I received the following letter yesterday afternoon---Valerie W. McClain,
IBCLC
TO: Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC
Dear Ms. McClain:
It has come to my attention that statements asserting that Martek DHASCO and
ARASCO oils are derived from a genetically modified organism have been
disseminated by you. Such statements are simply not true or accurate. These
products are not genetically engineered in any way.
I suggest that it is appropriate for you to publish a retraction of your
prior inaccurate statements and I insist that you not make any further
inaccurate statements regarding our products in the future.
This is a matter that we take very seriously. Your prompt attention to this
matter will be appreciated.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about our products
that I might answer.
Sincerely,
James P. Hoffman, MD, Medical Director
Martek Biosciences Corp.
6480 Dobbin Rd. Columbia, MD 21045
410-740-0081
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
my response---
Dear Dr. Hoffman:
I thank you for your letter suggesting that I retract my statements about
Martek DHASCO and ARASCO oils. You make the statement that these oils are
not genetically engineered in any way. I have never in my life knowingly made
statements about institutions or persons that were deliberately wrong. I
would retract my statements about Martek's oils if they were wrong.
But I would like you to review your own company's patent and point you to one
particular statement in this patent filed in 1992 called, "Infant formula and
baby food containing docosahexaenoic acid obtained from dinoflagellates, " #
5397591 which states--"Accordingly, wild type and recombinant microorganisms
designed to produce single cell oil containing DHA are an aspect of this
invention."
Thus I feel when I read this patent that recombinants are being used to
produce this oil. Are you stating that this patent is no longer in use? I
just visited the web site of the patent office today and this patent has not
been discontinued. see http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
What proof do you have that these oils are not genetically engineered? Does
the FDA inspect your oils for recombinants? If your company has proof
(documentation from an independent company) that no recombinants/genetic
engineering/clones exist in any part of the production of these oils, then
you will receive a full retraction and public apology. But the Martek patents
seem to paint another picture. It is very difficult to believe that this
technology is not being used by a company that is listed as a biotech company
on the NASDAQ.
Sincerely,
Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC
e-mail [log in to unmask]
Paragraph which states the use of recombinants:
Patent # 5397591
"Any microorganisms capable of producing a single-cell edible oil containing
DHA can be used in the present invention. For example, photosynthetic diatoms
can be used. Preferred microorganisms are marine dinoflagellates, including
Crypthecodinium sp. Especially preferred is Crypthecodinium cohnii, an
obligate heterotroph requiring a reduced carbon source for growth. C. cohnii
is preferred because it contains a fatty acid profile in which DHA is the
only PUFA present in sufficient quantities (greater than about 1% of the
total amount of PUFAs). Samples of this organism, designated MK8840, have
been deposited with the American Type Culture Collection at Rockville, Md.,
and assigned accession number 40750. As used herein, microorganism, or any
specific type of microorganism, includes wild strains, mutants or recombinant
types. Any microorganism which produces enhanced levels of oil containing DHA
is considered to be within the scope of this invention. One of the features
of the present invention is its recognition of the edible oil-producing
capability of microorganisms such as dinoflagellates and the attendant
solution to the problem of maintaining a reliable, economic source of such
oils. Accordingly, wild-type and recombinant microorganisms designed to
produce single cell oil containing DHA are an aspect of this invention. Such
recombinant organisms would include those designed to produce greater
quantities of DHA in the single cell oil, greater quantities of total oil, or
both, as compared to the quantities produced by the same wild type
microorganism, when provided with the same substrates. Also included would be
microorganisms designed to efficiently use more cost-effective substrates
while producing the same amount of single cell oil containing DHA as the
comparable wild-type microorganism."
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