When Is GMO Not GMO? Should GMO Labeling Be Required For All Food Ingredients? Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney Im probably going to get lots of hate mail for this weeks “Health Tips from the Professor” because Im finally going to tackle the GMO controversy. You see, the GMO controversy is very much like Washington politics. On one side of the aisle, you have the people who are absolutely convinced that anything GMO is terrible. On the other side of the aisle, you have people who are absolutely convinced that there are no problems with GMO foods. And both sides are convinced that their opponents have absolutely nothing of intelligence to say on the topic. So almost anything I say about GMO is bound to offend somebody. But nobody ever accused me of being timid, so lets get started. What Are The Health Risks Of Genetically Modified Foods? Im going to start with the supposed health risks of GMO foods because thats my area of greatest expertise, and Im going to evaluate those health risks from the viewpoint of a card-carrying biochemist. I’ve seen the scary pictures and alarming statements posted on many anti-GMO web sites, but objective evidence that genetically modified foods are harmful to humans is underwhelming at present. DNA Modifications and Health Risks Lets start at the beginning. Genetic modification occurs in the DNA, and on that basis GMO foods have some potential, but yet unproven, risks. Let me give you an example: • Some genetically modified foods carry genes for naturally occurring pesticides so that if bugs try to eat the leaves of those plants they will die. • When we eat foods occasionally small pieces of their DNA will find their way into our intestinal track. • We have bacteria in our intestinal tracts that excel at picking up small pieces of DNA and inserting them into their genome. • So it is theoretically possible that those bacteria might start producing in our intestines the same pesticides produced by the genetically...
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 21:21:11 +0000
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