Genetically Modified Foods: The Secret Ingredients

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) have become the center of a nutritional and ethical debate that affects all organisms on earth. A GMO is “The process of using special chemical enzymes as scissors extracting selected genes from a donor organism, synthesizing or making copies of this genetic material and then artificially inserting this synthetic ‘genetic cassette’ into another completely different host organism, such as a soybean, tomato, or pig” (Cummins and Lilliston 2000). Some of these splices have been as odd as crossing salmon genes into those of a strawberry to increase the species’ resistance to cold.

The risks involved with consuming GMOs are many. Allergic reactions to GMOs have occurred. In 1996, it was found that soybeans that had been spliced with Brazil nut genes induced potentially fatal allergies in people who were sensitive to Brazil nuts. Animal tests had been performed prior to the introduction of this soybean strand with no negative results, yet humans still reacted. This is an example of how animal test results don’t always parallel human reactions. Also, it demonstrates the necessity to have mandatory labeling on GMO products. A second risk linked to GMO consumption is the increased cancer rates from the Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). This hormone is injected into cows to increase milk production, but studies have shown that it also increases humans’ Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF-1). Humans with higher IGF-1 are more prone to breast, prostate, and colon cancer. Antibiotic resistance is a third risk created by consuming GMOs. When linking a foreign gene into a different organism, gene engineers often link it to an additional gene called an antibiotic resistance marker gene (ARM). Researchers have warned that the ARM gene may be contributing to the health problem of antibiotic resistance. (Cummins 2000)

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