How Genetically Modified Foods Are Made - Expert

Yesterday, we ran the story of how Genetically Modified Foods have infiltrated the Nigerian market and the potential adverse effects they may have on health. In today's follow-up, we present an expose of how GMOs are made. It was sent in by an expert from International Service For The Aquisition Of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA).
A GM or transgenic crop is a plant that has a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.
For example, a GM crop can contain a gene(s) that has been artificially inserted instead of the plant acquiring it through pollination.
The resulting plant is said to be “genetically modified” although in reality all crops have been “genetically modified” from their original wild state by domestication, selection, and controlled breeding over a long periods of time.
GM crops are made through a process known as genetic engineering. Genes of commercial interest are transferred from one organism to another. Two primary methods currently exist for introducing transgenes into plant genomes. The first involves a device called a ‘gene gun.’ The DNA to be introduced into the plant cells is coated onto tiny particles. These particles are then physically shot onto plant cells. Some of the DNA comes off and is incorporated into the DNA of the recipient plant. The second method uses a bacterium to introduce the gene(s) of interest into the plant DNA.
Most of the research on GM crops has been carried out in developed countries, mainly in North America and Western Europe. However, many developing countries, Nigeria included, have also established the capacity for genetic engineering or a market for GMO foods.
 With every new emerging technology, there are potential risks. These include:

• The danger of unintentionally introducing allergens and other antinutrition factors in foods
• The likelihood of transgenes escaping from cultivated crops into wild relatives
• The potential for pests to evolve resistance to the toxins produced by GM crops
• The risk of these toxins affecting nontarget organisms.

Where legislation and regulatory institutions are in place, there are elaborate steps to precisely avoid or mitigate these risks. It is the obligation of the technology innovators (i.e., scientists), producers, and the government to assure the public of the safety of the novel foods that they offer as well as their benign effect on the environment.

Categories: Food And Nutrition