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
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