Originally published by The Ontarion
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as food industry plants or animals that are different from the original organism because they are changed in a laboratory setting to include beneficial characteristics for the organism and the consumer. Alterations done to food products often include genes that will allow them to survive against pests, for instance. An excellent example of a GMO would be Golden Rice, which is a specific rice species, Oryza sativa, whose β-carotene gene has been activated and enhanced in grains.
The aforementioned chemical is one of the starting materials for the production of vitamin A, but it is not found in rice until the grain develops into leaves. Vitamin A deficiency is a major concern in South-Asian developing countries where rice is a large part of the diet. In this part of the world, Vitamin A deficiency not only contributes to poor vision, but also to a weak immune system in children. Whenever I come across people who are against GMOs, the story of Golden Rice continues to be my go-to example. I feel it encompasses exactly what science is about, a field that strives for solutions to help people and life.
Another thing that people are often surprised to learn is that we have been genetically modifying foods for centuries. Orthodox plant and animal breeding practices are so normal to us that we do not think of them as genetic modification, yet they are. Whenever a farmer chooses a crop that survived a drought or a particular pest infestation or breeds chickens that lay extra-large eggs, when compared to the rest of the coop, he or she is selecting for a particular characteristic or gene, much like scientists do in a laboratory. This new breed might grow better than the others and will be used in the future, unlike the others. Genetic modification of organisms in a laboratory setting undergoes severe regulation and testing by the governing bodies of nations, yet conventional agricultural practices do not.
Many of the concerns advocated to newly altered crops and animals, such as the rise of allergens, the lack of biodiversity, transfer of undesirable features, and mixing of altered crops with “natural” ones can also occur with conventional agricultural methods. A good, natural example of this are bananas. The Cavendish variety of bananas originates as part of conventional agricultural breeding practices. It has been selected over others because it is able to survive during transportation and survive Panama disease, a fungal infection currently affecting banana plants worldwide. As a result, we don’t get other types of sweet bananas at the grocery store. As a kid growing up in Cuba, I used to eat a lot of “plátano manzano,” a type of banana that is about half the size of the Cavendish bananas we are used to eating, and whose sweet flavour I can only describe as being close to bubble-gum. Sadly, we don’t see them too often now in Cuba because of Panama disease. Crops are afflicted by pest infestations as well as microbial infections all the time, and we continually select varieties that are resistant to these problems-only now we can also do it in laboratory setting.
Health Canada is a great governing body – much tougher than the FDA, I would say – that continuously and rigorously tests GMOs for your own safety. In fact, GMOs have been in the food market in Ontario since the early 1990s, so you’ve basically been eating genetically modified foods since a very early age. Unfortunately, unlike Europe, Canada and the US do not require food manufacturers to label their products as genetically modified in a lab. One of the reasons being that a product may contain ingredients that are genetically modified in a laboratory setting, but cannot be completely defined as GMO. Loopholes in the law, I suppose. This is unacceptable because it is one of the many reasons people are afraid of science. Consumers should be able to make informed decisions about the food they are eating, regardless of whether or not they agree with GMOs.
Science is often misunderstood because there are few outlets informing the general public about scientific topics. I hope through this series of pieces that science becomes more transparent to you! Please send me an e-mail to rosalesg@uoguelph.ca if you’d like to know more about something related to science and I’d be happy to oblige in the next article!
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