Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright
Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for
Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at
http://www.immunizationinfo.org.
"Biopharm" crops, plants genetically engineered
to contain pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals, are opposed by the
Genetically Engineered Food Alert, which is a coalition of health, consumer, and
environmental groups. The coalition has filed a legal petition with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to stop the planning of such crops due to fear that
they will introduce hazardous drugs, vaccines, and industrial chemicals to the
general food supply. For example, Texas-based ProdiGene, which was developing a
pig vaccine from corn, accidentally contaminated 500,000 bushels of soybeans in
Nebraska. Since biopharm crops are important to the development of new drugs
and vaccines, researchers could be faced with growing such crops under glass or
in physical isolation, explains Arizona
StateUniversity researcher Charles Arntzen.
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"