DAMAGE TO ENVIRONMENT IS ONE OF BIOSAFETY ISSUES - MOLISE |
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The
National Project Coordinator of the Development of National Biosafety
Frameworks in Lesotho says the potential damage to the environment that
growing genetically modified crops might have is one of the Speaking at a two-day decision makers' biotechnology training workshop at Lancer's Inn hotel on Tuesday, Mr. Motebang Molise said food made from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), either plants, microorganisms or animals, can cause potential harm to consumers' health. He stated that countries around the world have, therefore established biosafety structures and protocols to deal with safety issues raised by genetic modification. Mr. Molise further said during the last two decades, a biological revolution has been gaining momentum, resulting in new biological produce from genetic modification technology. he said the impact that this technology has on food and food production is impossible to overemphasise. Mr. Molise noted that all major crops including maize, tomatoes, sorghum, potatoes and others, can now be genetically modified resulting in a number of genetically modified foods becoming available to local and international markets. Mr. Motebang Molise stated that the likelihood that Lesotho has genetically modified foods on the supermarket shelves is very high, adding that genetically modified enzymes are also being used in some of the processed food products that are presently used.
Speaking at the same workshop the facilitator, Mrs. Muffy Koch said the
products of biotechnology are living examples of genetically improved
organisms. Mrs. Koch emphasised a need for biotech regulation, adding that
as living entities, genetically improved organisms can spread and replicate
once released into the environment. Meanwhile, Lesotho does not have any
national biosafety structures in place at the moment, however Lesotho has
acceded to the international biosafety protocol known as the Cartagena
Protocol on Biosafety. |
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| SOURCE: LENA |