By the end of November, there were a flurry of articles announcing EU fears over GM crops. The Independent on Sunday, the 25th cited safety fears. In this instance it was on 2 modifications of food crops, both maize [corn]. A confidential document cited risks that were 'unacceptable'. There are wider implications and possible confrontations with the American government and biotech firms. The reasons cited are not the harm they can do to humans, but to the environment and flora or fauna in same.
With this in mind, I thought that a roundup of all the different areas of research might be of interest, so here they are:
*RICE—the aim is to have hardier crops. The buzz word is 'epigenetics' which 'refers to a heritable change that is not a result of a change in DNA sequence, but of a chemical modification of nucleotides in the DNA or associated proteins'. It is said that this is reversible and can be 'ON' or 'OFF'…
*also 'GREEN SUPER RICE' which will be 'nutrient-rich, pest- and drought-resistant, high-yield…'
*'HUMAN GENES IN RICE'—this is '…engineered to produce lactiva and
lysomin—two proteins found naturally in breast milk…'
*POTATOES—to 'open up new markets and aid the development of new, ultra-nutricious varieties'. 'value-added potato-derived products'…'such as high-performance protein' and increase the flavonoids.
*POTATOES—for starch thickening
*HAIRY ROOTS—with usage as flavourings. Called 'secondary metabolites'. This is a disease in plants when a 'common soil bacterium infects a plant by transferring its DNA into the cells of the host plant, which then becomes integrated into the nuclear genome.' Ultimately, the roots become fuzzy. We are getting pretty complicated here and a lot of work in the lab takes place, ultimately resulting in cultures that can be applied elsewhere.
*TOMATOES SMELLING OF ???—work to change taste and smell…'by expressing the ocimum basilicum geraniol synthase gene.' This research is going on in Israel. The implications extend to storage/shelf-life and in this case, the 'tomatoes were found to have higher levels of volatile terpenoids that some say have antimicrobial and antifungal qualities'. The known draw-back is 'less lycopene'. Other research works with tomatoes to produce higher levels of folate, usually found in 'green leafy vegetables, chick peas and lentils'.
*TRANSGENETIC varieties of TOMATO—working on avoiding allergies.
*FRUIT—for natural flavorings. Research is going on to find which genes areresponsible for the special tastes and aromas we respond to. There will be a lot of intervention via chemical processing and other techniques. Expense is a primary consideration with regard to production in this case.
*PEANUTS—to remove the allergens. The words 'mutational breeding' were used in that article.
*WHEAT—the area of research here is on the starch and amylose levels. This digests slower and is primarily as a livestock feed.
*MAIZE—with potential to boost vitamin A. So far only gerbils have consumed this but there's also 'Syngenta Golden Rice II' working on more beta-carotene.
*PEPPERS—needing less light and heat, therefore avoiding heated greenhouses.
*DAIRY PRODUCTS—boosting flavour primarily in fermented foods such as cheeses.
*SUNFLOWER OIL—for greater stability all-round [storage and frying]
*ICE CREAM—rather more complicated, this will have a 'new genetically modified protein' to reduce fat in the product.
*SOYBEANS—[where it all started?]
*CEREALS—high yield, drought- and fungus-resistant.
* other areas 'zeaxanthin in potato tubers, and the omega-3 fatty acid, eicosapentaeoic acid [EPA], to soybeans, brassica, and stearidonic acid [SDA] in canola crops'.
Lastly, on December 6th the Daily Mail reported 'GM jab could be lifesaver'--- 'Injections of genetically-engineered cells could prevent the most common cause of sudden death following a heart attack.'
[all other quotes are from 'Food Navigator']
