Claims that cigarettes made from transgenic tobacco could be effective in fighting lung cancer were withdrawn yesterday as Academia Sinica retracted its previous statements under pressure from the medical community.
"There is no such thing as a healthy cigarette. While smoking does not necessarily result in lung cancer, it will affect about 80 percent of smokers. There is a general consensus on this point," National Taiwan University Hospital intern-al medicine chief Yang Pan-chyr (
"We know that cigarettes can lead to numerous diseases, not just lung cancer. Even if cigarettes could fight lung cancer, it would still lead to other conditions. There are around 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes, so how do you break [health effects] down?" said Yeh Chin-chuan (
Chen Hueih-min (
Chen had said that tobacco could possibly serve as a "factory" for the cost-effective production of the peptide.
However, Yeh pointed out that there was no scientific evidence that transgenic tobacco could be effective in fighting cancer.
"Let scientific evidence speak. If it is really possible that cigarettes could fight cancer, then people need to know. But, so far, there is no proof of that," Yeh said.
"We will pay attention to societal responses in the future. If developing transgenic tobacco will cause societal turmoil, then we will take that into consideration," Chen said. He also asked the public not to the stand in the way of biotechnological developments.
The applications of Chen's peptide will be difficult to predict, with companies possibly using the peptide to develop cancer-fighting transgenic tobacco.
"We are applying for a patent now, and afterward the peptide could see different applications. We as patent-holders probably have some say as to the applications and could block private companies from developing `healthy' cigarettes,'" Chen said.
Meanwhile, Consumers' Foundation president Tsai Chai-pen (
"If this [Chen's report] had been issued by any other agency, I would not have paid any attention. However, these claims were issued by the Academia Sinica," Tsai said.
"This could be used as a new excuse for smoking, but what about those who have to deal with second-hand smoke? Those who don't smoke should not be subjected to smoke in public areas," Tsai said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra