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Árpád Pusztai

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The native form of this personal name is Pusztai Árpád. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Árpád Pusztai (8 September 1930) is a Hungarian-born biochemist and nutritionist who spent 36 years at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is a world expert on plant lectins, authoring 270 papers and three books on the subject. In 1998 Pusztai publicly announced that the results of his research showed feeding genetically modified potatoes to rats had negative effects on their stomach lining and immune system. This led to Puztai being suspended and his annual contract was not renewed. The resulting controversy became known as the Pusztai affair.

Biography

Árpád Janos Pusztai was born in Budapest, Hungary on 8 September 1930. He obtained a diploma in Chemistry in 1953 from the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He then worked for three years as an Associate Scientist at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences before the Hungarian revolution against Soviet control in 1956.[1] After the failed revolution Árpád Pusztai escaped to a refugee camp in Austria and from there made his way to England.[2] He completed his doctorate in biochemistry at the Lister Institute in London and continued there with his post-doctorate. In 1963 he was invited to join the Protein Research Department at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. Pusztai worked at the Rowett Institute for the next 36 years, predominately studying plant lectins. During that time he discovered glycoproteins in plants, authored over 270 research papers, published 3 books[2] and was considered an "internationally renowned expert on lectins".[3] He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1988 and has received fellowships from the Leverhulme Trust.[1] Árpád Pusztai is married to Dr Susan Bardocz, a colleague he met at the Rowett Institute, and they have two daughters.[4]

Puztai affair

Main article: Pusztai affair

In 1995 the Árpád Puzstai began research on genetically modified potatoes containing the GNA lectin gene from the snowdrop plant.[2] His group fed rats on raw and cooked genetically modified potatoes, using Desiree Red potatoes as controls. In 1998 Árpád Puzstai said in an interview on a World in Action programme that his group had observed damage to the intestines and immune systems of rats fed the genetically modified potatoes. He also said "If I had the choice I would certainly not eat it", and that "I find it's very unfair to use our fellow citizens as guinea pigs".[4]

This resulted in a media frenzy, and Rowett Institute's director Philip James, after initially supporting Pusztai, suspended him and banned both Puztai and Susan Bardocz from speaking publicly. He also used misconduct procedures to seize the raw data.[4] The Rowett Institute published an audit criticizing Pusztai's results[5] and sent the raw data to six anonymous reviewers who also criticized Pusztai's work.[6][7] Pusztai responded that the raw data was "never intended for publication under intense scrutiny".[4] Pusztai sent the audit report and his rebuttal to scientists who requested it, and in February 1999, twenty-one European and American scientists released a memo supporting Pusztai.[8]

Pusztais experiment was eventually published in The Lancet in 1999.[9] Due to the controversial nature of his research the paper was reviewed by six reviewers - three times the usual number. One publicly opposed the paper, another thought it was flawed, but wanted it published "to avoid suspicions of a conspiracy against Pusztai and to give colleagues a chance to see the data for themselves" while the other four raised questions that were addressed by the authors.[10] The paper reported significant differences between the thickness of the gut epithelium of rats fed genetically modified potatoes, compared to those fed the control diet.[9]

Aftermath

Puzstai's annual contract at Rowett was not renewed following the incident and he moved back to Hungary. He has been giving lectures on his results from the GM potato work and on the dangers in general of genetic engineering of crop plants.[11] In 2005, he received the Whistleblower Award from the German Section of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and the Federation of German Scientists (VDW).[1][12] In 2009, Puztai and his wife received the Stuttgart peace prize (Stuttgarter Friedenspreis).[13][14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Dieter Deiseroth, Annegret Falter (Hrsg.) (2006). Whistleblower in Gentechnik und Rüstungsforschung Preisverleihung 2005: Theodore A. Postol, Árpád Pusztai. VMW. ISBN 978-3-8305-1262-2.
  2. ^ a b c Rowell, Andrew (2003). Don't worry, it's safe to eat: the true story of GM food, BSE, & Foot and Mouth. Earthscan. ISBN 1853839329.
  3. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1177/0162243906293885, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1177/0162243906293885 instead.
  4. ^ a b c d "Árpád Pusztai: Biological Divide – James Randerson interviews biologist Árpád Pusztai". London: The Guardian. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  5. ^ Bourne, F.J., et al (1998) Audit Report Overview Rowett Research Institute, 28 October 1998, Retrieved 28 November 2010
  6. ^ Bowden, Rebecca Six referees comments on Pusztai potato data e-mail from Royal Society to Pusztai, 10 May 1999, Retrieved 28 November 2010
  7. ^ Murray, Noreen et al, (1999) Review of data on possible toxicity of GM potatoes The Royal Society, 1 June 1999, Retrieved 28 November 2010
  8. ^ Enserink, M. (1999). "BIOENGINEERING: Preliminary Data Touch Off Genetic Food Fight". Science. 28 (5405): 1094. doi:10.1126/science.283.5405.1094. PMID 10075564. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
  9. ^ a b Ewen SW, Pusztai A (1999). "Effect of diets containing genetically modified potatoes expressing Galanthus nivalis lectin on rat small intestine". Lancet. 354 (9187): 1353–4. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(98)05860-7. PMID 10533866. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Martin Enserink The Lancet Scolded Over Pusztai Paper Science 22 October 1999: Vol. 286. no. 5440, p. 656 DOI 10.1126/science.286.5440.656a
  11. ^ The Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy
  12. ^ "Federation of German Scientists" (PDF).
  13. ^ "Stuttgarter Friedenspreis 2009: Prof. Dr. Arpad Pusztai" (in German). Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  14. ^ NJ Jaeger (December 2009). "Global to local: Stuttgart Peace Prize honors GMO whistleblowers". LA Examiner.

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