Is there a scientific basis for the FDAs approval or rejection of StarLink or Roundup Ready corn?
No more so than for the approval of any GM crop. The process of assessing risk of allergenicity (the specific issue for StarLink) is dubious at best. As there is reportedly no actual test for allergenicity, government judges based on indirect indices. For all the other Bt proteins which have been approved (about 15 different crops, if memory serves), the target Bt Cry protein did not have characteristics associated with allergens. In other words, they broke down rapidly in simulated digestion studies, and were heat unstable. The DNA and amino acid sequences of the gene and protein did not show homology with known allergens — hence — safe. Now, along comes a Bt Cry protein (Cry 9C) which does show characteristics of known allergens. It does not breakdown readily, and is heat stable. So, if they approve it anyway, they will have to acknowledge the meaninglessness of the entire approval process (as pertains to food safety risk). This is not to say that Cry 9C is actually allergenic, tox
