What Keeps Our Children From Developing Normally

The opinion of Tetiana HLAZKO, Candidate of Biology, Senior Research Associate, Institute of Agroecology and Biotechnology

Is our present fear of manipulating transgenetic constructions well-founded, or are we just afraid of the unknown?

40% of Ukraine’s population is afflicted with allergy although they do not consume any use of transgenetic constructions. Speaking about food hazards of such constructions, they are no more dangerous than other food products. Provided we use cosmetics with new additives or unaccustomed food brought from other countries, there is always a chance that our bodies will react inappropriately. To curb allergies, there are special state services to control the safety of food. Besides, there are standard procedures to check the safety of any new substances that appear. There is a somewhat different problem more vital for us: what is to be done with plants which are commonly consumed by us, given the emergence of new kinds having new genes.

What kind of vaccines are currently made in Ukraine and which are the most important?

Everyone in the world is out to create oral vaccines by implanting a gene in a plant to code protein contained in the coating of a virus. When a person consumes such a plant, it develops passive immunity against such specific proteins. Ukrainian scientists have remained at the research stage, as to synthesize large structures with implanted genes considerable funding is needed. In many countries such vaccines are developed. Vaccination using weakened or killed organisms involves certain problems. It is much easier when the genetic material of a virus is not present.

How costly is the biotechnological industry, and is it worth the huge investment, given our unfavorable economic situation?

Bioindustry is a general term covering a number of different technologies. Presently, the public is actively discussing the creation of the so-called golden rice. This is a transgenetic rice with genes that make it rich in iron and carotinoids. This kind of rice is very important for developing countries like India where such minerals are in short supply in food products. Lack of minerals in food causes premature loss of a large number of embryos at various stages of their development and slows down intellectual development in people. I believe that malnutrition is one of the reasons for terrorism. The lower one’s intellectual standards are, the less understanding of other people’s needs one shows. In other words, the roots of terrorism or hostility lie in low psychic development when an individual cannot identify oneself as part of humanity sharing the same problems and objectives. Thus, the less people receive adequate food during the formation of their nervous systems, the greater chance we stand to be threatened with increasing exposure to terrorism. This is why the creation of the golden rice is so important to bridge the existing gap in intellectual development. But for Ukraine a different problem is vital. Living in the Chornobyl area, we need genetically modified plants that will cleanse our contaminated soil. Food grown in Ukraine has sufficient amounts of iron and carotinoids to breed a healthy intellectually developed generation. But our children are affected by technogenic chemical contamination impairing their normal development. This is the reason for wide-spread allergy, low birth rate and increasing infertility.

Now that the final objective has been clarified, where is Ukraine on the way to a biorevolution?

It should be clearly understood that biotechnology cannot develop in isolation from optics and electronics. They all make up an inseparable unity. Thus the less funding the optics and instrument-making branches get, the less chance the biotech industry has. Biological research was greatly stimulated by huge investments in the space and military sectors in the former Soviet Union and high qualification ceilings. The same is true of bioindustry. Funding alone will not make it develop as there is the lack of qualified researchers. It is absurd even to discuss its cost: it costs as much as science in this country. The funding science receives from the budget is meager, and as long as it is such it makes no sense to discuss the problems of bioindustry. Any kind of industry requires trained personnel and well-functioning research institutions. As long as the belief that science must be self-sufficient prevails, we stand no chance of launching any industry.

Is there really the lack of qualified researchers? It seems to me, this is not the reason as Ukraine’s intellectual potential is praised by one and all. Isn’t it because we have no money to implement the ideas of our researchers?

In the years of Ukraine’s independence there’s been a tremendous brain drain, and now there is no one to educate a new generation of geniuses. At present, we are merely maintaining what we can of the research potential we had in the former Soviet Union. We can expect to make headway in this area if we follow China’s road and put our money on young Ukrainians who went to educate themselves and work in the West in the hope that they will bring us new technologies. The Chinese just assigned their young talent to leading universities in the United States, Germany, and France, and in ten years a number of Chinese universities had Western-type laboratories. China is successfully solving its food problems through science, with the largest number of gene engineering projects implemented. Until we realize that statehood rests on the country’s scientific potential, nothing will ever change. This is a multifaceted issue.

How about cooperation?

To begin cooperation, someone must show interest in Ukraine and be convinced that someone will gain from such cooperation. The existing immigration of talented Ukrainian researchers does not enhance the country’s international prestige. No one is showing any interest in Ukraine, preferring to solve their own problems themselves. Unless Ukraine can be of help in solving someone’s problems, who will find us interesting?