some pictures of GM foods

(this is kind of scary...)

(this as well..GM foods not so good afterall..)

Posted by: Sandy

GM Wheat

1 of our ingredients for the production of soy sauce is wheat and can be genetically modified too.
Some interesting facts on GM Wheat.

Secret GM wheat experiments begin in Australia

Australia’s first trial of genetically modified wheat and barley is under way near Narrabri, New South Wales in the south-eastern area of the country. The goal of the GM wheat is said to be more nutritious bread (http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/gm-wheat-…).
How exactly the genes were altered to create this alleged more nutritious bread remains a secret. All that is known is that 14 different strains of wheat and barley will be grown. Some strains will allow researchers to look at enriching the crops with extra nutrients, and others will look at using nitrogen in the soil more efficiently, which could mean higher productivity with less fertilizer.
The CSIRO, which is running the three-year experiment, said the gene combinations in the trial are secret because they are subject to commercial-in-confidence agreements that protect the interests of the government research agencies involved and a U.S. company, Arcadia Biosciences.
Environmental groups and organic farmers oppose the GM trial, arguing that it is quite possible, and even likely, for the GM wheat and barley to mix with natural strains and ‘contaminate’ some of Australia’s wheat crop with the genetic modification.
Environmental group Greenpeace opposes the trial, furthermore, because the safety of the modified crops for human and animal consumption has not been tested in any scientific trials.
The CSIRO says it will follow the safety requirements of the license issued by the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator.
“The risk assessment concluded that this proposed limited and controlled release … poses negligible risks to the health and safety of people or the environment as a result of gene technology,” the gene technology regulator said.
Certain safety measures will also be taken, according to Dr. Matthew Morell, a researcher with the CSIRO’s Future Food division.
“[The GM crops] will be separated from other crops by 200 meters, and wheat pollen travels about one meter, so it is highly unlike any will be found beyond that,’ Morell said. ‘Because these are patented technologies, there is still a need for restricting the details in terms of protecting commercial information.”
Greenpeace is not buying it, saying that GM trail crops can easily break containment through human error, as past cases show. In one instance, seeds from a GM canola crop in NSW appear to have spilled from trucks driving down roads near an experimental farm, spreading the seeds and potentially contaminating organic farms.
“The Australian government’s decision to go ahead with GM wheat field trials,” said Greenpeace spokeswoman Laura Kelly, “amounts to a covert decision taken on behalf of Australia’s wheat farmers, consumers and export markets that Australian wheat will be GM.”

Sources for this story include:
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/gm-wheat-…
Naturalnews.com
by Neev M. Arnell

Taken from: http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/06/14/secret-gm-wheat-experiments-begin-in-australia/

Posted by: Sandy

World's first flu-resistant GM chickens 'created' !

Writing in Science journal, the team says their work demonstrates it is possible to create a variety of GM farm animals resistant to viral diseases. The research team inserted an artificial gene into chickens; this introduces a tiny part of the bird flu virus into chicken cells.These birds become infected but render the virus harmless to other poultry.

The team believes that the genetic modification they have introduced is harmless to the chickens and to people who might eat the birds.Professor Helen Sang of Edinburgh University told BBC News that genetic modification is potentially a much better way of protecting against diseases than vaccination because the GM technique works even if the virus mutates.

"It will protect a whole flock from avian influenza infection. This is really exciting because bird flu is a real challenge to poultry production and if it were introduced to poultry breeding it would protect our large scale production flocks from avian inlfuenza," said Professor Sang. GM techniques could also have benefits for human health, according to Professor Sang. If fewer animals are carrying viruses there is a lower chance of them mutating into a form that would be deadly to humans and so create a pandemic.

Peter Bradnock of The British Poultry Council said more research was needed to assess the long term impact on farm animals before food producers would even consider using the technology.

Even then, companies would have to assess the likely reaction from consumers: "We have to have a big debate as to whether society wants to have GM animals even for this very good potential benefit," he told BBC News.

And Tim Elsdale, who is an organic farmer in East Sussex, said it was better to adopt good farming practices to avoid animals getting diseases in the first place than to create GM farm animals.

-Yueming

GM Wheat Means Hope for Celiac Sufferers

GM Wheat Means Hope for Celiac Sufferers

Genetically modified foods are becoming more popular in the news as they become more prevalent in our society.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has defined GM foods or GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) as crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques.  These plants are modified in a laboratory to add nutritional value and/or enhance their most desired traits.

Genetic engineering can create plants with the exact results aimed for very rapidly and with great precision.  Genes can be transferred from one plant to another, or from non-plant organisms to plants.

The advantages of genetically modified foods range from pest resistance, disease resistance, herbicide tolerance, cold tolerance, drought tolerance, improved nutrition, and pharmaceutical uses.  All over the world, research is being conducted to create genetically modified foods.

Dr. Diter von Wettstein, R.A. Nilan Distinguished Professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and the School of Molecular Biosciences at Washington State University, received grants totaling nearly $2 million from the National Institutes of Health and Washington's Life Sciences Discovery Fund in 2008 and 2009.  Wettstein was awarded the grants to advance his research to develop wheat varieties safe to eat by people with celiac disease.

Celiac disease is a digestive condition triggered by the consumption of protein gluten, which is found in a wide variety of breads, cookies, pasta, and many other foods containing barley, rye, or wheat.  Individuals with celiac disease who consume gluten over a long period of time suffer damage to the small intestine, resulting in interference with the absorption of nutrients from food.  Malnutrition can result.

Post by: Jovin

Retrieved from: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/01/genetically-modified-foods-are-becoming-1/
by Alexa Nemeth | Jan 09, 2010

U.S. Approves GM Soybean, DuPont and Monsanto Gird for Cooking-Oil War

Interesting article about commercial GM soy beans:

U.S. Approves GM Soybean, DuPont and Monsanto Gird for Cooking-Oil War

By PAUL VOOSEN of Greenwire

Published: June 7, 2010 

 

 

 

The Agriculture Department will approve for broad use tomorrow a genetically modified soybean engineered to contain healthier oils, the opening salvo in a biotech oil fight between DuPont Co. and its rival, Monsanto Co.

The high-oleic soybean, developed by DuPont and pending deregulation since 2006, is one of the first in a wave of bioengineered cash crops that are being altered for nutritional purposes. Currently, nearly all biotech crops grown in the United States have been altered for resistance to weedkiller or insects, traits that are rarely felt by consumers or commercial businesses. The USDA deregulation is the "final step" in the approval process for Dupont's soybean, which has already been approved in Canada and Mexico, said Bridget Anderson, a spokeswoman for Pioneer Hi-Bred, DuPont's biotech seed business. The crop and its oil will continue commercial testing this year and should be ready for global use by 2012, she added. The USDA approval is also the first play in a coming oil war between DuPont and Monsanto.

Currently, Monsanto has two varieties of biotech soybeans pending approval with USDA that also seek to modify the nutritional value of soybean oil, promising to eliminate trans fats and produce oil with omega-3 fatty acid -- fish oil -- for use in yogurt, granola bars and spreads.

The modified soybeans represent a move by DuPont and Monsanto to broaden the crop traits engineered in their seeds beyond simple properties like pest resistance to complex areas -- like nutritional value, drought tolerance and nitrogen fixation -- that are often influenced by multiple genes. These long-promised traits previously found little purchase in the seed giant's business plans.

It is "pretty exciting science," said Rob Fraley, Monsanto's chief technology officer. Leveraging improvements in breeding and biotechnology, he said, seed giants like Monsanto "can start to take on some of the most complex physiological traits in terms of crop quality and health and nutrition."

DuPont's biotech soybean could be welcome news for soy farmers, who have seen food companies move away from standard soybean oil as they work to eliminate trans fats, which are linked to coronary health risks, from their ingredients. It is a difficult shift. The industry uses about 6 billion pounds of the oil each year, all of which contained trans fats.

The biotech soy will provide a stable oil alternative that can be used without hydrogenation, the process that creates trans fats, DuPont said. The oil has already been tested successfully for snack food preparation for frying or spraying, according to DuPont. Notably, the engineered soybeans have been created through a different process than most biotech crops on the market, which contain splices of bacterial genes to grant herbicide or pest resistance. Instead, DuPont scientists "silenced" the expression of a gene in the fatty acid pathways of the soybean seeds. Few commercial biotech crops have used gene silencing so far, with a virus-resistant papaya in Hawaii being a notable exception.

Widespread adoption of DuPont or Monsanto's next-generation soybeans, which would also include traits for weedkiller or pest resistance, would be unlikely to shift the soy crop further toward bioengineering, simply because there is little room for expansion: More than 90 percent of the U.S. soybean crop is already genetically engineered. Products produced with DuPont's high-oleic soybeans are unlikely to hit the market until 2012 at the latest, as the company awaits import approval for the crops from the European Union and other important exports markets, the company said.

Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/06/07/07greenwire-as-us-approves-gm-soybean-dupont-and-monsanto-80269.html

Post by :
Jovin

GM soya bean could prevent heart attacks and save fish stocks?!

The GM food with direct benefits for human health will be launched after the GM soya bean is approved for general consumption! Isn't it great? Perhaps, after the launch, GM food may seem to be better rather than people thinking:

"GM FOOD Doesn't Have a Bad Image. It Has A Bad Reality"

Researchers at the Univeristy of South Dakota have found that the bean can increase levels of omega-3 acids in the blood. These acids, mainly found in salmon, trout and fresh tuna, protect against cardiovascular diseases and diabetes and assist the growth of brain cells in the young. 

But there are concerns that encouraging fish consumption could spell disaster for marine stocks, placing even greater importance on the soya bean research. It expects the US Food and Drug Administration to approve it for consumption by 2011, allowing it to reach US supermarkets the following year. If European and British authorities also permitted its use then soya bean products containing omega-3 oil could also be exported to Britain. The food would be clearly labelled as GM, said David Stark, Monsanto's vice president for consumer traits.

"Consumers will have a choice: some may choose not to try it, but others will," he said.

"It's another reason for consumers to pause and consider whether GM has a role to play. I think it does, not only for how we deliver food for the planet, but also for how we protect our own health. We've shown for years that GM crops can control pests. That's important to consumers, but not in a personal way. Hopefully this will be personal enough to make a difference."

The trials in South Dakota, led by William Harris, professor of medicine, involved 33 volunteers. The research, published in the journal Lipids, indicated that oil from GM soya increased omega-3 in the participants' blood from an average of 4 per cent to 5 per cent. This could lead to a 50 per cent drop in the risk of heart attacks, said Prof Harris.

Hope that it can be successfully launched to benefit both the humans and fishes~ :)

--Yueming

Reference: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3370301/GM-soya-bean-could-prevent-heart-attacks-and-save-fish-stocks.html

Genetic Engineering/GMOs - Controversy

Genetic-engineering has always been a controversial topic, whether it's about human reproduction or agriculture.

The general public has never responded well to unnatural "frankenfoods". It doesn't seem healthy or ethical, and in reality, crops grown using GMO seeds have never fared well when it comes to taste.

No regulation

The GMO industry has simply grown too fast to pass federal laws to regulate it. In the 1980s, courts found the regulations that do exist to be flawed, and yet they still haven't been revised.

Sadly and frighteningly, GMO farms continue to practice untested, potentially harmful genetic engineering – unregulated and unchecked–, and to this day, there are no requirements to label foods that have been genetically altered.

Prevalence in our food supply

Recent lab tests and industry reports have shown that 60–75% of produce in non-organic supermarkets test positive for these untested genetically modified foods.

With no labeling regulations, there's no way to tell what has been genetically engineered or not.

Addressing global hunger

This has always been a pertinent topic, as one of the main arguments for GMO foods has been our alleged food shortage.

Biotechnology companies and "agri-business giants" claim that using technology and synthetics is the only way we can hope to supply our world population.

In reality, the general consensus of international organizations is that world hunger is not caused by inadequacies of production, but rather distribution and access. The United Nations Food & Agricultural Organization, Greenpeace, Bread for the World, and the Institute for Food and Development Policy all agree that GMO foods are not the solution.

Regardless, not only are GMO seeds too expensive for poor farmers in third-world countries, they are not practical for their specific environment and land conditions.

Historically, single species of GMO seeds are sold to these farms, which then produce a single, uniform variety year after year. Assuming they are not victim to common GMO crop pitfalls, such as overall crop failure, insecticide resistance, and the creation of new "superweeds" and pathogen strains, the farm soil is degraded from mono-cropping and synthetic pesticides, just as it is in the U.S.

We clearly need a better long-term, sustainable solution.

The environment

A common hazard of GMO crops is higher doses of chemical pesticides. Plants grown from certain engineered seeds attract more pests, so any increase in yield is outweighed by the pesticide's environmental damage.

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) has found that GMO crops introduce new "superweeds" as well as new, more resilient pests and pathogens. Still others fear the genetically-altered crops are harmful to non-target insects, birds, and animals that eat from the GMO fields.

GMO farming also causes long-term ecological changes in the soil. In Germany, studies have shown that growing genetically-altered foods changes the healthy bacterial community in soil, an essential component for soil fertility.

Your health

One innovation to address increased pesticide use is crossing seeds with a bacterium that acts as a pesticide, thereby making the plants naturally pest-resistant. Antibiotic "marker genes" are used in this process.

This may solve the problem of pesticide overload, but the American and British Medical Associations agree that antibiotic marker genes used in genetically modified foods are harmful and insufficiently tested.

Other studies show that eating GMO foods can cause more allergies, increase cancer risks, produce dangerous toxins, and degrade food nutrients.

Long-term effects

Because the industry has grown so quickly, we don't know what other long-term environment and health effects we will face from growing and eating GMO crops.

Manipulating nature isn't something we should take lightly, or from a limited economic perspective.

GMO foods, in their current state, are not a viable alternative for our environment or our health.

Genetic Engineering/GMOs - Advancements

GMO foods, in their current state, are clearly controversial and hazardous. In fact, Mendocino County has banned all GMO products in their region, and other counties are following suit. (More...)

Like most technology industries, though, GMO advancements are varied, and it's possible that some new processes are [more] natural and less harmful.

Some new methods don't use antibiotics or mix DNA across species anymore. Similar to genetic engineering in mammal reproduction, some involve cloning and some involve manipulation of an organism's existing DNA.

Also similar to engineered mammal reproduction, however, the ethical and health factors are still controversial and untested in the long-term.

Plants genetically possess strong defenses

The premise behind the newest types of genetic-engineering is that plants already possess the gene makeup to be robust, nutritious and pest-resistant.

Some believe that man's imprecise cross-breeding on farms over the centuries has inadvertently weakened plant species to be less nutritious and/or vulnerable to pathogens and pests. Others believe plants have simply degraded from environmental effects.

Since the advent of gene cataloging, scientists can now determine which exact genes are responsible for positive traits in plants. They believe it's simply a matter of manipulating those genes to develop or come out of dormancy.

Cross-breeding same species

Referred to as "transgenetics", scientists identify which genes are responsible for positive traits (like nutrition level or pest-resistance) in a certain species.

They then take thousands of the most healthy, naturally pest-resistant varieties that possess a certain gene and cross-breed them in a laboratory.

Offspring plants that possess the particular, marked gene are planted in a field and tested. (Genes are marked with dye, not antibiotics.) Those that die or weaken in the field are rejected; those that survive and remain strong are distributed.

Sometimes the resulting offspring have ended up stronger than even the original wild and naturally strong "parent" plants.

Manipulating species' existing DNA

A newer method, referred to as "transgenomics", does not involve DNA marking or insertions.

Scientists believe certain traits are created not only by a particular gene, but by the way groups of genes interact with each other.

So, a species that possesses a desired trait is studied to identify which interaction of genes causes that positive outcome. That gene interaction is then "taught" to another crop species. The second species is stimulated to start mimicking that interaction, and the desired trait results.

Problems in the past

Historically, every advancement and development process in the GMO field has been snatched up and patented by private conglomerates, which are notorious for not using the technology in an ethical or conscientious way. They typically use it to monopolize the market and build dependencies on their products.

Hope for the future?

Both methods described above are for the most part un-patentable. This means that, IF they are shown to be safe for the environment and our health, they could become a viable solution to increase yields quickly, lower the use of conventional fertilizers and pesticides, and be distributed internationally at affordable prices.

In fact, the scientist involved with "transgenomics" is pushing for agricultural bio-engineering "Open Source", the development model that has helped improve the computer software industry. The public could then share information to adopt the best methods, and the power (and benefits) would be spread to the majority.

What about organics?

IF these new types of "natural" GMOs are shown to produce healthy crops and be beneficial to the environment and our health, they could – in theory – be used in conjunction with organic farming methods to produce what Wired Magazine calls "Super Organics".

Taken from :http://www.omorganics.org/page.php?pageid=96&contentid=75

Posted by : Swe Mar Tun @ Sweety

Can GM soya eliminate allergies??

The allergy inducing ingredients of soya have been successfully removed by scientists through genetic modification.
They have hailed the move as an example of how GM technology can make food safer for people.
Soya allergy mostly affects children under the age of five. However, a small proportion of adults are also affected.
About two-thirds of all manufactured food contains derivatives or ingredients made from soya. These include chocolate, breakfast cereals, ice cream, sweets and margarine.
Any allergy mostly shows up as a hives, itchy skin and diarrhoea. However, in some cases it can trigger a more severe reaction.
Allergy gene
But researchers at the US Department of Agriculture and biotechnology company Pioneer Hi-Bred International say they may have found a way around the problem.
They have successfully removed the P34 gene from soybeans. This gene is believed to trigger most soya-related allergic reactions.
Soybeans without this gene have been growing in Hawaii for the past year.
The scientists tricked the soybean plant to stop it producing the P34 gene.
They did this by slicing extra copies of the gene into the plant. This causes the plant to think it is under attack from the gene and it kills all copies.
The scientists said that this process had no impact on the rest of the plant.
However, they have warned that further work is needed before they non-allergic soya can be commercially produced.
The scientists said two other genes which can also trigger allergic reactions need to be removed from the soybean plant first.
GM warning
But Adrian Bebb, real food campaigner for Friends of the Earth told BBC News Online: "The research needs to look closely at the unexpected effects of turning on or off genes.
"Ironically, one concern is that GM foods could cause more allergies. Scientists are very good at developing new techniques but the basic safety research is completely absent.
"As with all GM crops they need to ensure that segregation from the rest of the food chain is absolutely essential. This is something the biotech industry seems incapable of doing."

Taken from :http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2251657.stm

Posted by : Swe Mar Tun @ Sweety

Selective breeding and GM food

Genetic engineering

A faster way of producing new varieties is to transfer the genes for the desired characteristic into an organism artificially. This is genetic engineering. The gene may have come from the same species, but genetic engineering also allows the genes from an unrelated organism to be transferred – something that's not possible with selective breeding.

Examples of genetic engineering

Example	Gene donor	Gene receiver	Benefit
Golden rice	Carotene gene from carrots	Rice	People lacking vitamin A in their traditional diet can make the vitamin if they eat genetically modified ‘golden’ rice.
Humalin	Insulin gene from humans	Bacteria	‘Human’ insulin can be made cheaply and quickly by bacteria to treat diabetics.
Weedkiller resistance	Resistant gene from plant	Soya beans	Genetically modified soya beans can be sprayed with weedkiller and remain unaffected, so only weeds are killed. This increases yields of soya.

Genetic engineering can be used to create new varieties of plant and animal, but there's a risk that there could be unexpected harmful effects, either to the new organism or if the gene ‘escapes’ into the surrounding populations. Some people are concerned about the health risk of eating genetically modified food – others think it wrong to create new life forms, or move genes between different species, especially if this causes harm to the receiver.

Taken from :http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_gateway/living/genesrev3.shtml

Posted by : Swe Mar Tun  @ Sweety

GM Myths! it's up to u to believe.... :O

Let’s take a look at some examples of how GM’s often exaggerated crisis narratives. I guess these topics had successfully grab the media attention and so do I?! ;)

"Saving lives and limbs with a (GM) weed"

There's been a lot of publicity about how GM plants are going to solve the problem of landmine detection. News items around the globe - from the New York Times to the BBC, from TIME Magazine to Reuters - trumpeted their life-saving potential, after a biotech firm claimed to have genetically modified plants so that they would change from green to red when grown near to landmines.

: If it is true, i will grow the GM plants everywhere at those "potential" places

"Only GM can save the banana"

 "Only GM can save the banana" is a story that first surfaced in 2001, made a comeback in 2003, and has done the rounds ever since, gaining massive media coverage.  According to the story, "The standard variety, the Cavendish, is already threatened with a disease called black Sigatoka, and a new strain of another fungal condition, Panama disease, could wipe the plant out within a decade." 

"Half a billion people in Africa and Asia depend on the banana for up to half their daily calories," say the reports. 

"Genetic engineering may be the only answer" "Scientists believe that the creation of a GM banana that can resist the diseases may be the only way of preserving the fruit's future."

: is banana that powerful??! :o

"Purple tomato can beat cancer"

A GM tomato has been portrayed in the world's media as a major cancer fighter, as well as having other important health-enhancing properties. And some media commentators suggest that this is the "breakthrough" that will convince people of the benefits of GM foods. But the health claims are based on a small-scale study of mice, and experts say the results may have occurred by chance, or may simply not be applicable to humans. They also say that there could be problems with toxicity and that these have not been investigated. In any case, a range of existing fruit and vegetables offer the same potential benefits without any need to resort to genetic engineering.

:Unrevealed secret of tomato... is it harmful to us or the savior to infected patients?

   

"Super-sized cassava" could help alleviate hunger"

GM cassava plants with unusually big roots were promoted as a super-sizing breakthrough that "could help alleviate hunger in developing countries", but it turned out that plant breeders had already produced cassava roots that were many times larger than the GM ones, at very low cost and without genetic engineering. 

: So it means this cassava could feed the whole A9A3??

-Yueming

Genetically Modified Foods must be clearly labelled. TAKE ACTION

Genetically Modified Foods: We are part of a Giant Experiment

Genetically modified foods are being eaten daily and they have never been tested on humans. Tests on animals reveal shocking results which are potential threats to our health:

•  Rats Fed GMO tomatoes got bleeding stomachs, several died
•  Mice Fed GM Bt Potatoes had intestinal damage:
•  Mice Fed Roundup Ready soy (prevalent in South Africa) had liver probs ,
•  Mice Fed Roundup Ready soy had problems with the pancrease and
•  Mice Fed Roundup Ready soy had unexplained changes in testicular cells;

We also know from animal testing that transgenes transfer into gut bacteria, internal organis or viruses. Many GM foods contain an anti-biotic resistant marker gene which could create anti-biotic resistant diseases. This also has enormous ramifications for nations struggling with diseases requiring anti-biotics.

So why does Government allow it? 
SAFeAGE asks the same question.  We still haven't come up with an answer. But we do know that the Department of Trade and Industries (DTI) have listened to our demands for labelling. Mandatory labelling and liability of genetically modified foods has now been declared under the new Consumer Protection Act.  But the Regulations for the Act have still to be written and it is here, in the details, that the battle will ultimately be won.  SAFeAGE is currently drawing up a set of recommendations for the Regulations, and we will be needing YOUR SUPPORT to demand that labelling is effective and specific. 
Is labelling enough?
In South Africa, any product containing maize (corn), soy or cotton has a high probability of containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

SAFeAGE invites you to take a tour through our website and SAY NO TO GMO!
Research in the field of Genetic Engineering (GE) has now reached a level where its applications are having enormous effects on a global scale. SAFeAGE is committed to ensuring that consumers are made aware of the dangers and threats of GMO's, which fall into three main categories:

Threats to human health - as mentioned above, numerous studies worldwide convince us that Industry claims of genetically modified foods being safe and healthy are at highly irresponsible.  An advertisement in several local magazines recently declared that consumers can use genetically modified food with confidence!  SAFeAGE thinks this is criminal.


Dangers to biodiversity - a cornerstone of food and natural system security is biodiversity. GM crops systematically undermine biodiversity, both by replacing hundreds of locally specialised species with a very few GM varieties, and by contaminating and thus destroying the remaining old variety seedstock nurtured for millennia by local farmers;

Threats to food security and local livelihoods - despite claims by GM lobbyists to be the answer to world hunger, their companies have so far proved to contribute to it. GM seeds provide a limited benefit to large-scale industrial farmers by allowing them to mechanise more and reduce labour costs (at the cost of systematically destroying their soil). For the vast majority of farmers on the planet, however, GM methods are more expensive, less productive and locally inappropriate to their sustainable small or medium-scale systems, and have removed thousands of stable farmers from the land to city penury or suicide.

Taken from: http://www.safeage.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:we-are-a-giant-experiment-&catid=43:homepage

Posted by: Sandy

GMO Soybean Facts

The soybean plant (Glycine max) derives from Asia, where the legume's versatility and dense nutritional profile engendered widespread use as a food additive. In the mid-1990s, scientists developed genetically modified (GM) soybean plants to resist herbicides, increasing crop proliferation.

Function

• Genetically modified (GM) soybean plants contain an added gene that enables them to resist the herbicide Roundup's active chemical ingredient, glyphosate. GM soybeans can discourage fungus, tolerate climate changes, survive drought and deter natural predators like nematodes, butterfly larvae, moths and aphids.

Features

• Nutritionally similar to their non-GM counterparts, GM soybeans provide 416 calories, 36.5 grams protein, 9.3 grams fiber, and 30.2 grams carbohydrates per 100 grams. However, GM soybeans possess increased levels of the amino acid methionine, oleic acid, plant sterols and Vitamin E. Genetic engineering also significantly reduces soybeans' allergen, polysaccharide, trans fat and linoleic acid levels.

Significance

• The United States planted its first GM soybean crop in 1996. As of 2007, approximately 17 countries cultivate genetically modified soybeans--85 percent of American-grown soybeans and 58.6 percent of global soybean crops are genetically modified.
    <-

  Growing soybean crop
  
  
  
  
  Taken from: http://www.ehow.com/facts_7181754_gmo-soybean.html
  Posted by: Sandy
  

What is a GM food?

GM FOOD

GM, or genetically modified, food, involves altering a plant, animal or micro-organism's genes or inserting one from another organism – that is, a living thing. Genes carry the instructions for all the characteristics that an organism inherits. They are made up of DNA.

Sometimes the term 'biotechnology' is used to describe genetic modification. This also has a wider meaning of using micro-organisms or biological techniques to process waste or produce useful compounds, such as vaccines.

How it's being used

People have been breeding animals and new varieties of plants for many hundreds of years to develop or avoid certain qualities. Examples include racehorses that are bred to be faster and stronger, and roses, bred to give a wider range of colours and to make them more resistant to disease. Over many generations, sometimes for thousands of years, the world's main food crops have been selected, crossed and bred to suit the conditions they are grown in and to make them tastier.

For example, cattle are bred according to whether they are for beef or dairy herds. Most of today's dairy cattle are very different from the cattle that were originally domesticated. Over the years, dairy herd breeding has focused on increasing milk yield and on improving the quality of the milk.

But whereas traditional methods involve mixing thousands of genes, genetic modification allows just one individual gene, or a small number of genes, to be inserted into a plant, animal or micro-organism (such as bacteria), to change it in a pre-determined way. Through genetic modification, genes can also be 'switched' on or off to change the way a plant or animal develops.

For example, herbicides are used to kill weeds in fields of crops but they can also affect the growth of the crops they are intended to protect. By using genetic modification, a gene with a particular characteristic, such as resistance to a specific herbicide, can be introduced into a crop plant. When that herbicide is sprayed on the field to kill the weeds, it will not hinder the growth of the crops.

Similarly, genetic modification can be used to reduce the amount of pesticide needed by altering a plant's DNA so it can resist the particular insect pests that attack it. Genetic modification can also be used to give crops immunity to plant viruses or to improve the nutritional value of a plant. In animals intended for food, genetic modification could potentially increase how fast and to what size they grow.

Genetic modification allows plants, animals and micro-organisms to be produced with specific qualities more accurately and efficiently than through traditional methods. It also allows genes to be transferred from one species to another to develop characteristics that would be very difficult or impossible to achieve through traditional breeding. For example, genes can be introduced from one plant to another plant, from a plant to an animal, or from an animal to a plant. Transferring genes between plants and animals is a particular area of debate.

What is DNA?

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It is the genetic material contained in the cells of all living things and it carries the information that allows organisms to function, repair and reproduce themselves.

Every cell of plants (see illustration below), micro-organisms (such as bacteria), animals, and people contain many thousands of different genes, which are made of DNA. These genes determine the characteristics, or genetic make-up, of every living thing, including the food we eat. When we eat any food, we are eating the genes and breaking down the DNA present in the food.


DNA is made up of two separate strands of what are called 'nucleotides'. These are the building blocks of DNA and are twisted around each other in a double helix structure (see illustration below). The identity of a gene and the function it performs are determined by the number of nucleotides and the particular order in which they are strung together on chromosomes – this is known as the 'sequence' of the gene. Chromosomes are the cell structures that carry the DNA.

How is GM used in food production?

Genetic modification can be used in a number of ways in food production. These range from modifying the raw ingredients to using genetic modification during processing.

When genetic modification is used as a part of the production process, as described in 4 below, the GM material does not end up in the food on our plates. This is similar to other processing techniques, so, for example, when a food processor is used for slicing, no part of the processor ends up in the meal we eat.

These are the different ways that genetic modification can be used in food production:
1. GM food: A crop, such as a fruit or vegetable, or an animal can be genetically modified. (However, no animal or human genes, or GM animals, have been approved for use in GM food in the EU.)

2. GM ingredients: Food that comes from a GM crop, such as maize, can be processed, for example into flour, and the GM DNA is still present in the food and can be identified.

3. ‘GM-derived’ ingredients: Food can come from a GM crop but the DNA can be processed out of the final product – this is called 'GM-derived'. An example of this is soy oil, which is made from GM soya beans. The processing breaks up the DNA so that it can no longer be identified either as GM DNA or conventional DNA in the final oil because it has been broken down into small fragments containing nucleotides – these are DNA building blocks. Therefore, soy oil from GM soya beans cannot be distinguished from soy oil from conventional beans.

4. GM processing aid: A GM organism can also be used to make a product without GM material being present in the ingredients or in the final product. In this case the GM organism is a 'processing aid'. One example is hard cheese production. The enzyme chymosin is the active ingredient of rennet, which is used to curdle milk. Traditionally, rennet has been taken from calves’ stomachs, but the demand for cheese is greater than the number of calves available and the chymosin does not always produce consistent batches of cheese. Today, the gene responsible for producing chymosin is inserted in bacteria, so the bacteria make the chymosin instead of using traditional rennet. Only the bacteria are genetically modified, not the chymosin, and so the cheese has no GM content because the bacteria are not part of the cheese.

5. GM ingredients in animal feed: GM crops, such as maize, are also used to feed animals that are later eaten, such as chickens. There are also animal products, such as eggs and milk, which come from animals fed on GM crops. Functioning GM DNA is not, however, in the meat that we eat or these animal products. See the following two paragraphs that explain what happens to DNA in our bodies and during food processing.

How does processing affect the DNA in foods?
DNA is broken up in the same way that food processing can alter or destroy other characteristics of food ingredients, such as texture, during manufacturing. Processing includes all the stages involved in getting food ready for us to eat, from refining raw materials to cooking in our homes.

What happens when people eat GM food?
Human beings have always eaten plants and animals, which means we have always eaten their DNA without it causing any health problems. Given that GM DNA is still DNA, eating it should not pose any greater risk than eating non-GM DNA. Indeed, no one has ever been reported as suffering from illness because the food they had eaten had been genetically modified.

When someone eats GM food it is processed in the same way as non-GM food. When we eat any food, our digestive systems break down the tissue, the proteins, and the DNA in the food. The DNA in GM food has the same structure as non-GM DNA and is broken down in the same way. Most DNA that is consumed, whether GM or not, is broken down in our stomachs and intestines.

Sometimes, the DNA from the food we eat isn't broken down. However, it is unlikely that this DNA will become part of our genetic material by passing into our cells – any non-human DNA should simply be broken down in the cell.

Will the label tell me if the food is GM?

The Agency supports consumer choice. We recognise that some people will want to choose not to buy or eat GM foods, however carefully they have been assessed for safety.

In the EU, if a food contains or consists of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), or contains ingredients produced from GMOs, this must be indicated on the label. For GM products sold 'loose', information must be displayed immediately next to the food to indicate that it is GM.

On 18 April 2004, new rules for GM labelling came into force in all EU Member States. These cover all GM food and animal feed, regardless of the presence of any GM material in the final product.

This means products such as flour, oils and glucose syrups have to be labelled as GM if they are from a GM source. Products produced with GM technology (cheese produced with GM enzymes, for example) do not have to be labelled.

Products such as meat, milk and eggs from animals fed on GM animal feed also don't need labelling.

Any intentional use of GM ingredients at any level must be labelled. But there is no need to label small amounts of approved GM ingredients (below 0.9% for approved GM varieties) that are accidentally present in a food.
Taken from :

 :http://tna.europarchive.org/20100929190231/http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthissues/factsbehindissues/gmfood/#elem232277

Posted by : Swe Mar Tun @ Sweety

Some ADVANTAGES of GM food

The controversial issues about gm food has been going on since the past century ! However, Would you still use GM food if you were given a chance to avoid it ? I feel that Singapore is a strict country based on its food supply, and hence there are very little amount of foods containing GM ingredients as a product. So, would you still use GM food when our organic products start to diminish from the shelves ?

What are some of the advantages of GM foods?

The world population has topped 6 billion people and is predicted to double in the next 50 years. Ensuring an adequate food supply for this booming population is going to be a major challenge in the years to come. GM foods promise to meet this need in a number of ways:


Pest resistance Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Farmers typically use many tons of chemical pesticides annually. Consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards, and run-off of agricultural wastes from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the water supply and cause harm to the environment. Growing GM foods such as B.t. corn can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market.



Herbicide tolerance For some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by physical means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides (weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and expensive process, that requires care so that the herbicide doesn't harm the crop plant or the environment. Crop plants genetically-engineered to be resistant to one very powerful herbicide could help prevent environmental damage by reducing the amount of herbicides needed. For example, Monsanto has created a strain of soybeans genetically modified to be not affected by their herbicide product Roundup ®. A farmer grows these soybeans which then only require one application of weed-killer instead of multiple applications, reducing production cost and limiting the dangers of agricultural waste run-off.


Disease resistance There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases. Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to these disease.


Cold tolerance Unexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene from cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato. With this antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures that normally would kill unmodified seedlings. (Note: I have not been able to find any journal articles or patents that involve fish antifreeze proteins in strawberries, although I have seen such reports in newspapers. I can only conclude that nothing on this application has yet been published or patented.) 


Drought tolerance/salinity tolerance As the world population grows and more land is utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops in locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation. Creating plants that can withstand long periods of drought or high salt content in soil and groundwater will help people to grow crops in formerly inhospitable places.


Nutrition Malnutrition is common in third world countries where impoverished peoples rely on a single crop such as rice for the main staple of their diet. However, rice does not contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition. If rice could be genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins and minerals, nutrient deficiencies could be alleviated. For example, blindness due to vitamin A deficiency is a common problem in third world countries. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Institute for Plant Sciences have created a strain of "golden" rice containing an unusually high content of beta-carotene (vitamin A). Since this rice was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, a non-profit organization, the Institute hopes to offer the golden rice seed free to any third world country that requests it. Plans were underway to develop a golden rice that also has increased iron content. However, the grant that funded the creation of these two rice strains was not renewed, perhaps because of the vigorous anti-GM food protesting in Europe, and so this nutritionally-enhanced rice may not come to market at all.


Pharmaceuticals Medicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and sometimes require special storage conditions not readily available in third world countries. Researchers are working to develop edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes. These vaccines will be much easier to ship, store and administer than traditional inject-able vaccines.


Phytoremediation Not all GM plants are grown as crops. Soil and groundwater pollution continues to be a problem in all parts of the world. Plants such as poplar trees have been genetically engineered to clean up heavy metal pollution from contaminated soil. 




Post by:
Jovin 

GM crops bring cash harvest to non-GM varieties

Insect pest control by genetically-modified crops can raise yields and profits from non-GM varieties grown nearby, a study from the US indicates.

Researchers looked at maize grown in five US states, where plants are affected by the European corn borer.
They found fewer borers - and higher profits - in GM fields, and in neighbouring non-GM fields.
Writing in the journal Science, they say this is the first time that a wider impact on profits has been shown.
Maize (known as corn in the US) can be genetically modified with a gene taken from a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

The introduced gene makes a toxin that kills corn borers - in principle rendering the plants immune to its attack, and increasing yields.

Bt varieties now make up about two thirds of the US maize crop.
But regulations require farmers to plant conventional varieties as well, which is intended to stop the borers becoming resistant.
Previous research has shown that Bt plants can curb insect damage in neighbouring non-GM fields, because their presence reduces the overall number of pests.
"This area-wide suppression effect has been documented in China and here in the US," said study leader Bill Hutchison from the University of Minnesota in St Paul.
"But as far as I'm aware, this is the first time that the economic benefits have been documented," he told BBC News.
Conventional economics

By comparing actual insect damage against estimates of what damage would have occurred - derived from historical data and other measures of borer abundance - the researchers calculated that over the 14 years of their study, use of Bt varieties improved farmers' profits by about $3.2bn in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

But most of this benefit - $2.4bn - was accrued in non-Bt fields.
Non-Bt seeds are cheaper - but they also gained in yield through their proximity to the GM fields.
A similar pattern pertains in Iowa and Nebraska, the team calculates.
Professor Matin Qaim, who studies the economics of GM agriculture at the University of Goettingen, said the ecological and economic benefits would depend on the characteristics of the particular pest.
"If your crop plant is the main host for the insect, then area-wide suppression is likely to happen," he said.
"Resistance might develop - however, that hasn't become a big problem under practical conditions."
Rotating benefits
A certain amount of maize grown in the US - and a larger proportion in other countries - is grown using organic techniques; and Bill Freese of the anti-GM group Center for Food Safety noted that other forms of pest control were available.
"Organic farmers use a lot of cultural techniques to combat insects, such as crop rotation, and that's very beneficial," he said.
"But in most of these mid-western farms there is hardly any crop rotation - the most you might get is corn-soy-corn - so these cultural methods are being forgotten, and I think that's a shame."
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates that at least 20% of non-GM varieties must be planted alongside the Bt strains.
But recently, companies have released "stacked" varieties containing up to six introduced genes, each producing a toxin to a specific pest; and for these, the EPA is relaxing the requirement for non-GM refuges.
However, Professor Hutchison said his work might convince previously reluctant farmers that the conventional seeds should be sown even if regulations do not mandate it.
"Many growers are very smart, they see the suppression in their [non-GM] fields," he said.
"It depends how risk-averse they want to be; but in the modern climate, with fewer corn borers around, it clearly makes economic sense to increase the proportion of non-Bt strains."

Credits to:  Richard Black
Environment correspondent

Posted by: Swe Mar Tun @ Sweety

GM crops continue spread, passing ''billion hectares''

The area of the world's farmland used for growing genetically modified crops increased by about 10% last year.

GM use grew fastest in Brazil but fell in the EU, says the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).
Virtually all GM strains used were engineered for just two traits, disease resistance and herbicide tolerance.
ISAAA is an organisation partly funded by industry that promotes biotechnology as a path to sustainability.
It calculates that more than a billion hectares have been cultivated with GM crops since their introduction in 1996 - the figure derived by adding together the areas cultivated with these varieties in all of the intervening years.
'Here to stay'

ISAAA estimates that more than 15 million farmers are involved in GM agriculture.

"We can recount a momentous year of progress in biotech crop adoption," said Clive James, the organisation's chairman and founder.
"During 2010, the accumulated commercial biotech plantation exceeded one billion hectares - that's an area larger than the US or China.
"And biotech crops registered double-digit growth over 2009, bringing the total global plantings to 148 million hectares. Biotech crops are here to stay."
However, critics point out that this is still just 10% of the world's arable land area as defined by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
About half of the global GM total is accounted for by the US - although overall, the developing world is adopting the technology faster than industrialised countries.
If current trends continue, developing countries will be growing more than half of the global total within a few years.
During 2010, Pakistan and Burma took their initial steps into the GM world by growing cotton modified to be resistant to insect pests.
The EU, however, continues to buck the global trend, registering a slight fall in the land area under GM cultivation.
Germany and Sweden both supported small areas of a new potato variety grown not for food, but to produce high-quality starch for industrial use.
Greenpeace, meanwhile, has presented a petition bearing more than a million signatures to the European Commission, demanding that the executive stop approving new GM varieties.
Recently, the EU introduced the "European citizen's initiative", which allows more than a million citizens jointly to ask for a change in the law.
"Today's European data shows that GM crops are failing in the field and on the market; farmers and consumers are not falling for biotech industry propaganda," said Greenpeace EU agriculture policy adviser Stefanie Hundsdorfer.
"GM crops are not more productive and are less resistant to extreme climate conditions than normal crops. They do however present a serious risk for our environment."
Golden future
One of the principal criticisms of the biotech industry down the years is that companies have not commercialised crops that produce direct benefits to the public, such as those with improved nutritional content, or that allow farmers in poor countries to grow crops in land that is currently too hot, too dry or too salty.
Virtually all of the crops grown in 2010 were either engineered to be resistant to insect pests - typically, through insertion of a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene that produces a toxin - or tolerant to proprietary herbicides.
A significant and growing proportion - about 20% - carried both traits, reflecting the trend for companies to market varieties containing a number of introduced genes "stacked" on top of each other.
Up to eight genes are stacked in a single variety.
Another criticism is that just four crops - soya bean, cotton, maize and canola (a relative of rape) - dominate the market, with little attention paid to other important foods of the developing world poor, such as rice, millet or sorghum.
Dr James suggested this situation was about to change, with crops due to come into commercial use over the next five years, including many with enhanced nutrition, notably "Golden Rice" enhanced in Vitamin A.
"Golden rice is expected to be available in 2013 in the Philippines and thereafter in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam," he said.
"Also [we will soon see] potatoes modified to resist late blight - the disease that caused the Irish potato famine - as well as sugar cane, bananas, eggplant, tomato, cassava. sweet potato, pulses and groundnuts."
He claimed that the introduction of Golden Rice could save the lives of thousands of people afflicted with Vitamin A deficiency.

-By Richard Black ,Environment correspondent

Posted by : Swe Mar Tun @ Sweety