Part I
What Are GMOs?
GMO
stands for “genetically modified organism.”
In the context of food, GMOs are plants or animals whose genetic
information has been modified, or genetically engineered, usually to produce a greater
yield or increase processing efficiency.
In other words, to increase company profits and usually reduce consumer
costs. Unfortunately, however, with such
biotechnology has come concern for human health and the environment. In the United States in particular,
whether you know it or not you’re consuming GMOs or products made with GMO
ingredients on a daily basis (even a can of coke uses high-fructose corn syrup
made from GM corn). The important question then is, what are the risks
associated with GMOs, or put another away, can we trust Frankenfoods? The news
fortunately isn’t as bad as you might think and is in fact much different than most
people suspect. Note that in the
interest of keeping things short, this will be a 2 part blog. In this first blog (Part I) I’ll discuss
plant GMOs while the topic of animal GMOs will be reserved for Part II.
Issues with GM Crops
A primary means of increasing crop
yield through genetic engineering is by preventing damage by insects. In fact, in the U.S. over 90% of our corn and
soybean crops are genetically engineered for this purpose! Such engineering is usually accomplished in one
of two ways, either by
engineering plants to be pest-resistant or engineering them to be pesticide
resistant, or both. The main issue with
engineering a crop to be pest-resistant is the potential that the gene of
interest may be an allergen to some individuals. Further, there is the potential when
imparting a pest-deterring protein into a crop that the gene itself will cause
unforeseen toxicity to human health. At
present, there isn’t much scientific evidence that supports the existence of
such effects. While this doesn’t
guarantee that these effects aren’t occurring, it at least doesn’t suggest
reason to sound the alarm (the “not so bad” side of the story). That said, some find the lack of scientific
investigation into such effects coupled with the incredibly widespread use of
GMOs to be reason for concern. A valid
perspective.
While the above concern is no-doubt
valid, what strike me as more disturbing are the implications of pesticide-resistant
crops. These crops are imparted with a
gene that allows farmers to essentially spray the hell out of our food without
worrying about damaging the plant. Sure, the plants are resistant to the
pesticides and come out okay, but what about the people who eat them? Crop yields go up, profits increase, but at whose
expense? Not the agricultural or
pesticide industry, that’s for sure. And
let’s not forget about the ecologic effects of pesticides running into streams
and lakes or the indirect human health effects of pesticide-contaminated
drinking water and air.
Beyond the impacts described thus
far is the concern of imparting antibiotic resistance genes into our food and
ecosystem. When desired genes are
inserted into an organism, they are usually tagged with an antibiotic resistant
gene. This enables biotechnologists to test
whether a plant has successfully incorporated the new gene by growing the plant
in the presence of antibiotics. If the
plant grows, then the gene transfer was a success. The concern that arises with this process is due
to the possibility that bacteria in the environment as well as bacteria in the
guts of humans and other animals will pick up this antibiotic
resistance. The prevalence of
anti-biotic resistant bacteria has in fact increased quite dramatically in
recent years, causing alarm among medical practitioners who are finding it
increasingly difficult to treat certain bacterial illnesses.
Monsanto and GMOs
Monsanto’s Roundup Ready™ seeds are
probably the most heavily marketed pesticide-resistant crops on the market. By no coincidence, Monsanto also owns the
particular pesticide (Roundup™) these crops are resistant to. So a farmer who purchases Roundup Ready™ seeds
will also need to purchase Roundup™, both products of Monsanto. And since the crops are resistant to Roundup™,
a farmer will actually purchase even more pesticide than usual. An all-too-beautiful system for the
agricultural powerhouse.
Recently Monsanto, along with the
largest food and beverage companies, broke a record. By spending $22 million to oppose a Washington state bill that would require labeling on
products containing GMOs, the group contributed the largest amount of money
even spent on an initiative in the Washington
state’s history! Their money paid off as
the bill was subsequently defeated.
Monsanto was the single largest company donor, spending $5.4 million on
the opposition’s campaign.
Monsanto has gained an increasingly
bad reputation with the public and smaller farming industry for not only their
role in showering the nation with GMOs and pesticides, but also for their
ever-increasing monopoly power and consequent ability to influence the
political system relating to agriculture and food. The spread of GMO crops has not only put many
small farmers out of business, but Monsanto has successfully sued neighboring
farms when their patented seeds have blow into nearby fields and sprouted
“stolen” crops. Monsanto seeds are also
an issue for organic farmers whose fields are sometimes contaminated when GMO
seeds blow into their farmland.
The
benefits of GM Crops
Though this blog is intended to shed
understanding on the risks associated with GMOs, it is at least worth noting some
benefits of agricultural biotechnology. Aside
from pest protection, crops are often modified to express desirable
nutrients. In this way, genetic
modification has positive potential in malnourished areas. Sure, nourishing genes such as vitamin precursors
are also of benefit in the developed world, but their importance is truly
secondary to that of nutrient enrichment in the developing world. A well known innovation exemplifying this is
Golden Rice. Globally, up to 500,000
children go blind each year as a result of vitamin-A deficiency. This is mostly in impoverished regions of
East Asia and Africa where cheap vitamin-A
deficient foods such as white rice constitute an immense portion of the native
diet (vitamin-A is an essential micronutrient in the development and
maintenance of vision). Golden Rice,
however, is a form of rice that is specifically engineered to express
beta-carotene (the vitamin-A precursor).
Though Golden Rice is still
undergoing research and testing, and therefore has yet to hit the market as a
commercial product, if it were to be substituted for ordinary rice in
rice-dependent regions of the world where blindness is rampant, the positive
impacts could be tremendous. This
certainly represents utility for biotechnological innovation.
Closing Thoughts
Though GMOs have been approved for consumption and use as ingredients in
food products throughout the U.S. and other nations, some food companies have
taken it upon themselves to omit their use.
Just last year ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's pledged that it would
strike GMO ingredients from its products. Additionally, restaurant chain Chipotle said
it would phase out GMOs this year. Whole Foods has pledged to label all
products in its stores with genetically engineered ingredients by 2018. And just recently, even General Mills pledged
to avoid GMO grain and other ingredients from its classic Cheerios cereal
beginning 2014, undoubtedly representing the largest win for those opposing
GMOs.
In general, agriculture is a
multi-billion dollar a year industry.
And like any industry, the goal is to maximize profits. Particularly in the United States,
the immense size of the agricultural industry is only matched by its lobby
power and influence over food regulations. Consequently, different
biotechnologies are rushed through the approval process each year in the U.S.,
the burden of protection falling on government agencies to later prove toxicity
rather than on industry to preemptively prove safety. Where in the world is quality control and
consumer protection? In the short time
frame in which new chemicals and technologies are studied prior to hitting the
market, it is virtually impossible to ensure safety. Only acute human toxicity can be assessed,
while cancer and other long term consequences are left unknown.
The human body is an extremely complex system, becoming only
more complex with the introduction of foreign chemicals. It may very well be that most GMOs are
perfectly safe. And by and large, they
probably are. However, their indirect
consequences should not be overlooked and their direct consequences should
receive more thorough investigation, particularly considering that GMOs and
pesticide-laden food products are reaching nearly every household in the world
and being consumed on a daily basis.
When exposure is so widespread, even the most seemingly benign exposures
can translate to astronomical risks.
This is in fact plainly visible in the very equation that calculates
risk (Risk = Toxicity x Exposure). For
this reason, it seems prudent to employ greater regulatory caution and dampen
the adoption of GMOs and pesticides in the marketplace.
In countries of rampant malnutrition, the unknown risks posed
by GMOs are almost certainly outweighed by their benefits. However, in other countries such as the
United States, GMOs represent nothing more than increased processing
efficiency, higher profits, and monopolization for companies that are able to
engineer and patent their own crop genes.
This is best exemplified by Monsanto, which essentially owns soy beans
in the U.S. now and controls most U.S. corn production. European countries have already taken
initiative by rejecting a number of GMOs and chemicals that haven’t been
investigated thoroughly for safety.
What’s more, chemicals that Europe has approved have only been allowed
after mandatory proof of safety by industry.
This is in accordance with Europe’s newest REACH legislation, which
takes a much more precautionary approach to public health and safety than
America’s TSCA regulations. It is time
the U.S. steps up now and puts public health ahead of private interests.
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-Shahir Masri, MS
