Anna Cutler

Professor Zhu

FS 220

11 April 2017

GMOs and Human Health

Plants have been constantly changing since the beginning of time, but that is not

necessarily because humans genetically modified their DNA. For centuries, plants have been

cross breeding to create new species on their own, but now, as scientists try to modify the plants

in a lab, many people have been filled with concern. Most of the concerns come from altering

nature and the adverse effects that it can have on humans. The main concerns to our health are

possible allergic reaction, toxicity and gene transfer, and antibiotic resistance. Are genetically

modified foods taking a toll on our health or is this all just speculation?

A lot of the concerns coming from GMOs are directly from the consumer. If a tomato is

simply a tomato the consumer will have no issue buying the product. However, if they find out a

fish gene has been introduced into the strains of the tomato to make it endure colder weather, the

consumer might think twice about buying the product. The funny thing is that there has been no

evidence suggesting that GM foods are any different for our health than conventional or

unaltered food. Along with them being generally safe to eat, which contrasts with many people

think, studies have been performed to show that GM foods on the shelf will not cause allergic

responses.
 An allergic response is an abnormal response to a food that involves the immune system.

In some cases, this can be very serious and result in death. A main concern regarding GM foods

is that the transfer of genes from one organism to another, such as the fish in the previous

example to another organism, the tomato, could result in an allergic response from the fish

protein while consuming the tomato. GM foods are not labeled because food-labeling laws

would increase fear in the market and lead to costly government regulation, all leading to a

bigger grocery bill (Campbell and Fairhurst, 2016), and the concern is that consumers that have

allergies might experience allergic reactions while consuming something that they think is

harmless. A study reported by The New England Journal of Medicine took genes from a Brazil

Nut and entered them into the strains of a soybean. The results showed that people who had

previously been allergic to the Brazil Nut were now allergic to the new and improved soybean.

That company had to discontinue their work on that product because of the major health

consequences it could potentially have on humans. Although the products on the shelf are tested

and should not cause allergic responses, consumers are still concerned that crossing a food with a

common allergen will cause an immune response.

Another allergy concern has been studied extensively as well. Scientists are examining

what will happen if we take a gene from one organism and place it in another organism. If all

goes well, nothing bad should happen however, the question associated with this is: will that

gene be mutated or change once it has entered the other organism. If the answer is yes, it is

possibly introducing a new allergy that we have never seen before and that could be very serious.

By introducing a variety of new foods by modifying different organisms, it is very likely to be

creating many more allergies along the way.

 Another concern with GM foods is their potential to be toxic and build up over

generations. There was a study conducted in which a group of rats was studied for over four

generations. They were fed a diet of GM foods, and their testicular health over their lifespan and

each generation was monitored. The scientists found that the GM diet had no effect on the rats or

their offspring. In another study, rats were fed GMO potatoes over five generations, they

tracked animal body weight, bone, eye, and thymus development, and general retardationthey

found no significant differences between the GMO potato and non-GMO potato diets, suggesting

that there is no buildup or inheritance of toxicity, even over multiple generations (Norris, 2017).

This study suggests that even though a lot of consumers believe GMOs are deteriorating our

health and could cause problems for our children, there is little to no evidence suggesting that

GM foods are toxic.

Not only are consumers afraid that these products are toxic, but they believe that they can

gain antibiotic resistance while consuming them. Because most GM foods are resistant to pests

and weeds, consumers are concerned that ingesting the bacteria in these foods will form a

resistance to antibiotics in our gastrointestinal track. This could lead to the antibiotics, be[ing]

ineffective in treating humans affected by the resistant bacteria (Antibiotic-resistant Genes-

Biotechnology, 2012). When we study cancer, there is a massive link to mutations in our genes.

So, is it possible to form mutations in our genes by simply eating foods that have changes in their

genes? The answer is that it is extremely unlikely, and the good thing is that after massive

amounts of research the American Medical Association and World Health Organization, have

concluded from the research of independent groups worldwide that genetically modified foods

are safe for consumers (Norris, 2017).

 Not only are GMOs labeled as safe to eat, but, by using the new technology we now have

the ability to modify plants for the greater good. Scientists have put in the time and created a

GMO called Golden Rice that is enriched with vitamin A which enhances in human nutrition

and animal nutrition (Wpadmin, 2016) and could be the first step to ending world hunger.

Though some people believe that modifying nature is unsafe for human consumption, we must

remember that it started as a natural process that scientists sped up. Jeffrey Campbell and Ann E.

Fairhurst write that instead of waiting for nature to provide desirous traits, the new technology

allowe[s] scientists to rapidly introduce useful genes directly into the genomes of various crops

(Campbell and Fairhurst, 2016). Another benefit to GMOs is that they give us the resources to

create mass yields of crops, therefore giving us the ability to feed our increasing population.

If GMOs give us the ability to potentially end world hunger without posing a threat to our

health, doesnt that make them worth it? Unfortunately, the long term effects have not been

studied much, but with what we currently know about GM foods, they are not negatively

affecting our population. I believe that GM foods are safe to consume, although I would like to

address the controversy of GMOs in todays society. As a food science major, I think that GMOs

have enhanced our availability of fresh produce and they have helped create a safer way to mass

produce plants. In all honestly, I believe GMOs have been one of the greatest inventions in our

industry. If there were a way to continue to produce GMO food, and create labels for every

product that contains GMOs I think that would be a good start. Although research has stated that

if we label all GMO products the cost of groceries would go up, I think that giving the consumer

the choice to consume unmodified products versus GMO products would solve a lot of the

ethical issues of GMOs. By banning GMOs all together, I think that we would not be able to feed

an increasing population, or even get close to feeding malnourished and starving people.
 There have been a lot of concerns regarding GMOs and our safety, but after hundreds of

studies over the last twenty years it has been found that GMSs pose no ill effect on human

health. Not only are they not harmful to consume, but they also have the potential to be enriched

with nutrients that we lack- like Vitamin A in Golden Rice. If we continue to monitor each

product, nothing should change and the consumption of GM foods will not be toxic to our

generation or the next.

Works Cited

Antibiotic-resistant Genes- Biotechnology. Biotechnology | Government.nl. Ministerie Van

Alegmene Zaken, 22 June 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Bawa, A. S., and K. R. Anilakumar. Genetically Modified Foods: Safety, Risks and Public

Concernsa Review. Journal of Food Science and Technology50.6 (2013): 1035

1046. PMC. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Campbell, Jeffrey M., and Ann E. Fairhurst. "Reducing the Intention-to-behaviour Gap for

Locally Produced Foods Purchasing." International Journal of Retail & Distribution

Management 44.5 (2016): 508-23. Web.

GMO: Harmful Effects. GMO: Harmful Effects. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Krimsky, Sheldon. Sign In: Registered Users.An Illusory Consensus behind GMO Health

Assessment - Aug 07, 2015. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Norris, Megan L. Will GMOs Hurt My Body? The Publics Concerns and How Scientists Have
 Addressed Them. Science in the News. N.p., 19 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Q&A: Genetically Modified Food. World Health Organization. World Health Organization,

n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Wpadmin. Prons and Cons of Genetically Modified Foods. HRFnd. N.p., 28 Feb. 2016. Web.

13 Apr. 2017