Genetically engineered foods, What's up?

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Bioengineered Foods <o:p></o:p>


Definition <o:p></o:p>


Genetically engineered foods have had foreign genes inserted into their genetic codes.<o:p></o:p>


Genetic engineering can be done with plants, animals, or micro-organisms. Historically, farmers bred plants and animals for desired traits for thousands of years. They would produce dogs ranging from poodles to Great Danes, for example and roses from sweet-smelling miniatures to today's long-lasting, but scent-free reds.<o:p></o:p>


Selective breeding over time created these wide variations, but it is dependent on nature producing the desired gene and humans choosing to mate animals or plants with that gene to make the related characteristics more common or more pronounced.<o:p></o:p>


Genetic engineering allows scientists to speed this process up by moving desired genes from one plant into another -- or even from an animal to a plant or vice versa.<o:p></o:p>


Function <o:p></o:p>


Potential benefits of genetically engineered food include:<o:p></o:p>

More nutritious food <o:p></o:p>
Tastier food <o:p></o:p>
Disease and drought resistant plants that require fewer environmental resources (water, fertilizer, etc.) <o:p></o:p>
Decreased use of pesticides <o:p></o:p>
Increased supply of food with reduced cost and longer shelf life <o:p></o:p>
Faster growing plants and animals <o:p></o:p>
Food with more desirable traits, such as potatoes that absorb less fat when fried <o:p></o:p>
Medicinal foods which could be used as vaccines or other medications <o:p></o:p>

Potential risks include:<o:p></o:p>

modified plants or animals may have genetic changes that are unexpected and harmful <o:p></o:p>
modified organisms may interbreed with natural organisms and out-compete them, leading to extinction of the original organism or to other unpredictable environmental effects <o:p></o:p>
a plant less resistant to some pests may be more susceptible to others <o:p></o:p>

Food Sources <o:p></o:p>


Tomatoes, potatoes, squash, corn, and soybeans have been genetically altered through biotechnology. Many more foods have ingredients which have been engineered and more are being developed. Check with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for more information. <o:p></o:p>


Side Effects <o:p></o:p>


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates production and labeling of genetically engineered foods. Some people have raised concerns that the genes from one food that are inserted into another food may cause an allergic reaction. For instance, if peanut genes are in tomatoes, could someone with a peanut allergy react to tomatoes?<o:p></o:p>


In January 2001, the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition proposed that developers of bioengineered food submit scientific and safety information to the FDA at least 120 days before the food is marketed. Further details on these foods may be found on the FDA website.<o:p></o:p>


Recommendations <o:p></o:p>


Genetically engineered foods are generally regarded as safe. There are no reports of illness or injury due to genetically engineered foods. Each new genetically engineered food will have to be judged individually. <o:p></o:p>


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Resources <o:p></o:p>


U.S National Library Of Medicine<o:p></o:p>


U.S National Institutes Of Health

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Potential benefits of genetically engineered food include:<o:p></o:p>

More nutritious food <o:p>
Decreased use of pesticides
<o:p>Another common strategy is inserting a gene that makes the plant resistant to a particular herbicide. The herbicide normally poisons an enzyme essential for plant survival. Other forms of this normal plant enzyme have been identified that are unaffected by the herbicide. Putting the gene for this resistant form of the enzyme into the plant protects it from the herbicide. That allows farmers to treat a field with the herbicide to kill the weeds without harming the crop.

The new form of the enzyme poses no food safety issues because it is virtually identical to nontoxic enzymes naturally present in the plant. In addition, the resistant enzyme is present at very low levels and it is as easily digested as the normal plant enzyme.

Modifications have also been made to canola and soybean plants to produce oils with a different fatty acid composition so they can be used in new food processing systems. Researchers are working diligently to develop crops with enhanced nutritional properties.

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FDA Consumer: <CITE>You mentioned allergies. Certain proteins can cause allergies, and the genes being put in these plants may carry the code for new proteins not normally consumed in the diet. Can these foods cause allergic reactions because of the genetic modifications?</CITE>

Dr. Henney: I understand why people are concerned about food allergies. If one is allergic to a food, it needs to be rigorously avoided. Further, we don't want to create new allergy problems with food developed from either traditional or biotech means. It is important to know that bioengineering does not make a food inherently different from conventionally produced food. And the technology doesn't make the food more likely to cause allergies.

Fortunately, we know a lot about the foods that do trigger allergic reactions. About 90 percent of all food allergies in the United States are caused by cow's milk, eggs, fish and shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, and legumes, especially peanuts and soybeans.

To be cautious, FDA has specifically focused on allergy issues. Under the law and FDA's biotech food policy, companies must tell consumers on the food label when a product includes a gene from one of the common allergy-causing foods unless it can show that the protein produced by the added gene does not make the food cause allergies.

We recommend that companies analyze the proteins they introduce to see if these proteins possess properties indicating that the proteins might be allergens. So far, none of the new proteins in foods evaluated through the FDA consultation process have caused allergies. Because proteins resulting from biotechnology and now on the market are sensitive to heat, acid and enzymatic digestion, are present in very low levels in the food, and do not have structural similarities to known allergens, we have no scientific evidence to indicate that any of the new proteins introduced into food by biotechnology will cause allergies

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