About synthesizing chemicals with gene technology

A less spectacular use of the gene technology needs no release of the manipulated organisms. The organisms are only used to produce a single chemical which will be concentrated and purified later. This is usually performed with genically engineered micro-organisms to synthesize drugs for the medicine, encymes for detergents and so on.

The synthesis with genetically engineered organisms can often be cheaper than synthesis with conventional means. Sometimes it will be the only way to synthesize complex products. If the organisms are safely locked up, it won't have the area-covering effects of the organisms which need to be released in order to use them. But there are still some risks:

  1. If the organisms manage to escape into the vicinity, they can be able to adapt themselves and survive. For example: The Escher.Coli bacterium is a common "guest" in the human colon. Usually it is harmless. But if this bacterium outnumbers the other bacterias in the colon, it will cause a disease. The Coli bacterium is a very common target for manipulation experiments, too.

  2. In fact, it is not even WANTED to keep these organisms locked. In the early days of gene technology, the scientists have been obliged to render these micro-organisms harmless by intense heat. Now the laws have been softened in many countries and the scientists are free to pour them into the next kitchen sink, at least in the "low-risk" laboratories which are 90% from all gene labs. This will lead to a completely new form of biological pollution.

  3. Because manipulated organisms act very unpredictable, they can create substances which can cause allergic reactions or even poisonous by-products. Unless the final product is not analyzed very carefully for unusual by-products (which is expensive) it can become a serious danger for the health (see example below).

  4. Gene technology leads to a concentration process, since only big, specialized companies can afford this technology. The companies who still use conventional means to produce chemicals will lose in the long run. The transnational companies have already gathered enough power to control large parts of medias, laws, politics and markets. Gene technology will probably speed up this trend.
Example 1: After changing their production from synthesis with conventional micro-organisms to synthesis with manipulated micro-organisms, a sad incident happened in the japanese company Showa Denko. This company produced Tryptophane, a proteine component. Due to a new poisonous by-product in the final product, about 1500 persons suffered from severe allergic reactions. About 30 of them died, many others will keep the damages of these allergic reactions for the rest of their lives. It is important to know that Showa Denko tries everything to get some alternative explainations for this incident because what must not happen that CAN not happen. Only the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has got the permission to view the prodution plant (which was incidentally shut off on this day!). Neither have the manipulated micro-organisms been given away for closer examination from Showa Denko.

Example 2: Many flavours in the food industry are already being synthesized. This includes vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavours as well as artificial sweeteners and much, much more. The synthesis of these flavours is cheap, but it will seal the fate of farmers everywhere in the world who can't sell their products. Furthermore, the flavour of these synthesized products often lacks the quality of the original. For example, natural vanilla has about 50 different flavours in it, coffee about 200. Soon the synthesis of this chemicals will be made with gene technology with all additional risks (see Ex. 1). While farmers in the poor countries lose their jobs, the citizens of the rich countries will have to eat cheap food replacements from the omnipotent food industry. Some new innovations won't make much sense, especially if nobody wants them!

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