Genetically modified foods spur concern -- but can they deliver cures?
By Troy Goodman
CNN Health and Food Writer
(CNN) -- With the media spotlight in the United States and Britain trained on biotech food concerns, it is easy to forget that genetically modified crops offer benefits now, and in the future, to the entire world -- especially the sick and the hungry.
While experts worry that regulations and safety monitoring have not caught up with technology enough to make genetically modified -- or GM -- foods safe for humans, scientists continue making inroads in the controversial field.
In early December, Scottish scientists who cloned Dolly (the sheep) announced their partnership with U.S. biotech company Viragen Inc. Their intent? To breed chicken that produce life-saving drugs in their eggs -- including proteins that fight cancer. Their end product will most likely be a vaccine. But the mere ability to breed these chickens leaves open the possibility that you may one day find such products at your local grocery.
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In crops, genetic engineering is done by scientists who insert a gene or set of genes into a plant so it produces one or more desired characteristics, such as insect resistance or boosted levels of essential nutrients. The gene insertion process takes place inside the plant's cell, where the outside genes are taken up by the plant's genetic code, or DNA.
Once a GM-plant reaches full-blown maturity, those with insect-resistant genes, for instance, reduce farmers' reliance on sprays. Two major genetically modified food field crops -- corn and cotton -- have been around for years and have led to increased productivity and decreased use of expensive, possibly dangerous, pesticides.
Future benefits are waiting in the lab. GM food scientists have already developed a yellow rice, or "golden" rice, that is rich in vitamin A and iron and helps prevent anemia and blindness, especially in children. Farmers in developing countries who adopt these crops could help whole populations avoid serious nutrient deficiencies. Scientists are also working on fruit and vegetable varieties with longer shelf lives and meat and dairy products with heart-healthier fat contents.
For most genetically modified food products, safety tests are done voluntarily by the companies who make them. Recent concerns about food products containing grains from the GM corn known as StarLink could change that. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a review of StarLink, which was never approved for human consumption, after the corn was found late this summer in taco shells sold in U.S. grocery stores.
The discovery also disrupted U.S. corn exports to other countries, according to the EPA and the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA also says its formulating new guidelines to test genetically modified foods and may label some products "GM-free."
Most concerns are centered on possible allergic reactions in humans, which is the same thing regulators struggle with in terms of allowing products such as peanuts, shellfish, milk and components of eggs into the world's food channels without prominent labels. The World Health Organization plans to examine the allergenic issue in 2001.
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