I SEE GERMANY, I SEE FRANCE
(Chicago, October 6, 2004) A white van rolls into the McCormick Place Hyatt Regency without notice. The door opens and eleven people emerge. They walk toward the hotel, appearing much like the rest of the crowd at the 2004 Nanoconference. Nothing going on here. Just checking out the latest in supermicro atomic manipulation.
Or so it seems.
The group actually belongs to a network of individuals who disrupt the business of biotech profiteering through organized protest at related conferences and events. They have a technical advisor, legal counsel and a thorough agenda. They hold regular meetings and throw well-attended fundraising events. They research corporations that put the public at risk and harass CEO’s in front of their homes. They are T.H.O.N.G. And they are here for action.
Their efforts, hopefully, will put an end to the shell-game of corporate biotechnology by requiring food manufacturers to identify and label any product containing genetically modified organisms (GMO’s). They hate genetic engineering and the “gross, tasteless food” that results from it, as specified in the “things we hate” list on their website.
Their appetite for confrontation includes nanotechnology. Loosely defined, it’s a cousin of genetic modification; the subatomic manipulation of non-living things. Today the Nanoconference attendees will witness T.H.O.N.G.’s objections in one of the most disruptive ways imaginable.
Go ahead, imagine.
For weeks, the group has studied the floor plans of the great conference center. They scouted the location several times. They performed a walk-through earlier in the day. Their movements will not betray their true intentions. They pass easily through an open door leading to a big empty corridor.
Nanotechnology became prominent when Dr. Richard Feynman, an MIT / Princeton educated physicist and future Nobel prizewinner, gave a speech titled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” during the American Physical Society’s annual meeting in 1959.
He wondered: if an individual’s entire genetic makeup is stored within a DNA strand representing a “very tiny fraction” of a cell, what’s to stop science from developing a technique to also access, store and manipulate great deals of information at a similar level?
Roughly a half-century later, consumers apply colorless zinc oxide to their noses and wear stainless fabrics on their bodies, thanks in part to nanotechnology. The answer, it seems, is that nothing will stop science from cooking microrecipes for the masses.
Except maybe T.H.O.N.G. Their literature explains, “such products have not been tested for toxicity in human beings or the environment.” It notes the recent discovery that certain nano-particles can pass through the blood brain barrier of fish.
Additional studies reveal that, when inhaled or absorbed into the body, man made particles less than one-tenth of a micron can cause long-term damage to one’s health.
To be fair, the latter fact did not result from an investigation of consumer products. It dealt with the depleted Uranium byproduct of modern weapons.
But when viewed from the bottom line, warfare, suntans, and fashion equal the same thing: huge profits. Accordingly, the 2004 Nanoconference organizers put on quite a show for the entrepreneurial gene hustlers. The cocktail is in the Grand Ballroom, exactly where the T.H.O.N.G. action is planned to happen.
They approach carefully, so as not to attract attention from the police officer at the main entrance. If something does go wrong, word will reach them before the law does. Cell phone-wielding comrades keep tabs on security throughout the area. If all goes according to plan, the conference attendees will soon have more than just money and snacks to chew on. Like, what is the real cost of what we’re chewing on?
Foods produced by genetic modification are much like the goods of nanotechnology. The main difference is that genetics refer to living organisms. Combine genes from different organisms, you got a GMO. Unofficially, they are called “Frankenfoods.”
In 2003, some 167 million acres of farmland grew crops genetically modified to resist herbicides and insecticides. Many of these fields were supplied by Monsanto, creators of “Roundup Ready Soybeans.”
Roundup. The word itself sounds like dinner call at a dude ranch. Actually it’s a weed killer, one of the company’s most popular products. Now they make seeds that can withstand it. They are “Roundup Ready.”
Those who created the organism that can “safely” take multiple hits of weed killer were probably not taking multiple hits of killer weed when they made it. Monsanto’s bag is limited to pretty much just killing. For more than 50 years, the company manufactured industrial chemicals, herbicides, and a thing called Agent Orange. They whacked the junk with dioxin, the toxin that allegedly turned Victor Yuschenko’s face into a rotten plum. They got busted numerous times, and a lot of their products were banned. But only after lurking behind a smokescreen of media trickery and legislation for years.
T.H.O.N.G. maneuvers with stealth as well. They nonchalantly arrive at a door connecting the service area to the Grand Ballroom. Assuring the employees, “we’re the entertainment,” the group proceeds through the room to another door that opens to the ballroom itself. A black curtain conceals this door — and the members of T.H.O.N.G. — from the eyes of the guests. Gathering behind it, they know they have arrived.
It’s a tough crowd, the nano-attendees. They’ve probably heard that a number of researchers, colleges and corporations praise the safety of nano-particles and GMO’s.
One Microbiologist responded to the blood brain issue by saying, “why are they concerned?” and added that the only reason she examines food labels is to determine the amount of fat they contain.
Likewise, the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences formed a committee to address GMO concerns in 2000, and it strongly defended their safety.
But it did not absolutely refute them. Their FAQ section contains such quotes as, “not all scientists everywhere agree that all GMO’s have been studied enough… when important information comes along on a label, (consumers) are likely to miss it… probably… it’s unclear…” and “it seems as if this won’t happen.”
Here is exactly where T.H.O.N.G has a problem. Do you want to eat something that carries a debated risk factor, one that is virtually – but not absolutely – refuted?
Europeans do not. Since the late 90’s, surveys show a strong anti-GMO attitude across the pond. In 1998, they purchased 2,000% less corn than they did two years earlier, a drop from 70 million bushels to three million. European “food companies, like Nestlé, Cadbury and Unilver, are scrambling to assure their customers that their products are GMO-free,” according to VegSource.com.
Unfortunately, if the worst-case scenario comes to pass, consumers may have no choice but to swallow GMO’s.
Consider the case of Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser. He lost a court battle with Monsanto for allegedly planting their seeds without paying for them. He denies any deliberate theft in the matter, claiming the wind carried Monsanto’s patented pollen from nearby fields onto his soil.
The Canadian Supreme Court thought otherwise and ordered Mr Schmeiser to pay reparations for his unauthorized use of Monsanto’s intellectual property.
Patenting a form of life is a scary thought. Failing to control it is downright monstrous.
Theoretically, GMO crops must be surrounded by “buffer” crops to prevent spreading.
If the plants in Mr. Schmeiser’s field arrived there without assistance, we’re dealing with a scientific innovation that went out of control, literally validating the Frankenfood nickname.
Will GMO’s someday ravage the countryside in a desperate search for a comparable mate, only to fail and bust into Monsanto’s offices on a dark, foggy night and decalare, “you are my creator, but I am your master; —obey!”
Probably not. But the abundance of biotech horror theories makes such consequences thinkable, especially to the members of T.H.O.N.G. Long ago these fears turned to anger, then energy. Today, after weeks of research and planning, they shall be released.
It is time to pull their pants down.
That’s right. They publicly pants themselves. They prompt an impromptu party of public pantslessness, imploring the passerby to partake in the protest, imparting positive resistance for the sake of, mostly, natural food.
They walk into the conference, form a line, drop their clothes and turn to reveal the slogan “Plenty of Room at This Bottom” written on each of their backs. An arrow pointing in the obvious direction underscores the message.
Jaws drop among the audience, some with a weird satisfaction that seems grateful to receive the attention. Somewhere a woman repeats, “Oh my God, we should keep this away from Mary. Mary should never know out about this.” Handfuls of T.H.O.N.G. postcards are launched into the air.
The pants are pulled back up and the group exits through the service area while putting their shirts back on. They encounter two security guards, who tail the last member in line. She is still shirtless. The postcards are stuck in her sleeve. In a last-ditch effort, she throws the cards in the air.
The goons take the bait, buying the group some much-needed slack. But the chase resumes by the time they reach the getaway van. Fortunately the driver has opened the doors. The group piles in and they are gone. The whole thing transpired in less than five minutes.
So are these people crazy?
Short answer: yes. Long answer: Definitely.
What do you think? They get naked in front of strangers during science seminars by day. They get naked in front of strangers during loft parties at night. And, surely, they shower naked.
But keep in mind it’s not some kind of Girls Gone Wild exhibitionism. It’s more of a noble, well-informed Girls Gone Wild spectacle, one motivated by something other than just too much alcohol, one that demands the passerby think twice about snack food.
The real question is: are they good looking?
Indeed. Gathered for a weekly meeting in Logan Square, two curvy vegans joke about things that will never touch their lips. A petite, meat-eating brunette complained that congress wants to put shirts on topless statues, calling the idea disgusting. Points well taken, but not nearly taken as well as they would have been had the pointmakers been nearly naked. They’d all look great in thongs. Even the gray-haired, self-proclaimed chain-smoking, carnivorous lawyer Just Joking Jerry would be an entertaining sight in skimpy underwear.
Intrigued? They will strike again soon. The rest of the meeting dealt with strategy for the next action. The proposed location occupies real estate much more visible than McCormick Place. So keep your eyes peeled.
In the meantime, watch what you eat. And try to keep your pants off.