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Application of technology to modify genes of animals, plants, and microorganisms to create new species which have desired production, marketing, or nutrition related properties. Called genetically engineered (GE) foods, they are a source of an unresolved controversy over the uncertainty of their long-term effects on humans and food chains.

Every fruit, vegetable, grain and domestic animal we see today is the result of genetic modification. Biotechnology refines and extends methods that produce new plants and animals.Biotechnology has a long history of use in food production and processing. For ten thousand years fermentation, a form of biotechnology, has been used to produce wine, beer and bread. Selective breeding of animals such as horses and dogs has been going on for centuries. Selective breeding of essential foods such as rice, corn and wheat have created thousands of local varieties with improved yield compared to their wild ancestors.

Biotechnology is not limited to medical/health applications. Although not normally thought of as biotechnology, agriculture clearly fits the broad definition of “using a biotechnological system to make products” such that the cultivation of plants may be viewed as the earliest biotechnological enterprise. Agriculture has been theorized to have become the dominant way of producing food since the Neolithic Revolution. The processes and methods of agriculture have been refined by other mechanical and biological sciences since its inception. Through early biotechnology, farmers were able to select the best suited and crops having the highest yield to produce enough food to support a growing population. Other uses of biotechnology were required as crops and fields became increasingly large and difficult to maintain. Specific organisms and organism by-products were used to fertilize, restore nitrogen, and control pests. Throughout the use of agriculture, farmers have inadvertently altered the genetics of their crops through introducing them to new environments and breeding them with other plants—one of the first forms of biotechnology.

Cultures such as those in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India developed the process of brewing beer. It is still done by the same basic method of using malted grains (containing enzymes) to convert starch from grains into sugar and then adding specific yeasts to produce beer. In this process the carbohydrates in the grains were broken down into alcohols such as ethanol. Ancient Indians also used the juices of the plant Ephedra vulgaris and used to call it Soma. Later other cultures produced the process of Lactic acid fermentation which allowed the fermentation and preservation of other forms of food. Fermentation was also used in this time period to produce leavened bread. Although the process of fermentation was not fully understood until Pasteur’s work in 1857, it is still the first use of biotechnology to convert a food source into another form.

For thousands of years, humans have used selective breeding to improve production of crops and livestock to use them for food. In selective breeding, organisms with desirable characteristics are mated to produce offsprings with the same characteristics. For example, this technique was used with plants to produce largest and sweetest corn in order to produce the most desirable crops.

Benefits and Concerns:

Modifications of crop plants can be organized into two main categories: those that benefit the producer and those that benefit the consumer. Modifications that protect the crop from either biotic or abiotic stress or increase total crop yield benefit the producer and are called input traits. The majority of modified crops in commercial use fit in this group. Scientists have just begun to tap the large potential of biotechnology to produce varieties of plants that confer a wide spectrum of advantages to consumers. These varieties are modified with output traits.

One of the most publicized uses of biotechnology in agriculture is the modification of corn to express proteins produced by the common soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Organic farmers have been using Bt as an insecticidal spray for over 40 y. Bt organisms have been modified to express a class of insecticidal proteins called Cry. These proteins are effective against certain insect pests but are harmless to humans, mammals and birds. Bt corn was introduced as a commercial crop in 1996 and has been described as “the most important technological advancement in insect pest management since the development of synthetic insecticides” because of its inherent resistance to infestation by one of the most serious corn pests, the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis).

In addition to decreasing yields, infestation of corn by the European corn borer facilitates spoilage by the mold, fusarium, which forms a mycotoxin, fumonosin, in corn. Fumonosin is a toxic substance that, among other things, has produced liver damage in all animals studied. Although currently inconclusive, some evidence suggests that it may also play a role in human esophageal cancer. Studies challenging maize hybrids with the European corn borer found decreased fumonisin concentrations for transgenic maize varieties expressing specific Cry proteins, 2.1 ug/g compared to 16.5 ug/g for nontransgenic maize hybrids.

Recent advances in agricultural biotechnology have highlighted the need for experimental evidence and sound scientific judgment to assess the benefits and risks to society. Nutrition scientists and other animal biologists need a balanced understanding of the issues to participate in this assessment. To date most modifications to crop plants have benefited producers. Crops have been engineered to decrease pesticide and herbicide usage, protect against stressors, enhance yields and extend shelf life. Beyond the environmental benefits of decreased pesticide and herbicide application, consumers stand to benefit by development of food crops with increased nutritional value, medicinal properties, enhanced taste and esthetic appeal. There remains concern that these benefits come with a cost to the environment or increased risk to the consumer. Most U.S. consumers are not aware of the extent that genetically modified foods have entered the marketplace. Consumer awareness of biotechnology seems to have increased over the last decade, yet most consumers remain confused over the science. Concern over the impact on the safety of the food supply remains low in the United States, but is substantially elevated in Europe. Before a genetically engineered crop is introduced into commerce it must pass regulatory scrutiny by as many as four different federal regulatory bodies to ensure a safe food supply and minimize the risk to the environment. Key areas for more research are evaluation of the nutritional benefits of new crops, further investigation of the environmental impact, and development of better techniques to identify and track genetically engineered products.

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