俄勒岡州麥田驚現(xiàn)轉(zhuǎn)基因小麥

By Dan Charles

David Greene （Host）： A farmer in Oregon has found some 1）genetically engineered wheat growing on his land. This was an unwelcome surprise， because this type of wheat has never been approved for commercial planting. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says its investigating， trying to find out how this wheat got there. The USDA says there is no risk to public health， but wheat exporters are worried about how their customers in Asia and Europe will react to this. Dan Charles has more.

Dan Charles： The biotech company Monsanto has genetically altered some of Americas biggest crops so they can tolerate the 2）weed killer 3）glyphosate， or Roundup. It did this with corn， soybeans， 4）canola and cotton. But it did not do this with wheat. It made Roundup-tolerant wheat in the laboratory， and it carried out field trials of genetically engineered wheat in 16 different states. But the countrys wheat growers told the company they did not want this 5）novel genetic 6）trait.

Steve Mercer： Part of the concern was export markets.

Charles： Steve Mercer is vice president of communications of U.S. Wheat Associates， which represents wheat growers and exporters.

Mercer： Were not in favor of commercializing any biotech trait unless its gone through 7）regulatory approvals in the U.S. and in other countries.

Charles： Many countries are quite 8）hostile to genetically engineered crops， so Monsanto dropped the wheat project. It never asked for government approval， and it ended its field trials in 2005. Fast-forward eight years. About a month ago， a farmer in Eastern Oregon noticed some wheat plants growing where he didnt expect them， and they didnt die when he 9）sprayed them with Roundup.

The farmer sent samples of these curious plants to a scientist at Oregon State University. She found that this wheat was， in fact， genetically engineered. She passed samples on to the U.S. Department of Agriculture， and yesterday， the USDA confirmed it. In a statement， the USDAs Bernadette Juarez said her agency is collecting more samples from the farm， conducting more tests. Bernadette Juarez： We have a team of 10）dedicated investigators working on the ground daily to figure out whats going on here.

Charles： Nobody knows how this wheat got there. Monsantos last field trials in Oregon were in 2001. After all such trials， the crops are supposed to be completely removed from the fields. Also， nobody knows how widely this genetically engineered wheat has spread， whether its been in fields of wheat that were harvested for food， for instance.

The USDA says even if it has， theres no danger to public health. Still， if further tests show that this unapproved wheat has spread into the food supply， it could play 11）havoc with wheat sales. In 2006， unapproved genetically engineered rice was discovered throughout the American rice harvest， and it shut down practically all exports for a while. Exporters lost millions of dollars. The wheat harvest is much bigger.

Steve Mercer from U.S. Wheat Associates says theres no indication so far that this will happen in wheat. Right now， its just a few isolated plants growing in eastern Oregon.

Mercer： Were now in the process of getting in touch with all of our customers. You know， were going to work to make sure they have all the information that they need and reassure them that this isolated trait hasnt entered commerce.

Charles： So far， he says， those customers are not making any decisions. Theyre just asking for more information.

戴維·格林（主持人）：俄勒岡州的一位農(nóng)民發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的田地里長著轉(zhuǎn)基因小麥。這并非是個受歡迎的意外收獲，因為這種小麥還沒得到批準(zhǔn)進(jìn)行商業(yè)種植。美國農(nóng)業(yè)部聲稱正在調(diào)查，試圖找出這些小麥如何到達(dá)那里的真相。美國農(nóng)業(yè)部還聲稱這種小麥對公眾健康沒有危害，但是小麥出口商擔(dān)心亞洲和歐洲客戶會對此有微詞。請聽丹·查爾斯的詳細(xì)報道。

丹·查爾斯：生物技術(shù)公司孟山都已經(jīng)利用轉(zhuǎn)基因改變了美國一些產(chǎn)量最大的農(nóng)作物，以使它們能對草甘膦，或叫農(nóng)達(dá)的除草劑具有耐受性。該技術(shù)已應(yīng)用于玉米、大豆、加拿大低酸油菜籽和棉花上，但并未用于小麥上。在實驗室里是有開發(fā)出具有農(nóng)達(dá)耐受性的麥子，并在十六個不同的州開展試驗田種植轉(zhuǎn)基因小麥。但是國內(nèi)的小麥栽培者告訴該公司他們不需要這種具有轉(zhuǎn)基因特性的新型作物。

史蒂夫·默瑟：部分的擔(dān)憂來自出口市場。

查爾斯：史蒂夫·默瑟是美國小麥協(xié)會的傳播副總監(jiān)，該協(xié)會代表了小麥種植者和出口商。

默瑟：我們不支持任何商業(yè)化的生物技術(shù)作物的生產(chǎn)，除非得到美國和其他國家監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)的批準(zhǔn)。

查爾斯：很多國家對轉(zhuǎn)基因農(nóng)作物很抵制，所以孟山都公司放棄了小麥項目。小麥項目從來沒有申請政府的批準(zhǔn)，并于2005年結(jié)束了它的試驗田。一轉(zhuǎn)眼八年過去了，大概一個月前，東俄勒岡州的一位農(nóng)民發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些轉(zhuǎn)基因的小麥作物長在他不希望它們長的地方，他用農(nóng)達(dá)除草劑噴射也沒能殺死它們。

這位農(nóng)民把這種異常作物的樣品發(fā)給俄勒岡州立大學(xué)的一位科學(xué)家，她發(fā)現(xiàn)該小麥實際上是轉(zhuǎn)基因的。她把樣品發(fā)到美國農(nóng)業(yè)部，昨天，美國農(nóng)業(yè)部確認(rèn)是轉(zhuǎn)基因小麥。在一份聲明中，美國農(nóng)業(yè)部的貝爾納黛特·華雷斯聲稱她的部門正從該農(nóng)田采集更多的樣品，進(jìn)行更多的檢驗。貝爾納黛特·華雷斯：我們成立專門研究小組，每天都在麥田里工作，找出發(fā)生在這里的事情真相。

查爾斯：沒有人知道這些小麥?zhǔn)窃鯓拥竭_(dá)那里的，孟山都公司在俄勒岡州的最后一塊試驗田是在2001年。經(jīng)過所有這些試驗后，所有的轉(zhuǎn)基因作物應(yīng)該已經(jīng)完全從試驗田撤離。而且，沒有人知道這些轉(zhuǎn)基因小麥散播范圍有多廣，比如說，是否已經(jīng)進(jìn)入到小麥糧食的田地里。

美國農(nóng)業(yè)部聲稱即使已經(jīng)散播其中，對公眾健康也沒有危害。盡管如此，如果進(jìn)一步的檢測顯示這些未獲批種植的小麥已經(jīng)散布在食物供應(yīng)里，這對小麥的銷售是一場浩劫。在2006年，未獲批的轉(zhuǎn)基因大米被發(fā)現(xiàn)散布在整個美國大米收成里，那段時間幾乎所有出口都要關(guān)閉，出口商損失數(shù)百萬美元。在小麥?zhǔn)粘煞矫嬖斐傻暮蠊麑鼑?yán)重。

美國小麥協(xié)會的史蒂夫·默瑟表示到目前為止，沒有跡象表明會發(fā)生在小麥作物上。目前，只是在東俄勒岡州發(fā)現(xiàn)一些隔離的轉(zhuǎn)基因作物。默瑟：我們現(xiàn)在正在聯(lián)系我們的所有客戶。你知道，我們準(zhǔn)備致力于確保他們掌握所需要的所有信息，并保證這些隔離物種并沒有進(jìn)入商業(yè)種植中。查爾斯：他說，到目前為止，那些客戶都沒有作出任何決定，他們只是咨詢更多的信息。