GLOSSARY OF TERMS

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Agent Orange Herbicide and defoliant used by the US military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War (1959-1975). Name derived from the orange 55-gallon drums it was shipped in. Agent orange was used from 1961 to 1971, it was produced for the Pentagon by Monsanto, Dow Chemical and DuPont

Chemical companies, among others. A dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD), is produced as a byproduct of the manufacture of 2,4,5-T, one of the two components of

Agent Orange, and is present in any of the herbicides that used it. The US National Toxicology Program classified TCDD to be a human carcinogen, frequently associated with soft-tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). 2,4,5-T has since been banned for use in the US and many other countries. Bacteria Microscopic single-celled infectious organisms. While some types may be harmless, certain bacteria can cause diseases such as mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Bacillus thurlngiensls (Bt) Soil bacterium that provides the genes for making insect-killing toxins, different forms of which are incorporated into genetically modified (GMO) crops. The adverse environmental impacts of Bt crops are now well documented in scientific literature, ranging from harm of non-target organisms to the evolution of resistance in insect pests. This makes it necessary to plant a high proportion of non-Bt crops for "resistance management:' Aberrant gene expression in crops results in low-dose varieties of Bt which are ineffective in pest control and foster resistance. Cross pollination with non-GMO varieties creates Bt-weeds, and Bt-plants become volunteers (crops that can grow for seasons without any cultivation). Active

Bt toxins are not biodegradable, and leak from plant roots into the soil where it accumulates over time. This critically impacts soil health and affects all other trophic levels of the ecosystem.

A report that GM genes had transferred from GM pollen into microbes in the gut of bee larvae underscores the fact that Bt toxin genes, like all other GM genes, will spread out of control. (see Losey. J., et aI, (1999) Nature 399,214). Biodiversity Diversity of living organisms in a particular place. Biotechnology Industrial use of biological processes, commonly used as a euphemism for the controversial term, "genetic manipulation." Cell Smallest structural unit of all living organisms that is able to grow and reproduce independently. A cell contains a nucleus and is formed from a mass of living material surrounded by a membrane. Cells can be classified as germ-line (sperm, eggs) or somatic (body tissues). Dioxin General term that describes a group of chemicals that are highly persistent in the environment. Class of super-toxic chemicals formed as a by-product of manufacturing, molding, or burning of organic chemicals and plastics that contain chlorine.

The most toxic compound'is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-pdioxin or TCDD. It is the most toxic man-made organic chemical, and is second only to radioactive waste in overall toxicity.

The residents of Love Canal, Niagara Falls and Times Beach,

Missouri were forced to abandon their homes due to dioxin contamination. Dioxin is a known threat near factories that produce PVC plastic or chlorinated pesticides and herbicides and where those pesticides and herbicides have been heavily used. Dioxin became infamous during the backlash against

Agent Orange during and after the Vietnam War. Health effects such as cancer, spina bifida, autism, liver disease, endometriosis, reduced immunity, and other nerve and blood disorders have been reportedly linked to dioxin exposure.

In January 2001, the US National Toxicology Program raised 2,3,7,8-TCDD cautionary level from "Reasonably Anticipated to be a Human Carcinogen" to "Known to be a Human

Carcinogen." DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid, a large, double-helix molecule that contains all the genetic information in a cell. Eugenics Deliberate manipulation of the genetic makeup of human populations, traditionally by selective birth control, infanticide, mass murder, or genocide. Eugenicists work with genetic engineering to conduct genetic screening, in vitro fertilization, pre-implantation screening, germ line genetic modification, etc. Modern eugenic ideas can be traced to the British

Sir Francis Galton, an amateur scientist and cousin of Charles

Darwin who coined the term in 1883. In his book, Hereditary

Genius, Glaton argued that a study of accomplished men showed they were more likely to produce intelligent and talented offspring. He concluded that it was possible to produce "a highly gifted race of men" by the process of selective breeding, which he later termed positive eugenics. Discouraging the reproduction of "undesirables" was subsequently termed negative eugenics.

Eugenics was more recently associated with Nazi Germany and

Hitler's Master Race purification program. After 1945 American eugenicists decided to use a less emotionally charged word, and renamed their technique, "genetics" to advance the same agenda.

Expression (Gene expression) Process through which DNA is transcribed into a message (ribonucleic acid, RNA), which

becomes translated into a physical polypeptide or protein that gives structural and functional features to a cell. Gene Biological unit of inheritance; a segment of DNA which provides the genetic information necessary to make one protein or polypeptide. Genetic determinism Doctrine that all acts, choices and events are the inevitable consequence of antecedent sufficient causes, genetic makeup, or the sum of one's genes. Genetic engineering Manipulation of genetic material in the laboratory. It includes isolating, copying and multiplying genes, recombining genes or DNA from different species, and transferring genes from one species to another. Genetic map Body of information on the relative locations of genes on chromosomes. Much of the effort of the Human

Genome Project is focused on mapping chromosomes. Genetic modification Technique where individual genes can be copied and transferred to another living organism to alter its genetic make up and thus incorporate or delete specific characteristics into or from the organism. The technology is also referred to as genetic engineering, genetic manipulation or gene technology. Gene A biological unit of inheritance; a segment of DNA that provides the genetic information necessary to make one protein. Genome The totality of genes in an organism. GMO Genetically Modified Organism. Any organism changed by genetic engineering, often referred to as "transgenic." Growth hormone Protein produced by the pituitary gland that promotes growth of the whole body. Herbicide Chemical compound used to kill weeds. Hybrid Result of a cross between parents of different genetic types or different species. Molecular biology Study of cellular subsystems, such as proteins and nucleic acids, including their structures, relationships to biochemical activity, repositories substances of genetic information and communication agencies. The field was initially financed and developed in the 1930's largely under financial

support from the Rockefeller Foundation, who at the same time were actively funding Nazi Eugenics. Patent Intellectual property protection which gives the owner exclusive right to exploit an invention for a fixed period of time (e.g. 17-20 years) in exchange for full disclosure of how the invention is made. Recombinant DNA (rONA) technology The procedure for "cutting" and "splicing" DNA to make new combinations of genes.

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH or rBST (recom-

binant bovine somatotropin) A synthetic, genetically engineered version of BGH that is injected into a cow to artificially increase milk production. BGH is a protein hormone that occurs naturally in the pituitary glands of cattle, a factor controlling the amount of milk produced by a dairy cow. To increase milk production, in 1995 the US Food and Drug

Administration approved the sale of unlabeled milk from cows injected with Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, rBHG, under the brand name POSILAC®. The rBGH milk differs from natural milk chemically, nutritionally, pharmacologically and immunologically. It is contaminated with pus and antibiotics resulting from mastitis induced by the biotech hormone. Most critically, rBGH milk has high levels of abnormally potent Insulin-like Growth Factor, IGF-l; up to 10 times the levels in natural milk and over 10 times more potent. IGF-l resists pasteurization and digestion by stomach enzymes and is well absorbed across the intestinal wall. High

IGF-l blood levels are the strongest known risk factor for prostate cancer. Tests performed by Monsanto showed that by feeding IGF1 at the lowest dose levels for only two weeks significant growth stimulating effects were induced in organs of adult rats. Drinking rBGH milk would thus be expected to increase blood IGF-l levels and to increase risks of developing prostate cancer and promoting its invasiveness. Apart from prostate cancer, multiple lines of evidence have also incriminated the role of IGF-l as risk factors for breast, colon, and childhood cancers. Because

of significant risks rBGH milk is banned in most

EU countries and Canada. Reductionism The doctrine that complex systems can be completely understood in terms of its simplest parts. For example, an organism can be completely understood in terms of its genes, a society in terms of its individuals, and so on. The foundations of Molecular Biology are reductionist.

SPS Agreement (Agreement on the Application of Sanitary

and Phytosanitary Measures) An international treaty of the

World Trade Organization, negotiated during the Uruguay

Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and entered into force with the establishment of the WTO at the beginning of 1995. Under the SPS agreement, the World Trade Organization (WTO) sets constraints on member-states' policies relating to food safety (bacterial contaminants, pesticides, inspection and labeling) as well as animal and plant health (phytosanitary).

Under the SPS agreement, national quarantine barriers can be defined by the WTO as a "technical trade barrier" used to keep out foreign competitors. The SPS agreement gives the WTO the power to override a country's use of the precautionary principle-a principle that allows them to act on the side of caution if there is no scientific certainty about potential threats to human health and the environment. Even though scientists agree that it is impossible to predict all forms of damage posed by insects or pest plants, under SPS rules, the burden of proof is on nation-states to scientifically demonstrate that something is dangerous before it can be regulated. Substantial equivalence A non-scientific term to describe new, genetically engineered crops produced by biotechnology that outwardly resemble natural corn, rice, cotton, etc. The concept of substantial equivalence has never been properly clarified.

The degree of difference between a natural food and its genetically modified alternative before its "substance" ceases to be "equivalent" is not defined by legislators nor anyone else. It is

exactly this vagueness that makes the concept useful to the agribusiness GMO industry. It is the basic doctrine, signed as an Executive Order by

President G.H.W. Bush in 1992 by the recommendation of

Monsanto, which opened the floodgates to commercialization of GMO seeds without specific government or independent testing. Terminator technology A "technology protection system" that renders the seeds which are saved the first generation after the first sowing sterile. Technically known as Genetic Use Restriction

Technologies (GURTs), Terminator Seed Technology is patented by the US Government's USDA and Delta & Pine Land (which since August 2006 is a fully-owned Monsanto company). There are two basic forms of Terminator or GURTs: V-GURT produces sterile seeds that cannot be saved for future planting. The technology is restricted at the plant variety level-hence the term V-GURT. T -GURT modifies a crop in such a way that the genetic enhancement engineered into the crop does not function until the crop plant is treated with a chemical that is sold by the biotechnology company. Farmers cannot use the enhanced trait in the crop unless they purchase the activator compound from the seed patent owner. The technology is restricted at the trait level-hence the term T-GURT. Transgenic An organism, which due to genetic engineering in a laboratory, contains foreign DNA. Related words: transgene, transgenesis. "

Trade Re1ated Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS)

Treaty adm'inistered by the WTO that implements minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation. It was established following the final act of the Uruguay

Rounf of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement. TRIPS contains requirements that nations' laws must meet for copyright laws, including patents, and monopolies for the developers of new (GMO) plant varieties. TRIPS specifies

enforcement procedures, remedies, and dispute/resolution procedures. The TRIPS agreement is to date the most comprehensive international agreement on intellectual property.