Biotechnology is indigestible

The treaty talks on genetically modified foods in Montreal are the latest attempt by biotechnology to force its deadly products down the throats of ordinary people who don't want to eat them.

The biotechnology mantra is this: alien genes can't hurt humans. This claim is now refuted by an incontestable scientific fact: alien genes certainly killed Jesse Gelsinger in a gene therapy experiment in Philadelphia last September, and have probably killed at least half a dozen more human beings in similar experiments elsewhere.

The exact number of deaths is uncertain because the biotechnology companies have refused to report the deaths and illnesses in U.S. human experiments, although these reports were required by law. This reflects the operating policy of biotech corporations: they are not bound by national laws or scientific ethics. One doctor (who was starting up his own biotech company) offered this explanation for his refusal to report the adverse results of his gene therapy experiments: it would hurt biotech stock prices.

Many of these human deaths from the alien genes used in gene therapy were officially due to "non-compliance"--failure to follow the official protocols in these human experiments. In effect, biotech companies deliberately violated the provisions of a contract with the U.S. government that was intended to protect the subjects from research risks. As a public health scientist, my complaint to the U.S. Office for Protection From Research Risks is currently in process.

Although the biotechnology industry always speaks "in the name of science" in its safety claims for genetic modifications, there is a total disregard for the laws of all countries and for the lives of all human beings. None of the biotech safety claims for human safety that will be made in Montreal have any scientific validity.

I want to compliment the Mirror on its fine article on the activists at the Montreal meeting ["To label or not to label?" Jan. 20]. If the government of Canada is sincere that it wants to hear about the scientific facts concerning the human health hazards of alien genes, why doesn't the Mirror provide Ottawa with the full story of the deaths from alien genes in controlled clinical experiments?

--Irwin D. Bross, PhD, President, Biomedical Metatechnology Inc., Buffalo, New York

Trembles is a treasure

What's up with the recent slagging of Rick Trembles' "Motion Picture Purgatory," like the individual who smugly claimed that Rick Trembles "can be counted among thousands of ex-groupies of famous Montreal filmmakers" ["Praise for Pimple," Jan. 13]? What this guy seems to have forgotten is that Rick is one of the stars of Shirley Pimple... and is one of the few who have seen the final cut.

And what's the deal with the poor young lady who is "appalled and angered" by Motion Picture Purgatory ["Motion sickness," Jan. 20]? She should remember this is supposed to be an alternative paper, not The Gazette! Sorry that her "intellect" feels "assaulted," but in case her naivete overlooked the film in question, Caligula is an explicitly graphic and violent film that until recently has only been released in various censored video versions. So she should count her blessings that Trembles reviewed this film honestly. He probably saved her fragile psyche a trip to the confession booth.

"Motion Picture Purgatory" is the most reliable and unpretentious film guide of any paper. Montreal would suck without our beloved Ricky!

Mia Donovan & Kris Steeves

Letter writer Johanna Paradis ["Motion sickness," Jan. 20] should consider herself fortunate that the Mirror gives us a fresh dose of Trembles' staggeringly original artistry every week, absolutely free. And she should be apprised of the fact that not only has Mr. Trembles been a legendary figure in both Montreal's music and comic scenes for the past 20 years, he has had his work published in several of Europe's most forward-thinking comics anthologies, perhaps most tellingly in the recent Comix 2000. This 2,000-page collection of wordless comics from around the world is published by L'Association, an organization that is no doubt familiar to someone as well-versed in the arts as Ms. Paradis.

She also mentions for unfathomable reasons that she has only recently moved to Montreal--yet more cause for alarm as the average IQ of the city has dropped a few notches.

Jamie Salomon