The issues surrounding genetically modified (GM) foods are ones filled with passion, disinformation and big money (sort of sounds like the growth hormone controversy with milk doesn’t it?). To some, this represents a huge advancement in food 
technology, for others, it’s as if Dr. Frankenstein were spreading millions of his little monsters throughout the globe and into our food supply. Well, here’s what we do know. First and most basic is that life in it’s physical form develops and is maintained per the code inherent in an organism’s DNA (aka it’s genome). Make some changes to this code and instead of brown hair you could have blond. Now even if you overrode your brown hair color by using dye you would still be a brown haired person who would produce brown hair.
Let’s move from this to a food item such as corn. If it is something that a particular bug likes to eat you could externally override this in the conventional way by spraying pesticides. But the corn (other than being covered with poison) would remain genetically the same. However, if you take it’s genome and change it, you could theoretically make a genetically altered Bt corn that had components which were toxic to the bug (sort of a plant that produces it’s own pesticides…isn’t that wonderful). So as far as the bug is concerned the corn has become toxic. And this has been achieved without polluting the environment and exposing the workers to chemical pesticides. -Huh-. That might be a very good thing. …But maybe not.
It seems that they’ve actually done this with corn. So OK we have this bug resistant corn. So now, what’s the problem?
First, this is something entirely new which may be harmless … but maybe it isn’t. Well in addition to producing substances deadly to bugs (as in the previous example) it might also be producing something that could hurt humans as well. However, so far, testing shows that GM Corns in general appear safe. But what if all it’s effects are not known? For instance, an example of possible harmful effects that were even known but missed during the FDA approval process involves medical microchips implanted into pets and humans. It seems that some old information has just now been widely disseminated indicates there may be a cancer risk associated with these devices. This information should have been reviewed before the approval process for human use finished but it wasn’t. It was missed. Regulators aren’t perfect.
A second issue is that mother nature spontaneously develops changes to the typical genome of living things (anything from subtle differences to mutations). In the wild, these are important as they allow organisms to adapt to changing environments. So say a bacterium is just about wiped out by a certain antibiotic. Maybe one in a million is born with a mutation that allows it to survive. Well, one tiny bacterium may not be much of a problem but when all the other guys are killed they have the entire environment for themselves. So they multiply and multiply without being killed by the antibiotic. This is a basic explanation of how resistant strains of bacteria develop. So the concern is, that a similar process will occur with the bugs in the cornfield as well, and we will end up with genetically modified corn as well as super bugs that now can eat it. This is the second major concern.
Now in light of this you may want to consider that classic breeding techniques is a form of genetic manipulation. If it certain traits are selected (size for instance) and propagated we can breed a normal size dog into a Great Dane. So how is this different? Well the changes are subtle and in this example the genes are all canine. In contrast, the big unknown with genetic engineering is the impact of the quantum changes being made that would never occur in nature. By this we mean that instead of breeding for a certain characteristic we are splicing in genes from entirely different species (such inserting genes from a soil dwelling microorganism into the genome of corn to develop the Bt GM Strain, see the link later in this article for more information). Such a radical change is what concerns many people who feel that genetic engineering is so way out of the league of classical breeding techniques that it’s incomparable. Try breeding a microorganism with corn in the normal world.
A third major concern is that you cannot effectively contain the genome of genetically modified plants once they are on the farm. The corn for instance spreads it’s pollen by means of wind and insects. It has been documented that the modified genes of souped up corn turn up in conventional corn miles away. So if it is a monster, and I’m not necessarily saying that it is, it could easily spread itself indiscriminately. And if anyone isn’t too worried about a few mile spread they should consider Dutch Elm Disease distributed by beetles that just about wiped out all the elms from vast areas of the USA. Mother nature is patient and unrelenting. A modest spread occurring year after year adds up to something significant before you know it.
Then there’s the other issues that should be considered. For instance some genetically modified corn is made to withstand greater amounts of pesticides…Great, just what we need…Also, there have been instances where genetically modified food has accidentally made it’s way into our food supply. And finally you are most likely consuming some genetically modified food right now without your knowledge. So maybe the Pandora’s Box is already opened.
So it seems that there’s an incredible potential with this technology and it could be a very good thing. In fact many studies seem to attest to GM Food’s Safety, however many feel that more work needs to be done and allergenicity is one area where problems may surface. Also, there are efforts to address the concerns of the development of super bugs and genetic pollution to other crops by regulations in some countries to incorporate non-GM crops into the farm, buffer zones and terminator approaches. These are sensible steps but imperfect. But the push for GM Food is on and there’s definately huge money behind it. But you know, I don’t want to eat a corn product from a crop that could withstand extreme levels of pesticides (not only from the residues left on the food but I don’t want to support such farming practices). And I don’t want to consume something that should be safe. Just give me something that definately is. I’ll take may chances kayaking, not at the dinner table. And I don’t want to support the growing of something that spreads it’s designer genome in an uncontrolled fashion.
And that’s one more reason for going organic. No genetically modified foods, they’re forbidden in the organic standards. That’s one of the great things I like about Organic Foods. That’s in addition to taste and being clean they promote environmentally responsible practices and that’s a very good thing. You know it’s all about risk assessment. If I’m going to die unless they insert a stint of some experimental material into me…let’s do it, the downside is worth the risk. But in terms of food, the organic option seems to work very well so why take the risk? Is this a case of small benefit at a potentially huge cost? Let’s keep things simple and basic if possible. Please research this issue, make your own informed decisions and live naturally.
