Six months ago Dr. Pusztai voiced his concern in a TV programme that present testing
procedures to establish the safety of foodstuffs containing genetically modified (GM)
material may not be adequate. Two days later he was suspended by the Rowett Research
Institute, Aberdeen, for being responsible for the release of misleading information,
gagged and threatened by legal action if he spoke out in his own defence. All his
scientific data were confiscated and, to establish whether or not he had committed
fraud, an Audit Committee was set up. Its remit was to investigate whether, as
Dr. Pusztai claimed, the growth and immune responsiveness of rats fed diets
containing GM potatoes was depressed. Regrettably, although a Report was written on
the conclusion made by the Audit Committee, this has only been discussed by selected
people in line with the Rowett's original intention that "these new findings will
not be released by the Institute but will be scrutinized by collaborating groups
of scientists and official expert committees". Unfortunately, neither the results
of the GM research nor of the Audit have been fully revealed. Instead, several
months later the Rowett published a summary of the conclusions of the Audit
Report which stated unequivocally that Dr. Pusztai's conclusions were not justified
by his experimental data.

Those of us who have known Dr. Pusztai's work or have collaborated with him, were
shocked by the harshness of his treatment by the Rowett and even more by the
impenetrable secrecy surrounding these events. It is an unacceptable code of
practice by the Rowett and its Director, Professor James, to set themselves up as
arbiters or judges of the validity of data which could have such a profound importance
not only for scientists, but also for the public and its health. Fortunately, to comply
with the Audit rules, the Rowett had to return Dr. Pusztai's data and give him the
right to comment on the Audit Report. Although the results included in this report
appeared to be arbitrarily selected and biased towards brushing aside the conclusions
of his experimental findings, the data contained within the Audit Report itself
nevertheless showed very clearly that the transgenic GNA-potato had significant
effects on immune function and this alone is sufficient to vindicate entirely
Dr. Pusztai's statements. Dr. Pusztai decided to make his response to the Director
of the Rowett and SOAEFDS (Scottish Office, who funded the project) in the form of
an Alternative Report. However, the existence of his Report has never been acknowledged.
In the interest of transparency and to follow the tradition of scientific exchange of
views and data between scientists, and to peer-review his findings before publication,
a number of independent scientists approached Dr. Pusztai with the view to study his
results in detail and have given us their written reviews.

The independent scientists who have reviewed Dr. Pusztai's data and case, and who
agreed with the content of this Memorandum, are:

Prof. K. Baintner, Department of Physiology, Pannon Agricultural University, Kaposvar, Hungary
Prof. J. Cummins, Emeritus Prof. Genetics, Ontario, Canada
Dr. S.W.B. Ewen, Department of Pathology, Aberdeen Royal Hospitals, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Prof. R. Finn, Department of Medicine, The University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Dr. M.F. Fuller, Stony Brook, New York, USA
Prof. B.C. Goodwin, Schumacher College, Dartington, Devon, United Kingdom
Dr. J. Hoppichler, Federal Institute for Less-Favoured and Mountainous Areas, Vienna, Austria
Dr. C.V. Howard, Fetal and Infant Toxico-Pathology, The University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Dr. J. Koninkx, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht,
The Netherlands.
Prof. A. Krogdahl, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo, Norway
Dr. K. Lough, Bankhead, Aberdeen, Scotland (formerly of the Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen,
Scotland, UK)
PD. Dr. D. Mayer, Heidelberg, Germany
Prof. F.V. Nekrep, Biotechnical Faculty, Zootechnical Department, University of Ljubljana, Slovenija
Prof. S. Pierzynowski, Department of Animal Physiology, University of Lund, Sweden
Prof. S. Pongor, Protein Structure and Function Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering
and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy
Prof. I. Pryme, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Norway
Prof. J. Rhodes, Gatroenterology Research Group, The University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Dr. L. Rubio, Department of Animal Nutrition, Estacion Experimental del Zaidin, Granada, Spain
Prof. M. Sajgo, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Godollo University of Agriculture, Hungary
Prof. U. Schumacher, Department of Neuroanatomy, University of Hamburg, Germany
Dr. B. Tappeser, Institute for Applied Ecology, Freiburg, Germany

The reviews written by these scientists allowed us to compare the conclusions of both
the Audit and the Alternative Reports and to establish the validity of Dr. Pusztai's
claims. No data will be given here but, as in any referee's report, we give our summary
assessment and conclude that the data would be acceptable for scientific papers. In light
of the personal harm done to Dr. Pusztai we conclude also that it is imperative to make
available the reviews as well as our conclusion to the public, either as publications in
scientific journals or otherwise. There is no doubt in our minds that the reviews will
remove the stigma of alleged fraud and will restore Dr. Pusztai's scientific credibility.

We are of the opinion that although some of the results are preliminary, they are
sufficient to exonerate Dr. Pusztai by showing that the consumption of GNA-GM-potatoes
by rats led to significant differences in organ weight and depression of lymphocyte
responsiveness compared to controls. There was also strong evidence that GNA-GM tubers
were not substantially equivalent to parent potatoes and indeed the two lines of
GNA-GM-potatoes in the study were also different. This makes a very strong case for the
necessity of performing further work to elucidate the toxico-pathological importance of
these findings. Unfortunately, as publication of scientific papers is a long-drawn out
process, and as there is an urgent need to bring these data into the public arena right
now such that the safety and hazards presented by GM crops could be properly debated and
assessed, we decided to publish this Memorandum.

Signed by:

Prof. E. Van Driessche
Laboratory of Protein Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

and

Prof. T.C. Bøg-Hansen
The Protein Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

1999, February 12
Press release


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