Here are Dr Arpad Pusztai's comments on the Medical News Today article, "Research shows antibiotics in genetically modified plants are a non issue".

We previously circulated the comments of the medical biotechnologist, Dr Michael Antoniou. Dr Antoniou noted that the article not only contained numerous errors and questionnable claims but conveniently ignored evidence that failed to fit its reassuring thesis.

Dr Pusztai points directly to the vacuous nature of the claims in the article. The actual research that would resolve this issue, Dr Pusztai points out, has simply not been done. So to claim, as the article does, that "research" shows that antibiotic resistance in people consuming food from GM plants containing antibiotic resistance genes is a "non-issue", is, in the words of Dr Pusztai, "really stupid!"

The actual author of this widely disseminated article, it may be remembered, is not disclosed. But its primary source appears to be one "W. De Greef". De Greef, as far as we are aware, has no especial expertise in the sciences of nutrition, toxicology or medicine, but he is the former Global Head of Regulatory Affairs for GM at Syngenta!

For the original article, Dr Antoniou's comments, and more on the source:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4494
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Dr Arpad Pusztai on "Research shows antibiotics in genetically modified plants are a non issue"

This is really stupid! How can one expect to decide about such a contentious and important issue when no experiment has been done that was designed to answer this question. The only experiment with any relevance to this was the Newcastle experiment [undertaken by researchers at the University of Newcastle, commissioned by the UK's Food Standards Agency - FSA] but even in this the FSA selected a GM food that contained no antibiotic resistance marker gene. How could the researchers then find the take-up of the antibiotic resistance marker gene by the gut bacteria when the GM plant given to
the volunteers contained no such thing? Excellent design, isn't it? I in fact questioned the researchers about their selection of GM soya for the experiment to which the answer was that they could not use any other GM food because none are available in the UK that contain the antibiotic resistance marker gene?!

As others have already pointed this out, kanamycin is still bering used by the medical profession and there are also some indications that if bacteria are made resistant to one antibiotic they can pick up others more easily.

Indeeed, the Newcastle experiment, if it proved nothing else, it did prove that our gut bacteria already contain GM gene constructs and this is in a country where labeling is done and most people try to avoid GM foods! I suggest that the biotech companies ought to be compelled to do such experiments in the USA and with other GM foods and, as a background study, generally test the gut microbes of the US population for genetic constructs containing antibiotic resistance marker genes and their resistance to antibiotics as well.

Best wishes
Arpad