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Strobel's unauthorized action, which earned him a slap on the wrist from the EPA and Montana State, as well as the disapproval of most U.S. scientists, was not in itself dangerous -- federal officials and researchers alike agree on that. But by sidestepping the arduous regulatory process, Strobel fanned the fears of those who think genetically altered bugs might behave unpredictably in the wild, setting off an ecological catastrophe or disrupting local ecosystems. Most scientists consider the public's fears exaggerated, but they nonetheless acknowledge the need for caution. Says David Drahos, a senior research group leader at Monsanto...
...injected the elms with genetically altered bacteria in an attempt to treat them for Dutch elm disease. The experiment had shown encouraging results, but it was, he acknowledged, an act of civil disobedience that was in violation of Environmental Protection Agency regulations. After receiving a reprimand from the EPA and a warning that any similar experiments in the next year must be co-sponsored by another investigator and receive special permission from the university, Strobel requested that the elms be disposed of to end controversy over his actions. His troubles, however, were not yet over. At week's end University...
Disturbing new evidence emerged last week that Strobel had released altered bacteria into the environment prior to his experiment with the elms. In an Aug. 10 letter to the EPA, Strobel admitted he had released a "new strain of Rhizobium meliloti . . . in South Dakota, Montana, California and Nebraska in 1983-84." The Rhizobium had been altered to enhance nitrogen fixation in alfalfa plants. Though it is not yet clear that those experiments violated regulations in force at the time, they are under investigation by Montana State and the EPA...
Strobel admits that his frustration with the maze of federal rules and the often lengthy EPA approval process led him to start the elm test last June. Geneticist Duane Jeffery of Brigham Young University likens Strobel's actions to Oliver North's, contending that the scientist knew the rules and pulled the idealistic stunt "in the name of service to humanity." Strobel is a recognized expert on plant pathogens who once wrote that his career choice "was brought on by a desire as a teenager to understand why the chestnut trees had died in my home state of Ohio...
...EPA peremptorily added the antibiotic to its hazardous-substances roll call in 1985, using misinformation from another agency. The listing sets strictures only on the warehousing of more than 10,000 lbs. of the substance in one place. Even so, it is particularly vexing to a leading maker of bacitracin, New Jersey-based A.L. Laboratories, which is fighting to have the EPA erase its mistake. EPA officials say their administrative process is grinding its way to a decision on whether to make the change. But even they concede that things could drag on for at least another month before...