What are genetically Engineered/ Modified Food?

Genetically-modified food is produced from plants and animals which have had their genes changed in the laboratory by scientists. All living organisms have genes written in their DNA. They are the chemical instructions for life and all the organism’s functions. By modifying the genes, the scientists can change the characteristics of an organism. Most often, these modifications to our food are for economic reasons. To create GM crops, genes from bacteria, viruses, plants, animals and even humans have been inserted into plants such as soybeans, corn, canola and cotton. For example scientists wanted to increase the frost tolerance of strawberries so they inserted the “anti-freeze” gene of a cold water fish into the DNA of the strawberry, in effect producing fishberries, a life form that would never occur in nature.



Why is it Different from Traditional Crossbreeding?

For thousands of years farmers have engaged in what termed as traditional breeding, favoring seeds from plants with favorable characteristics and creating new plant types from cross-breeding closely-related species. Genetic engineering is more specific. It gives scientists the ability to select a single gene for a single characteristic and transfer that stretch of DNA from one organism to another. For example, a tomato variety was developed by Calgene to switch off the gene which triggers it to produce a chemical that makes the fruit go soft and then rot.



What are the Dangers

Genetic engineering is experimenting with very delicate, yet powerful forces of nature without full knowledge of the repercussions. Yet, once it is introduced into the food system there is no way of getting it out of it as insects, birds, and wind can carry genetically altered seeds into neighboring fields and beyond. All crops are vulnerable to contamination from cross-pollination from transgenic plants.



Health Concerns

Manufacturers of genetically altered foods are exposing humanity to one of the largest uncontrolled experiments in history. We are all guinea pigs in this genetic experiment with our food. Some possible risks:



No long term safety testing

Genetic engineering uses material from organisms that have never been part of the human food supply to change the nature of the food we eat. Without long term testing and controlled scientific research no one knows if these foods are safe. We really do not know the long term and latent affect these foods will have on our health.



Allergic Reactions

By inserting foreign DNA into common foods, without adequate safety testing, genetic engineering can also produce unforeseen and unknown allergens in food. Given that genes can be introduced from unrelated species the possibilities of allergies are greater than with traditionally bred crops.



Toxins

Familiar foods could become metabolically dangerous or even toxic. Genetic engineering could upset complex biochemical networks and create new bioactive compounds or change the concentrations of those normally present. These unexpected mutations can create new or higher levels of toxins making them poisonous to human health.



Antibiotic Resistance

Another potential hazard to human health is the possibility that bacteria in our guts could pick up antibiotic resistant genes found in GM foods. These genes are inserted into GM plants as “markers” to tell scientists which plants have taken up the exotic genes. If this transfer happens it could exacerbate the already worrisome spread of ‘superbug’ bacteria that have proven to withstand our antibiotics.




Decreased Nutritional Value

Genetically altered foods may mislead consumers with counterfeit freshness. A luscious looking, bright red GM tomato could be several weeks old and of little nutritional value even though it looks as though it was picked off the vine hours before.



Environmental Risks

We are opening a Pandora’s box with GM technology. Raising GM crops is an uncontrolled experiment with unknown consequences for surrounding eco-systems.



Biological Pollution

Unlike chemicals that are released into the environment, genetically engineered organisms are living things that will reproduce and spread uncontrollably and at will, with little possibility of containment or clean up. These are not natural organisms, but have been made in a lab and will destroy or at best upset the fragile ecological balance



Super Weeds

GM crops can cross-pollinate with related weeds, resulting in super weeds that are impossible to control. These weeds are immune to a broad spectrum weed killer after crossing with and assuming the herbicide- resistant gene from the GM plant. This will not only increase the use of topical herbicides but will stimulate demand for stronger, more toxic herbicides.



Super Bugs

Insects could become resistant to the pesticides engineered into GM crops. This would mean developing new, stronger, more toxic chemical pesticides to fight these pesticide tolerant super bugs.



Toxicity to Wildlife

Insects and birds will be the first in the animal food chain to be affected by GM crops. They will be exposed to a range of genetically engineered chemicals, drugs, enzymes and hundreds of other foreign substances for the first time, and there is no telling how they will be affected in the short or long term. These substances will then be passed up through the food chain to affect all the wild life in a given eco-system. Humans in turn will get affected, but as so often, by the time we realize what has happened, it may be too late.

DDT was hailed as the solution to all pests and it was not till years later that we realized that it was cancer causing and destroying a lot more than just the bugs we were targeting.



Loss of Biodiversity

In the world of genetic engineering we would not need hundreds of different varieties of a crop because all the properties and features can be in a single plant. For example you would not need one species of corn for hot climates and another for cold or one that is drought resistant and another to withstand flooding. All of these unique features can be in a single plant. In the end many species would become extinct. It may only be years after they are extinct that we realize that we have destroyed some features we may still need.



Ethical Questions

Fiddling with the genetic make up of plants and animals is unnatural. Nature takes millions of years to effect genetic change, so do we have the right to make changes overnight and substitute human for natural selection? Do we have the right to play God, to restructure irreversibly the genetic blueprints of the Earth’s plants and animals? Are we playing Creator?



Fixing Perfection

Are we trying to fix something which isn’t broken? Are we trying to change the course of nature for a good enough purpose? Manipulating the very building blocks of life in order to extend shelf life, is that a good reason?



Religious Concerns

Genetic engineering offends deeply held beliefs of a number of different faiths. A Hindu vegetarian may not wish to eat a vegetable bearing an animal gene and likewise, a muslim may not think it right to eat a tomatoe carrying the gene of a pig. Genetic manipulation hits at the very core of our belief systems and deprives us of the comfort and the assurance that the food we eat complies with our dietary obligations. Are these beliefs going to be secondary to the potential profits of large ago-business?