Food Biotechnology | Genetically Engineered Food and Its Effects

Farmers had been using the long process of selective breeding of plants and animals for years. The scene is very different now. Farmers now have the option of no longer have to wait for this time consuming process to happen, nor must they have to respect natural lines of reproduction among species.

Lab scientists can now copy genes from any organism and insert them into another organism-plant, animal or microbe.

The entire industry is changing and it appears to me , as a result of this, the way we receive our nutrients, phytochemicals and drugs is also changing. What effect will this have on our health in the immediate future and in generations to come? After all, we are what we eat. (I hope not)

There are significant advantages to genetically engineered food.

Among the first products of genetic engineering to hit the market were tomatoes that stay firm and ripe longer than regular tomatoes that are normally picked when they are green and ripened in stores. These genetically modified tomatoes promise less waste and higher profits. Typically, tomatoes produce a protein that softens them after they have been picked. Scientists can now introduce a gene into a tomato plant that is a mirror image of the one that codes for the "softening" enzyme. This gene fastens itself to the RNA of the native gene and blocks synthesis of the softening protein. Without this protein, the genetically altered tomato softens more slowly than a regular tomato, enabling farmers to harvest it at its most flavorful and nutritious vine-ripe stage.

Genetic engineering also helps to process foods more efficiency, which is a big money saver. For example, the protein rennin , which is used to coagulate milk in the production of cheese. Rennin has traditionally been made in the stomachs of calves which is a costly process. Now scientists can insert a copy of the rennin gene into bacteria and then use bacterial cultures to mass produce rennin. This saves time, money, space and animals.

Genetic engineering can also bypass costly food-processing steps. At present, people who are lactose intolerant can buy milk that has been treated with the lactase enzyme. It would be more convenient and less expensive if scientists could induce cows to make lactose-free milk directly-that's what they're working on. They have already successfully inserted the genetic material into mice to make lactase in their mammary glands, thereby producing a low-lactose milk. Another future possibility is growing coffee beans without caffeine present.

Instead of manufacturers adding nutrients to food during processing, plants can be genetically altered to do their own fortification work-a strategy called "biofortification". Soybeans can be implanted with a gene that upgrades soy protein into a higher quality protein like that found in milk. Corn can be modified to contain lysine and tryptophan, its two limiting amino acids. Soybeans and canola plants can be genetically modified to alter the composition of their oils, making them richer in the heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids. Scientists have engineered "golden rice", which has received genes from a daffodil and a bacterium that enable it to make beta-carotene. This offers some promise in helping to correct a worldwide Vitamin A deficiency.

Enhancing the chemical composition of plants in not limited to the essential nutrients. Genetically modified crops can also produce more of the phytochemicals that help maintain health and reduce the risks of chronic disease.

Genetic research today has progressed well beyond tweaking a gene here and there to produce a desired trait. Scientists can now clone animals. By doing this, they have the ability to produce needed food and pharmaceutical products. Using animals and other organisms in the development of drugs is called, wouldn't you know it, "biopharming." An example of this is a cow with the genetic equipment to make a vaccine in its milk could provide both nourishment and immunization to a whole village of people now left unprotected because they lack food and medical help. Similarly, researchers have figured out how to induce bananas and potatoes to make hepatitis vaccines. They have also figured out how to make AIDS drugs from tobacco leaves. They can also harvest vaccines by genetically altering hydroponically grown tomato plants to secrete protein through their root systems into the water.

Through genetic engineering, farmers can now plant crops that are resistant to herbicides. About one-half of the soybean crops in the United States have been genetically engineered to withstand a potent herbicide. As a result, farmers can spray entire field with this herbicide, killing all the weeds without harming the soybeans.

Similarly, farmers can grow crops that produce their own herbicides-known as "plant pesticides". Corn, broccoli, and potatoes have received a gene from a bacterium that produces a protein that is toxic to leaf-chewing caterpillars (but not to people). Yellow squash has been given two viral genes that give resistance to the most common viral diseases. Potatoes can now produce a beetle-killing toxin in their leaves. These crops and many other like these are currently being grown and tested. Growing crops that make their own pesticides enables farmers to save time, increase yields, and use fewer, or less harmful, pesticides.

There are many possibilities being tested and developed right now in this industry.

Here are some examples:

• Empowering shrimp to fight disease with genetic ammunition borrowed from sea urchins.
• Irrigating crops with seawater, thus conserving dwindling fresh water supply.
• Phytochemicals that fight cancer and reduce heart disease.

There are many products that have already been developed and are awaiting FDA, USDA AND EPA approval.

Despite scientists hailing biotechnology with confidence, many consumers believe that food biotechnology will cause more harm than good. People against food biotechnology have labeled it "Frankenfoods". They believe tampering with the food produces effects that are not yet fully understood. They feel that food industry will be driven by profits, without ethical considerations or laws governing this. They say that genetic decisions are best left to the powers of nature.

Here is a list of problems that critics feel will happen if science and the marketplace are allowed to push biotechnology without restraint:

Disruption of natural ecosystems - Genetically engineered food has no natural place in the food chain and evolutionary biological systems could escape into the environment and reproduce.

Introduction of diseases - Newly created viruses could mutate and cause deadly disease. Genetically modified bacteria could resist antiobiotics rendering them useless to people.

Introduction of allergens and toxins - Genetically modified crops may have new substances that cause allergies or concentrate toxins that cause poisoning.

Creation of biological weapons - Fatal bacteria and viral diseases may be developed and used as weapons.

Ethical dilemmas - Critics ask the question, and this is very interesting, "How many human genes does an organism have to contain before it is considered human? For instance, how many human genes would a green pepper have to contain before one would have qualms about eating it?"

MY TAKE ON THIS

It is very interesting to research the arguments between the FDA, scientists and proponents and consumers against food biotechnology. I have not made a decision where I stand, but I would make one demand if I had a place in this debate. I would make it mandatory that all genetically engineered foods or products that contain genetically engineered foods MUST be labeled as such so that free societies would have a choice as to what they put in their bodies.