Andy Guertin 1/22/2013
Environmental Issues EG481 Week 6 Assignment

Biotechnology Genetic Modification (GM) is to introduce desirable traits in an organism. Genetic modification of food has been practiced for centuries through conventional selective cross breeding. With great advancements in technology, genetic engineering is now used to improve food quality. Genetic engineering has everything to do with the transfer and disposal of genetic material and enabling specific genes to be transferred between related and non-related organisms or the transfer of genes between non-related species is only possible with genetic engineering. Using old conventional methods of genetic modification, the desired traits are molded from natural occurring variations in genetic composition of organisms, where genetic engineering makes it possible to alter genetic material in ways that would not occur naturally. In other words, the advantages of genetic engineering include a greater scope for the development and improvement of food products. Therefore, the alteration of genetic material in anyway not found in nature has ignited public debate over the health and environmental issues of GM foods.
“Pest resistance Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Farmers typically use many tons of chemical pesticides annually. Consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards, and run-off of agricultural wastes from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the water supply and cause harm to the environment. Growing GM foods such as B.t. or Bacillus thuringiensis corn can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market” (Whitman, 2000)
The R&D safety and risk assessment process of GM foods generally covers toxicity, allergic reactions, stability of inserted gene, nutrition or toxins associated with gene modification, and unintended effects from gene insertion. The testing of GM foods has had its fair share of criticism and also has its limitations. Substantial equivalence (“Substantial equivalence is a concept, first described in an OECD publication in 1993, which stresses than an assessment of a novel food, in particular one that is genetically modified, should demonstrate that the food is as safe as its traditional counterpart” - Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries: Monitoring and Evaluation 2000: Glossary of Agricultural Policy Terms, OECD.) works under the assumption that if a GM food product has the same texture, nutrition value, taste and smell to its non-GM competitor; it is said to not to be very different at all. Unfortunately, only the GM ingredient is tested and not always the GM food. Also, current toxicity testing is based on known toxins.
The main issues for health concerns include the transfer of genes from common allergic foods and the transference of genes from GM foods to the body or bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, potentially resulting allergic reactions and or sickness. An environmental concern is the blending of genes from GM plants into conventional crops or other species out in the wild. This has once already occurred in the United States when a maize type intended only for feed appeared in maize products for human consumption. Divided GM crop fields from conventional crop fields have been implemented to reduce mixing.

Reference
Deborah B. Whitman 2000 http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php
http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=2604