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San Francisco Chronicle Tinkering With Tomorrow China races to lead the world in genetic research, while most of its citizens are detached from technology Shai Oster, Chronicle Foreign Service Tuesday, April 3, 2001 Beijing -- This story is one in a series on Pacific Rim issues and culture that appears every Tuesday in The Chronicle World section. Despite some lingering safety concerns, the world's most populous country is set on becoming a global leader in genetic engineering, seeking to improve medical care and guarantee an adequate food supply for its 1.2 billion inhabitants. At a recent science fair touting China's advances in genetic engineering, huge crowds gathered around a rat and rabbit with human ears jutting from their bodies. Other displays included tanks filled with fast-growing fish, pest-resistant wheat, weevil-resistant cotton and eight perfectly round, red tomatoes. The exhibit gave Chinese a view of some of the projects under way at the Ministry of Science. They include transplanting silkworm genes into goats, producing human organs through a stem cell bank, cloning corneas as a treatment for glaucoma, and studying gene pools of some of the nation's 56 ethnic minorities. Ironically, the research is happening in a nation where three-fourths of the population still lives in the countryside, working the land with crude tools and earning an average annual income of $200. Nevertheless, China was the only developing nation to participate in the Human Genome Project, a decade-old undertaking to map out chromosomes that make up the genetic code. Project researchers hope that by deciphering our genomes, they will be able to develop cures for hereditary diseases and birth defects. "Genetic research is like unlocking the secrets of the atom," said Si Baoqing, a 31-year-old manager of a state-owned factory who attended the science exhibit. "You have to make sure you use it for the betterment of mankind, not for its detriment." China's push into genetic engineering began in 1984 with the opening of a special government agency called the National Center for Biotechnology Development. Center officials say their current annual budget is about $60 million. The country also has the state-funded Human Tissues Research and Development Center in Shanghai, which calls itself the world's largest institute engaging in stem cell research to generate organs such as the heart, liver and lungs -- techniques that are controversial in the United States. Chinese scientists believe stem cells can be used to grow body organs for transplant operations. The U.S. government no longer funds such research because some kinds of stem cells are culled from aborted fetuses. "We need to push forward on tissue engineering," said Chen Zhang Liang, vice president of the prestigious Beijing University and a leading genetic researcher. The Chinese government is also bullish on genetic food products, though the public's attitude is difficult to gauge. Unlike the United States or other Western countries, China has no consumer rights movement or independent watchdog groups. The state-controlled press has given the issue of genetically modified food only positive coverage. The knowledge of possible side effects of such foods is almost nil among the average consumer. Critics in the West charge that not enough research has been done on the possible long-term effects of genetically modified crops on the environment and on people who ingest them. To date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not found any harmful effects, but European researchers have said that adverse reactions have occurred in laboratory tests. And because China has yet to pass laws to require labeling of all transgenic foods, few Chinese are aware they are consuming such products -- primarily Round-Up Ready soybeans produced by the U.S. biotechnology giant Monsanto that are used in goods ranging from oil to animal feed. To be sure, Beijing has also shown concern. While the state has approved for consumption such genetically altered crops as sweet peppers, wheat and tomatoes, it has yet to issue licenses for their commercial distribution. Chen blamed the delay on China's bureaucratic approval process and concerns that genetically modified foods will be difficult to export. Although the government wants such foods to be used for domestic consumption, it also has a history of allowing the export market to determine policy. Chinese tobacco was the world's first commercially produced, genetically modified organism. But production was halted in the mid-1990s after consumer fears in several foreign countries prompted their governments to refuse to buy the tobacco. The government has also led the call for a tougher United Nations protocol on import quarantines for genetically altered foods. "The Chinese government is not as overwhelmingly in support of GMO (genetically modified organism) as the biotech industry would like to project in the Western media," said Lo Sze-ping, a Hong Kong spokesman for Greenpeace. In fact, Monsanto had envisioned a huge market in China for its products because of state support and little public suspicion of genetically modified crops. The reality has been different. In Hubei province, for example, about 60 percent of all cotton crops are from Monsanto weevil-resistant seeds. But China's weaker intellectual property laws allow farmers to save seeds for future use. In the United States, such hoarding is considered illegal because of patent law. The government is also keen on fostering domestic industry, and backlash is growing against foreign genetic researchers operating in the country. At the recent annual meeting of China's parliament, some members called for laws restricting such research to "safeguard (China's) gene varieties," according to the official newspaper, China Daily. "China should not be a testing ground for foreign GM products," said Professor Xia Youfu of the University of International Business and Economics. State officials acknowledge the moral questions involved in genetic engineering. "Genetic research is a double-edged sword that could have negative effects," said Han Deguang, a professor with Shanghai's Chinese National Human Genome Center. ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/03/MN174810.DTL&type=tech_article ********* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn