Genetically engineered foods

 Genetically modified foods are commonly refer to as modified crops and plants grown for human consumption, modification of crops is at genetic level, that is why these are called GE (genetically engineered food) or some time GMO (genetically modified organism). These plants have been modified in the laboratory using molecular biology techniques to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides and pesticides and drastic climatic conditions or improved nutritional content.  Genetic engineering can create plants with the desired trait with great accuracy. For example, plant geneticists can isolate a gene responsible for drought tolerance and insert that gene into a different plant, so to make plant drought tolerant. The best known example of this is the use of B.t. genes in corn and other crops. B.t., or Bacillus thuringiensis, is a naturally occurring bacterium that produces crystal proteins that are lethal to insect larvae. B.t. crystal protein genes have been transferred into corn, enabling the corn to produce its own pesticides against insects such as the European corn borer.

Benefits of GE foods

1.    Pest resistance :

Crop loss due to insects is the major problem in storing food grains. Consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards. Developing GM foods such as B.t. corn can eliminate the use of chemical pesticides.

2.    Herbicide tolerance:

Physical means such as tilling, for removal of weeds is not up to the mark and is not cost effective,  thus a large quantity of herbicides are used now a days, but the impact of these chemicals was also seen during processing of food, which is in turn not a good indication for consumer health.Genetically-engineered plants can be resistant to very powerful herbicide, could help prevent environmental damage by reducing the amount of herbicides needed. For example, Monsanto has created a strain of soybeans, which is resistant to herbicides.

3.    Disease resistance :

There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases. Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to these diseases.

4.    Phytoremediation:

 Not all GM plants are grown as crops. Soil and groundwater pollution continues to be a problem in all parts of the world. Plants such as poplar trees have been genetically engineered to clean up heavy metal pollution from contaminated soil.

5.    Nutrition:

 Malnutrition is common developing and under developing countries. But the problem can be solved by using GE foods that are cost effective and are rich in nutrition. For example swiss federal institute developed “golden" rice containing an unusually high content of beta-carotene (vitamin A).

Disadvantages of GE foods:

   Environmental activists, religious organizations, public interest groups, professional associations and other scientists and government officials have all raised concerns about GM foods. This is now the burning debate among most of the scientists and activists that has entered the mainstream media in a lot of countries. A lot of food that we eat today contains genetically modified ingredients and usually without our knowledge. 

According to the report and article in GLOBAL ISSUES, Critics believe:

·         The problem of food shortages is a political and economic problem.

·         Food shortages and hunger are -- and will be -- experienced by the poorer nations.

·         GE Food is an expensive technology that the farmers of the developing nations would not be able to afford easily.

·         Patenting laws go against the poor around the world and allow biotech companies to benefit from patenting indigenous knowledge often without consent.

·         This is a very young and untested technology and may not be the answer just yet.

·         Crop uniformity, which the biotech firms are promoting, will reduce genetic diversity making them more vulnerable to disease and pests. This furthers the need for pesticides (often created by the same companies creating and promoting genetically engineered crops).

Some main hazards that are believed to be with GE foods are:

·  Unintended harm to other organisms

Last year a laboratory study was published in Nature showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear is that if pollen from B.t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in neighboring fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish.

·  Reduced effectiveness of pesticides:

                Many people are concerned that insects will become resistant to B.t. or other crops that have been genetically-modified to produce their own pesticides.

· Development of superweeds:

Crop plants engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance genes from the crops into the weeds. These "superweeds" would then be herbicide tolerant as well.

                     Besides that various human health hazards has also reported like alllergenicity, like A proposal to incorporate a gene from Brazil nuts into soybeans was abandoned because of the fear of causing unexpected allergic reactions. There is a growing concern that introducing foreign genes into food plants may have an unexpected and negative impact on human health. Recent scientific studies examined the effects of GM potatoes on the digestive tract in rats.  This study claimed that there were appreciable differences in the intestines of rats fed GM potatoes and rats fed unmodified potatoes.