HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0021.202 2014-2016Murashige, Laura _
From:
Michael Shintaku <nnhshintaku(Igmail.com,
Sent:
Tuesday, December 16, 2014 9:40 AM
To:
Council Testimony
Subject:
decision to appeal decision on Bill 113
Please dont appeal Judge Kamen's decision on Bill 113.
This was a misguided bill to begin with. It banned transgenic crops regardless of transgenic trait as if traits don't matter. Ms. Wille
and others kept saying there's too much we don't know, but if they had looked at the published peer-reviewed literature she would
have seen studies that show current transgenic crops are as safe and as dangerous as their nontransgenic counterparts. Banana
Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) is currently afflicting Central and East Africa. 'There are now transgenic bananas with resistance to BXW
using genes from sweet pepper. No naturally -resistant banana cultivars could be found, and ALL of our important plant diseases and
pests have that status because of a lack of natural resistance. There is now transgenic barley with drought tolerance conferred by a
maize gene, and transgenic potato with resistance to late blight conferred by a wild potato (Solanum venmrii) gene. Transgenic crops
should of course be evaluated for safety, and on a case-by-case basis. I'm sure we agree that glyphosate, insect, virus, BXW, late blight
and drought resistance are quite different trails. They should be considered and tested separately. Banning them because they arose
from a common technology is just silly.
Michael Shintaku
Professor of Plant Pathology
Comm. No. 2— / • ;�dL-
Ref. To: I I/"k
Ref. Date (]EC1 7 2014_