running early morning news and current affairs " Similar statements were also made by the Agriculture Minister Jack Cunningham the Rowett Institute also announced that they were publishing Árpád Pusztai's data online so that the public could draw their own conclusions, but omitted much of the data making the remainder statistically meaningless. John Anderson "Jack" Cunningham Baron Cunningham of Felling, PC, DL (born 4 August 1939 is a British Labour politician and was Member of [7]

In 1999 Árpád Pusztai and Stanley Ewen published their results in The Lancet (link below). Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) This article is about the journal For other uses of the term "lancet" see Lancet (disambiguation. An unamed member of the Royal Society allegedly put strong pressure on The Lancet not to publish, including a threatening phone call to The Lancet editor. [8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Arpad Pusztai: Biological Divide – James Randerson interviews biologist Arpad Pusztai. The genetically modified food controversy is a dispute over the advantages and disadvantages of genetically modified (GM food crops The Monsanto Company ( is a multinational Agricultural biotechnology Corporation. The Guardian (January 15, 2008). Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common
  2. ^ Dieter Deiseroth, Annegret Falter (Hrsg. ) (2006). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Whistleblower in Gentechnik und Rüstungsforschung Preisverleihung 2005: Theodore A. Postol, Arpad Pusztai. VMW. ISBN 978-3-8305-1262-2.  
  3. ^ Federation of German Scientists.
  4. ^ Interview with Arpad Pusztai. Canadian Health Coalition.
  5. ^ Arpad Pusztai - Personal communication
  6. ^ Daily Mail article detailling the events surrounding Arpad Pusztai's sacking
  7. ^ Arpad Pusztai - Personal communication
  8. ^ Pro-GM food scientist accused of threatening Lancet editor

External links

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