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Genetically Modified Organisms – GMO
Cornell University's Genetically Engineered Organisms Public Issues Education Project provides the following definition of genetic engineering (GE), the process of creating Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO):
"GE is the process of copying a gene from one living organism (bacteria, plant, or animal) and adding it to another living organism using biotechnological methods. Genes are the instructions all living things use to build and maintain their cells. Adding a new gene to a crop may give it a trait that is useful to growers and consumers, creating plants that are more resistant to insects and disease, that simplify weed control, or that produce fruit with longer shelf life."
"In addition to their own DNA, genetically engineered plants also contain one or a few genes copied from common soil bacteria, plant viruses, or other plants. No GE foods on the market today have genes copied from animals."
The appearance of genetically modified foods in the marketplace has resulted in a firestorm of public debate, scientific discussion, and media coverage. A variety of ecological and human health concerns come with the new advances made possible by genetic modification.
What Are the Benefits?
Proponents of genetic engineering claim that genetically modified foods (GM foods or GMF) offer a way to quickly improve crop characteristics such as yield, pest resistance, or herbicide tolerance, often to a degree not possible with traditional methods. Further, GM crops can be manipulated to produce completely artificial substances, from the precursors to plastics to consumable vaccines.
What are the Risks?
The power of genetic modification techniques raises a number of issues:
Health concerns:
•unanticipated allergic responses to novel substances in foods
•transgenic DNA in plants raises the possibility of triggering cancer or increased resistance to antibiotics
Environmental dangers:
•spread of pest resistance or herbicide tolerance to weeds and wild plants,
•creation of plants that are toxic to benign or beneficial insects
•transgenic contamination of unmodified organisms
Economic considerations:
•agriculture controlled by biotechnology firms
•drive for higher profits overrides the desire to produce healthy food
There are about 40 varieties of genetically engineered crop approved for marketing in the U.S. As a result, 60-70% of the foods on your grocery shelves contain genetically engineered components.
If you want to avoid the influence of genetic engineering, your best choice is to buy fresh organic produce. If you want to buy processed foods and avoid genetically engineered ingredients, you will have to read product labels. If the label mentions any of the ingredients listed below without explicitly qualifying it as organic, then the product probably contains genetically engineered ingredients.
Products and ingredients most likely to have been genetically engineered:
•soybeans and its derivatives: soy flour, soy oil, lecithin, soy protein isolates and concentrates
•corn and its byproducts: flour, starch, oil, corn sweeteners, syrups
•canola oil
•cotton oil and fabric
•potatoes – Burbank Russet variety
•dairy products
•animal products due to consumption of genetically modified feed
•papaya
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