Transgenic maize to cure HIV/AIDS

Scientific Blogging has an interesting article entitled “Will Corn Help Cure AIDS?” The article is about study findings released in April - by scientists from the Universidad de Lleida (University of Lleida) in Spain -which detail how transgenic maize (corn) can be used to cure HIV/AIDS, a debilitating disease that has killed millions in especially poor countries. The findings are published in the Plant Science Journal.

The scientists explain that maize seeds will be genetically engineered with the 2G12 antibody, which is known to neutralize infection from the virus, and will act as a producer of antibodies that in turn will prevent HIV transmission.

This, to say the least, is a landmark scientific breakthrough. Maize is a staple crop in many parts of the world, including Africa. Africa, which is heavily afflicted by HIV/AIDS, stands to gain from this new maize variety.

The latest report by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS shows that in 2007, about two thirds of new HIV/AIDS infections occurred in Africa. Currently, anti-retroviral drugs remain the preferred choice of managing this pandemic. But they remain beyond the reach of many HIV/AIDS despite the ongoing campaign by mainly the William J Clinton Foundation to bring their prices down by almost half.

It, now, remains to be seen if Africa will be receptive of this new maize variety. Lately, there’s has been a lot of debate about benefits of genetically modified foods. Africa has been sulked into this debate with unimpressive results. African countries, except South Africa, remain adamant to embrace genetically modified crops ostensibly because they pose threat to human health and the environment. These allegations have not been verified scientifically. In fact, there’s no known scientific study that has reinforced these fears. This might explain why more farmers, according to the latest report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), are cultivating GM crops.

Africa better reviews its positions on transgenic crops. It stands to benefit immensely from careful and thoughtful consideration of them. It’d be advisable for Africa to listen to experts on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) rather than rubble rousers whose only motive is to confuse farmers.

It will be absurd for countries like the U.S. and Canada - which have not been seriously afflicted by the HIV/AIDS - to be the ones that’ll grow and then sell transgenic maize to cure HIV/AIDS to African countries.