An Introduction to GM Foods

The goal of the process is to alter one or more of the targeted plant's basic characteristics. For example, the genetic manipulation of a plant could change its color, flavor, texture, ability to resist insects or ability to tolerate the application of certain herbicides.

Adding confusion to novelty, the topic of genetically modified foods is further complicated because of the many different names adopted by various relevant actors. Starting with the catchall term, biotechnology, which is a modern branch of biological sciences dealing with the genetic engineering of living organisms, the names are further modified to suit the tastes of the relevant actors.

• Agri-biotechnology
• Agricultural Biotechnology
• GM Foods - Genetically Modified Foods
• GE Foods - Genetically Engineered Foods
• GMOs - Genetically Modified Organisms
• Transgenic Crops

Industry and farmers know them by an entirely different vocabulary. Roundup Ready Canola (Produced by Monsanto), LibertyLink Corn (Produced by AgrEvo) and Novartis Seeds Roundup Ready Soybeans (Produced by Novartis Seeds) are among the names of few dozen primary agri-biotech companies operating in the US market today.

Biotechnology promises to be the new and improved wave of the agro-industrial revolution spawned after the second world war. Whereas the first wave, the green revolution, promised higher crop yields via a chemically controlled environment, biotechnology hopes to do the same by changing the mode of control from principles of chemistry to principles of biology. The necessity for change needs little elaboration.

Starting with the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, when the dangers of pesticide use, particularly DDT were first made popular knowledge, the hidden costs of the green revolution were unveiled. The problems with chemical farming are not limited to pesticides. Nutrient rich chemical fertilizers sprayed on the fields eventually leached into the riparian and coastal water systems causing problems.

Consider the Chesapeake Bay, where scientists consider nutrient over-enrichment the primary ecological problem. In the post-WWII era, exorbitant amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus have been streaming into the bay, with a considerable portion of them coming from the farm lands surrounding the rivers that empty into the bay. This constant excessive introduction of fertilizers in the water creates algae blooms (large carpets of algae on top of the water), which in turn prevent sunlight from penetrating through the water hindering underwater plant growth. When the algae carpets finally die, they float to the bottom of the water and start absorbing all the oxygen. This further complicates underwater plant and animal life because of course, in addition to sunlight, all plants and animals need oxygen to survive.

Biotechnology does not promise to solve these problems over night, rather it offers incremental improvements. One good example of incremental change deals with pesticide use. If a farmer plants BT corn and during the season a pest problem develops, the farmer will not need to spray his BT crop. The scenario holds true with the other product most used on the commercial market, herbicide resistant crops, which actually go hand in hand with herbicide use. Their advertising hook is the promise of reduced pesticide use.

Biotechnology's long term promise also incorporates elements of humanitarian reasoning. Concerns about global population growth and stress on natural resources means there is a great need to not only improve production on currently cultivated land but also to begin growing food on the less attractive uncultivated land.

Biotechnology offers the promise of creating all types of crops adaptable to extreme soil and weather conditions.

Another humanitarian aspect linked to GM crop production that is generally cited deals with the nutritional value of plants. The voice of the Biotechnology Industry advertises,

"Researchers are enhancing fruits and vegetables such as bananas and potatoes to contain vaccines against deadly and debilitating diseases such as hepatitis, cholera and malaria. These edible vaccines will be especially effective in developing countries where infectious diseases are rampant,especially among children. It will be possible to grow and distribute the foods containing edible vaccines locally at relatively low cost. These same countries often lack the resources and medical infrastructure to provide traditional vaccines."

The GM crops we see today, both commercial and noncommercial, represent the first round of evidence from which a rational analysis of the promise can be evaluated. A better analysis of the efficacy of GM crops will be available in the next five years as the next wave of GM crops (again primarily BT and herbicide resistant) hit the market.

© 2000. Patricia A. Michaels