Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 1, 1993 TAG: 9305300007
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jane Brody
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lest a novelist's wild imaginings of genetically engineered monster dinosaurs, soon to be a major motion picture, or an amorphous anti-science hysteria sway your JANE BRODY thinking, it is important to understand both the real benefits and possible risks inherent in this sci-fi-come-true ability to make overnight changes in genetically determined characteristics of foods.
The Food and Drug Administration, which has formulated a detailed regulatory policy to guide producers of genetically engineered foods, continues to invite public comment on how the agency should deal with this novel technology.
The FDA has already received some 3,300 comments, 90 percent of them from consumers and most of them addressing concerns about the labeling of genetically engineered foods and their potential for provoking allergic reactions.
Since the dawn of agriculture, people have been making genetic changes in foods. But until recently, farmer-scientists were limited to laborious breeding techniques: picking plants with various desired characteristics and crossbreeding them over and over again.
By this process it could take up to a quarter century to achieve a plant with the desired combination of traits. Even then, important elements might be missing, like a rich supply of a nutrition-enhancing amino acid or vitamin or resistance to a particular disease or pest or to frost or drought.
Genetic engineering of foods involves the insertion of one or more genes with a clearly defined and desired function into plants (or animals or microorganisms) that are used for human food or animal feed.
It has several major advantages over traditional breeding techniques, not the least of which are an enormous saving of time and effort and far more exact results.
Traditional crossbreeding brings in a potpourri of genes, both wanted and unwanted, but genetic engineers can pick out exactly which genes to introduce without having to worry about undesirable genetic baggage.
Unlike breeding, which can incorporate only the genes found in closely related plants or animals that interbreed, genetic engineering can make use of any genes regardless of their original source.
Thus, a frost-resistance gene from a fish might be introduced into corn or tomato plants. Or a bacterial gene that confers pesticide resistance can be introduced into wheat or cotton.
The potential benefits of genetically engineered foods to consumers, the environment and the world's population are enormous. For example, various popular foods like corn could be rendered more nutritious, already nutritious foods like soybeans could be made tastier and highly perishable foods like tomatoes could be given a longer shelf life.
Genes that confer resistance to plant diseases and insect pests can reduce the need for pesticides. Genes that promote growth in plants and animals can shorten the time to market and reduce dependence on fertilizers and feed.
Crops rendered drought-tolerant can increase food supplies in the world's hungriest nations.
Proponents of genetically engineered foods insist that, if anything, the resulting product should be safer than foods created through traditional breeding practices, since only genes with known functions would be introduced. But there are some legitimate concerns about the technology as well as some fears that border on unreasoned hysteria.
People with religious or moral beliefs that affect eating habits are concerned about "contamination" with genes from prohibited sources, such as animal genes' appearing in plant foods or pig genes' getting into fish.
But plants, animals (including humans) and bacteria already share quite a number of genes among the 100,000 or so in every complex organism, so putting a single pig gene into a plant would not make it pig-like any more than a drop of food coloring could turn a swimming pool red.
Jane Brody writes about health issues for the New York Times.
by CNB