FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Stop Antibiotic Resistance Due to Antibiotic Markers in GMOs Stop the use of antibiotics, such as Kanamycin, as Marker Genes. Non-browning ‘Arctic® Apples’ GMO apples by Okanagan Specialty Fruit is one company which uses Kanamycin as a marker gene
Research: If you have been watching the news you have heard about the current problem where Tuberculosis is on an increase due to antibiotics being ineffective on TB patients. Due to continued antibiotic resistance there are three lines of defense for patients, these ten drugs are approved by USDA. The patient start with the first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs: Ethambutol, Isoniazid, Pyrazinamide and Rifampicin, in varying combinations, for up to nine months. Many times these drugs do not work, due to resistance. Doctors will then start the second group of antibiotics. Kanamycin is the lead drug in the second line of anti-TB drugs. This is of great concern and correlates as to the problem with antibiotic resistance. There are also the same antibiotics given directly to the animals we eat, and in our dairy products. Kanamycin and other antibiotics are also used in animal water and feed. This is an issue which will not be covered by regulatory agencies. It is up to us to educate each other, and it is our responsibility, to educate our representatives in government.
Arctic® Apples: “As you can read about our Arctic® Apples and the process required ‘to transform’ a conventional apple to an Arctic® variety it necessitates the use of a marker gene that makes the plant tissue resistant to the antibiotic Kanamycin.”
http://www.arcticapples.com/blog/john/exploring-marker-gene-used-arctic%C2%AEapples#.UD-fUZOUrfU Okanagan Specialty Fruit’s comment on use of the Kanamycin marker gene:
Exploring the marker gene used in Arctic® Apples “We use a marker gene which produces a protein (NPTII) that makes the plant tissue resistant to the antibiotic Kanamycin. The Kanamycin-resistance gene demonstrates that the protein is present in the leaf tissue at this point, but this does not carry over into the apples themselves. It was determined that mature Arctic® Apples do NOT have a detectable amount the protein NPTII. Even if there was a detectable amount, there is still nothing to worry about as it has been determined “there is no potential toxicity from this protein” and on top of that, it would be broken down in digestion almost immediately.” http://www.arcticapples.com/category/categories/science
Additional Research: The gene codes for the aminoglycoside 3'-phosphotransferase, kanamycin, is denoted as: aph(3')-II or NPTII enzyme. http://www.patentlens.net/daisy/Antibiotic/g3/1127.html Plants such as maize, cotton, tobacco, Arabidopsis, flax, soybean and many others have been successfully transformed with the NPTII gene. In plants, Kanamycin is the most commonly used selective agent, normally in concentrations ranging from 50 to 500 mg/l. http://www.patentlens.net/daisy/Antibiotic/g3/1127.html Kanamycin was a topic of concern by regulatory agencies and was never fully addressed in reference to the FLAVR SAVR™ tomato from 1991. “The FLAVR- SAVR™ tomato was a variety of tomato modified by antisense technology to reduce ‘endogenous tomato polygalacturonase activity’ thus slowing fruit ripening and softening.” Alliance for BioIntegrity, info@biointegrity.org www.biointegrity.org
Additional Reading on Antibiotic Markers: http://www.biofortified.org/2010/03/gmos-antibiotics/ http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/genemarker.cfm.
Additional Reading on Antibiotic Markers: http://www.biofortified.org/2010/03/gmos-antibiotics/ http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/genemarker.cfm. rhonda varsane www.goodnewpress.net