A Transgenic food Is a product that has been modified by adding exogenous genes to achieve new properties. Therefore, by transferring it next to the word"food", we obtain by definition means that have been genetically modified so that in this way we obtain qualities that were not previously enjoyed.
This is thanks to the new biotechnologies. These capture genes from other organisms by isolating them to later incorporate them into a subject so they can enjoy them artificially by modifying their DNA.
The transgenic foods Have become increasingly important in today's society. Standing as object of a multitude of controversies and disputes, associations of great political and social weight as Greenpeace or Ecologists in Action Have been positioned against the processes carried out by the laboratories and their incongruous results.
As a result, due to the industrial agriculture produced in recent times, a total of 20% of bees in Europe have been eliminated.
Also, from another point of view, it is well known that thanks to them can be created much more complete and sophisticated food, but as we mentioned, these alterations carry with them a number of problems and disadvantages that we will explain below, not without disengage What they are, what they are, how they are formed and what the story is behind them.
Seeing some names, according to World Health Organization , The process has several synonyms among which we find"modern biotechnology","genetic technology","genetic engineering", or the most striking of all:"recombinant DNA technology".
The effects that can be created for these foods are diverse, including containing proteins from other foods or withstanding insect pests, herbicidal chemicals or long droughts.
History of transgenic foods
It all begins in the mid-nineteenth century, when a British monk named Gregor Mendel It was proposed to make a scientific invention based on the crossing of different types of peas. This served him to become one of the parents of science and genetics.
But we are going to be in the twentieth century, more specifically in 1973, when young scientists from the United States were able to transfer the genes of one transmitting bacteria to another subject of different species.
It would not be until a decade later, when the first transgenic plant was created in the old continent. It was a kanamycin resistant tobacco (a common antibiotic that rots the plant). Thus opened a new scientific period under the name of"Green Revolution".
Again we take another leap in time to place ourselves in China, where the first transgenic crop would be made for sale, and again, with tobacco.
However it would not be until about two years later when the first transgenic food appears on the American market. Under the name of Tomate Flav Savr, the creator of this Californian company claimed that they offered a better flavor and duration before becoming rotten. Years later, soy and maize would arrive (two of the most commercialized GM foods).
Canada and Argentina would be the next countries to fall into this practice. During the following years they would begin to plant adulterated seeds. The entire world was adopting transgenic foods to achieve at the beginning of the twenty-first century the exuberant and shocking figure of 52 million hectares dedicated to exclusive use, rising to a total of 140 today with more than 25 countries and 15 million farmers .
Current status of transgenic foods
At present and as we have mentioned, in Europe the production of this type of chemical alterations is prohibited, being Spain the only physical place where to carry out this type of practices.
In the rest of the world the United States bears the triumphant crown of country with more transgenic products, followed by several countries of Latin America. The first Asian nation is India, ranking fourth. Entering the Pacific, the desert of Australia is number 12 in the table.
Regarding economic pressure, transgenic food is a machine that moves hundreds of millions of euros worldwide, providing a multitude of foods introduced into the market, such as soybean where today, 60% is transgenic, As well as 80% of world wheat. That does not demand constant awareness in the media, and, as we have said, is situated in the eye of the hurricane attracting a multitude of looks, speculations and of course, controversies.
The large multinationals that decide to dedicate their production see in the medium and long term a great capital investment with abysmal benefits. In Europe, Spain is the only nation with official land accepted for the cultivation of this type of food where the United States has the monopoly with 40% thanks to MONSANTO, the company that owns 99% of the total production, followed by Brazil ( 23%) and Argentina (40%).
Disadvantages of GM Foods: General Problems
Just as transgenic foods offer many advantages to help advance science, nutrition and the different world economies, they also show a number of disadvantages that deserve to be analyzed.
This article focuses on the weak points of livelihoods that face different ideological currents: on the one hand, those who are in favor of genetic procedures and, on the other hand, those who are opposed.
Hybridization
In the first instance we could think of a latent risk of producing a hybridization That produces several problems.
Genetic problems
We talk about genetic problems when the development of some kind of foreign gene leads to the creation of diseases within our body. This leads to underdevelopment by genes in the production of unwanted results.
Loss of biodiversity
A country with the proper characteristics to produce certain foods would lose its agricultural personality and in this way the exclusivity, transforming itself into something massive.
Problems in supermarkets
In the commercial field, the disagreements that result in several products that end up in different supermarkets are not labeled in the proper way or directly are not directly marked (these should be specified in such a way as to explain how The product and its characteristics have been obtained). This is an important aspect, since transgenics show very distant qualities of non-genetically altered foods.
Toxic substances in the environment
When planting is carried out an increase of toxic substances in the environment and as a consequence, contamination in the fertile soil.
Water and oil consumption
The creation of transgenics causes vast amounts of water and oil to be consumed, speeding up the depletion of this last liquid.
Damage to products
Irreversible and irreversible damage in treated plants and animals (when treating genes in animals).
Problems in humans
Different allergic reactions
According to Brown University, it can lead to allergic reactions in the consumer. This is due to the fact that when making the relevant modifications, it is easily that certain nutrients are mixed to add new ones that were not had before and in this way creating irritations and allergic adversities.
Weakness versus antibiotics
By ingesting transgenic foods, our body assimilates the antibiotics that were already carrying food to make them stronger against insects and viruses. This causes them to be lodged in our body and that when it comes to ingesting our own medicines against diseases has a much reduced effect.
It can also lead to the emergence of new diseases. And all this confirmed and confirmed by the State University of Iowa.
DNA mutations
Transformation of the cellular structure due to the alteration suffered in the food we are ingesting. This would lead to the reaction of different pathogens and malformations. The reaction would be carried out because of the frequent consumption of this type foods. As a consequence, the following generations would undergo different and strange DNA mutations.
Low defenses against cancer
Another major disadvantage is that it is produced in a profound decrease in cancer cells.
Transgenic food more controversial
Here are some of the foods that have generated more controversy over the last few years with their respective new genes:
- Cotton : Resistance to Bromoxynil, Bacillus Thuringiensis toxin and Glyphosate tolerance.
- pumpkin : Protein covered with virus.
- Corn : Tolerant to glufosinate and Bacillus thuringiensis toxin.
- Cantaloupe : Protein covered with virus.
- Potato : Bacillus thuringiensis toxin and modified starch.
- Soy : Tolerance to glyphosate.
- Tobacco : Resistance to Bromoxynil.
- Tomato : Polygalacturonase, ACC synthase and virus-coated protein.
Solutions
The Asociation Greenpeace Spain Proposes a series of solutions to help end this type of techniques. These include the active action of governments on these types of issues with a"sound management" Of the different local products in order to benefit farmers and consumers in this way. It is also possible to seek the non-economic liberation of the environment of GMOs and to stop their importation
Alternative biotechnology is postulated as a serious alternative. We talked about the Assisted Selection by Markers (SAM), which translates into genetic modifications in a cheaper and safer way. The difference? That instead of isolating the transference of the genetic sequence controls it in a directed way.
All this calls on politicians in different countries to ensure a way to produce food safely and that is equally beneficial to the environment and the people who work in it.
With respect to the agricultural sector, we are looking for the techniques and the different methods of organic farming that are currently proposed. Activists say that rules should be developed on the coexistence of genetically modified crops along with conventional and organic ones.
Finally, can a system of environmental, health, economic and social risk assessment be established? And to ensure traceability and labeling.
To reflect
As we see, there are a lot of disadvantages that transgenic foods carry. Something that has led different scholars and experts in the field to think about the detrimental effects to which we expose ourselves.
Among them we can read Juan Felipe Carrasco, an agronomist and head of the Greenpeace Campaign against Transgenics in Spain, who believes that"industrial agriculture, which is currently sold to us as food for all humanity, is Producing many irreversible damages".
David Williams, a specialist cell biologist, will clarify that"now no one in this field knows that the genome is not a static environment. The inserted genes can be transformed by several different means, and can happen generations later.
Koloni's Michael Antoniu explains that transgenic technology is based on genetic concepts already surpassed by science, and that of course are not shaken by the latest findings of genetics.
We will finally end this sentence of Dr. Gilles - Eric Séralini, an expert on the European Commission of Transgenics and molecular biologist, who said some five years ago that"transgenics are toxic to human health."