Are we eating food that comes from GM crops?
Well, the answer is yes, it’s very likely we are eating foods and food products that comes from GM crops. Few fruits and vegetables like potatoes, apples, papayas are also available in GMO varities and many ingredients such as cornstarch, corn syrup, corn oil, soybean oil, or granulated sugar also comes from GM crops.
Let us know first what these GM crops are….
Genetic modification (GM) is a kind of technology that allows the transfer of genes for specific traits between the species using a series of laboratory techniques for cloning genes, splicing DNA segments together, and inserting genes into cells. These techniques collectively refers as recombinant DNA technology.
GM crops is often commonly called as Genetically Modified crops. The other terms used for GM plants or foods derived from them are Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), Genetically Engineered (GE), Bioengineered and Transgenic.
What is inserted into a GM plant?
The inserted DNA fragment contains one or a few genes, which contain the DNA sequence information encoding specific proteins along with the DNA segments that regulate production of the proteins. Sometimes this inserted fragment also contains a marker gene to easily identify plants that have incorporated the transferred genes (also known as transgenes) into their chromosomes.
How are transgenes inserted?
Following are the two principal methods for transgene insertion:
1. Gene gun: In this method, microscopic pellets of gold or tungsten are coated with the transgene fragment and shotted into the plant cells or tissues with a high velocity.
2. Agrobacterium tumefaciens: This method utilizes a biological vector, the soil dwelling bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which in nature transfers part of its DNA into plants and causes crown gall disease.
Plant and bacterial cells are co-cultivated in a petri dish under conditions that facilitate the gene transfer; this allows the incorporation of genes in a more controlled manner than with the gene gun. However, it does not work equally well in all plant species.
What happens next?
The crop developers then begin a long series of evaluations in total two phases.
The initial phase evolutions are done in the controlled greenhouses and growth chambers to determine:
– that the gene has been incorporated successfully
– that it is inherited in a stable and predictable manner
– that the desired trait is expressed to the expected level
– the plant does not show any negative effects.
Once sufficient seed is produced and the appropriate permission is received, experimental plants are grown in field trials i.e. the second phase.
Now, Field evaluations follow strict guidelines that include:
– isolation from related plants to avoid cross-pollination
– careful cleaning of planting and harvesting machinery
– frequent monitoring of crop growth
– checking the field for two seasons after the trial for the presence of volunteer plants that have arisen from seed accidentally left behind.
Benefits of GM crops:
1. Development of foods designed to meet specific
nutritional goals.
2. Development of crops that can be grown in marginal soil.
3. Reduced strain on non-renewable resources
4. Development of salt-tolerant and drought resistant crops
5. Development of crops that make more efficient use of nitrogen and other nutrients
6. Reduced use of pesticides and herbicides
7. Development of pest resistant and disease resistant crops
8. Reduced herbicide use is better for the environment and reduces costs for farmers
9. Improved crop quality
10. Development of frost resistant and flood resistant crops
11. Improved nutritional quality
12. Faster growing of plants
13. Weather and temperature tolerant
14. Increased supply of food with reduced cost and longer shelf life ultimately resulting in raising farmer’s income and easing of world hunger.
Limitations of GM crops:
1. It’s biologically altered which may pose a human health risk and can cause new allergic reactions in the body.
2. High risks to the disruption of ecosystem and biodiversity because of production of better traits resulting in favouring of one organism which can eventually disrupt the natural process of gene flow.
3. Increases the cost of cultivation and more inclined towards marketization of farming that work on immoral profits.
4. Antibiotic features present in GM crops, on consuming makes natural Antibiotic in the body less effective and also contribute to the reduced effectiveness of antibiotic drugs.
5. Unnatural tastes compared with the ordinary foods and not totally safe to eat as that are sold on the market because of the substances that were added to their composition.
6. Cross-pollination can cover quite large distances, where new genes can be included in the offspring of organic, traditional plants or crops that are miles away.
7. Genes from commercial crops that are resistant to herbicides may cross into the wild weed population, thus creating super-weeds that have become impossible to kill.
FACTS:
• GM crops were first introduced in the U.S. in mid-1990s. The most current grown GM crops in the U.S.
are engineered for insect resistance or herbicide tolerance.
• More than 10% of the world’s crop land grow Genetically Modified crops.
• If we look onto few GM crops an their major consumers, India took the 4th spot on overall levels of production.
• Bt cotton is the only GM crop that has been approved for commercial cultivation in 2002 by the Government of India.
• India allows import of GM soybean and canola oil only. It banned on other GM seeds/grains for a considerable time.
• According to advisory order released by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on 21 August 2020, importers have to provide certification of non-GM on food products.
REFERENCES:-
• Wikipedia.org
• The Hindu
• The Indian Express
• fda.gov
• stock photos
Learned a new topic today,. Good work