Genetically engineered microbes that might one day churn out biofuels, clean up toxic waste or generate new medicines need to be proved safe before they are released into the environment, a coalition of 111 environmental and social justice groups said Tuesday.

Led by the environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth, the coalition also called for stronger government regulations over extreme genetic engineering and a moratorium on the commercial use and release of lab-created organisms.

Without proper safeguards, we risk letting synthetic organisms and their products out of the laboratory with unknown potential to disrupt ecosystems, threaten human health and undermine social, economic and cultural rights, the coalition said in a new report.

The technology to manipulate the genes of bacteria, yeast and other organisms has existed since the 1970s, leading to pest-resistant crops, bacteria that produce human insulin and other breakthroughs.

But in 2010, biologist J. Craig Venter announced that his institute had invented synthetic biology by transplanting the entire genome of one bacterium into a different species, which then reproduced. While not qualifying as an entirely new organism, the lab-built microbe did fuel concerns that this technology presented new and hard-to-quantify risks.

The White House jumped in, with the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues recommending in 2010 that federal agencies adopt a middle course that encouraged enhanced oversight and careful consideration of possible risks but no new laws or regulations.

Environmental groups say those measures dont go far enough.

The field is evolving incredibly rapidly in the face of almost no regulation, said Eric Hoffman of Friends of the Earth. A moratorium puts the brakes on to allow society time to decide which applications are okay and which arent.

Representatives of the biotechnology industry say that genetically modified organisms are already adequately regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies.

I think the reports kind of silly, frankly. It makes no sense to call for a moratorium, said Brett Erickson, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group. Weve been doing genetic engineering for 30years, and weve been doing it safely. People are hyping this as something new.

The rest is here:
Environmental groups call for tighter regulation of ‘extreme genetic engineering’