Why Not Apply the Precautionary Principle?
(12 July 2005) It’s ironic that at a time when many are complaining about the difficulty in avoiding GM soya in our everyday diet that the poor soya bean has been pilloried for reasons that are remote from biotechnology. C-P refers to the warning (eg 21 June 2005, BBC Radio 4) that it would be advisable to avoid soya products at certain times of the month if one wished to become pregnant. This is because a natural chemical, genistein (found in both GM and non-GM soyas!) prevents human sperm, in vitro , from fertilising eggs. A fertile woman eating significant amounts of soya might therefore have genistein in her genital tract which could damage sperm. The warning does not only apply to soya but to beans, chickpeas, lentils and other plant foods which contain genistein. There is also a large literature on the effects of genistein and dietary soya on other diseases: cancer cells, for example, are reported to be both inhibited and stimulated by genistein. Such confusing facts are perhaps
