Genetically Modified (GM) Foods

Are Genetically Modified (GM) Foods Safe?

A recent post on Facebook again sparked my interest on this topic.  No, it had nothing to do with the beastly fruit above that I have named Tomonster.  The Facebook post described apples that have been genetically modified so that they do not brown after they are cut.  Are they safe?  Will they look like Tomonster?  Will eating a GM apple make you look like Tomonster?  What is GM food anyway?  

To answer these questions, let's start with the history of genetics, from breeding to genetic modification in a lab.

Breeding

Thousands of years before the discovery of DNA, people understood that reproduction in humans, animals, and plants generally produces similar offspring.  In horses, for example, breeders have used this knowledge to concentrate their favorite traits by choosing the fastest, strongest, or most beautiful parents to have offspring together.  A strong mother and a fast father could have a child that is both strong and fast.  By choosing which horses bred with each other, breeders crossed favorable traits and influenced the gene and trait pool of the next generation.  

Many critics of genetic modification will claim that we should not eat foods that are haphazardly thrown together by man.  They're not talking about the birthday cake I made for my wife last year, but her red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting was about as natural as the locally-sourced 'all-natural organic' strawberries and apples that you can pick up at the farmer's market on Saturday morning.  Breeding foods and domesticated animals has been going on for so long that none of us would even recognize the taste or appearance of a strawberry or apple from thousands of years ago.  My grandfather was born before the first Fuji apple was ever grown, so how 'natural' could it be?

Genetic Modification

If you've taken a biology or genetics class, you've undoubtedly heard of Gregor Mendel and his infamous pea plants.  Simply put, he discovered that traits are inherited in packets, which we now call genes.  A century after Mendel's work, the structure of DNA was discovered, sparking our understanding of the Central Dogma.  Now, we have entire single-celled organisms built from synthetic DNA. 

GM food is not nearly as complex as building a new apple from scratch.  For now, genetic modification is the ability to copy and paste the genes that nature has provided us, plus some minor modifications.  It is analogous to a mechanic putting Toyota parts into a Honda.  

In the case of the apples that sparked this blogpost, scientists have modified the apple DNA so that it cannot properly make a critical protein that causes browning in apples.  This simple change likely leads to an apple with identical chemistry to one without the change, other than the one missing protein.  It won't taste different, feel different, or test different in the lab.  It also will not turn brown.

There are many ways to modify an organisms DNA, but the simplest is to take existing DNA from one organism and put it into something else.  We are not yet at the stage where we create entire synthetic pathways (protein assembly lines) from scratch without any naturally existing blueprints.

Why All the Hype?

Why are so many people so adamantly against GM foods?  That's a great question.  I think the only answer comes from psychology, not biotechnology.  David Ropeik, a Harvard instructor, author, and risk consultant, explains the psychology very well in his article, "How We Perceive the Risks of GMOs."  In summary, most people who fear GM foods associate these foods with harmful chemicals or companies they dislike and may describe GM foods as 'unnatural' or GM food scientists as 'playing God.'  These people have a weak understanding of genetic modification, which harbors their perception of risk.  Ropeik believes that the greatest factor in people choosing to fear GM foods is what their friends do.  He warns that calling these people irrational, non-scientific, or just plain wrong will only cement their strong emotions as they respond defensively, reminding us that emotions are a critical and necessary part of being human.

Safety

Like people, food can only be judged by its quality, not by its heritage.  Whether the fruit came from a lab or a 2000-yr old plant, it could still be a poisonous berry or a delicious apple.  We can only know whether its safe by testing it.  In the case of the non-browning apples, three government organizations will regulate various aspects of production, which is more testing than has been done for any apple you've ever had before in your life.

Blinding the Blood Suckers

Imagine life from a mosquito's point of view. There are no dedicated mosquito grocery stores (the Red Cross hasn't even offered memberships like Costco). No, life isn't so cushy. Every blood meal comes with effort. 
Much like your family dog, the mosquito's sense of smell plays heavily into the search for food. Next time you see one of the little ladies on your arm sucking away your hard-earned blood, remember that they had to sniff you out before they could eat you. 
Well, like you, scientists don't much appreciate being eaten by mosquitoes either, and the current thinking is ... what if we could just remove their sense of smell?

Making Chickens Lay Falcon Eggs: The Science of De-Extinction

Have you ever dreamed of snapping pictures of a live wooly mammoth at the zoo? Perhaps you could buy a mammoth wool beanie in the gift shop afterwards, or pay a little extra for a ride on the mammoth's back.
And maybe you've thought, "Science has come so far now ... why not try cloning a mammoth? We have the technology, let's do this thing!" You're not alone in those thoughts. In fact, there's a dedicated group of scientists working on this technology of "de-extinction". And they've made some astounding progress ...

Metabolism and Molecular Vacation Planning

Human Reconstruction 2. What images does that title conjure up in your mind? Frankenstein is one possibility (he was sewn together or 'reconstructed' from dead body parts). But no, guess again. Surgery? Wax museums? Dolly Parton and Michael Jackson?

While the title may paint a mental picture of scalpels and sutures, the project itself is somewhat more tame (while just as ambitious as building a monster out of corpses).

Mapping human metabolism has the potential to revolutionize medicine the way Google Maps revolutionized vacation planning. But, back up a sec... what is metabolism?

3D Printing and Your Liver

Take a moment and imagine this scenario: a terrible accident happens to your close friend and his liver is severely damaged. He'll need a new one but the waiting list for a liver donation is so long that it's unlikely he'll get one in time.

What to do?

Tissue engineering to the rescue. Recent research has blended synthetic biology, 3D printing, and a spoonful of sugar to build you a new liver from scratch.

Mutants Among Us! Can Humans Evolve?

In the TV show Heroes, hundreds of people discover that they have superhuman powers.  My favorite power from the show is Hiro's ability to master time and space.  This is the only power in all of science fiction that I would prefer to Nightcrawler's poof (from X-men).  Just like X-Men, Heroes explains that these special individuals are a more evolved form of human.  Is this how evolution happens?  Is it possible to wake up with a genetic mutation that gives you added powers?  Do mutants usually wear black?

Tyler DeWitt, Bill Nye, and BioBeans

Have you ever wondered why anyone goes into science? Does it seem boring, dry, uninteresting, uncool, unlikeable and not-your-style? Or maybe, you sometimes secretly wish that you were "smart enough" to be a science geek but you just don't get it? 

If so, we're here to tell you that science isn't the problem. Science is anything but boring, uninteresting and uncool. You're not the problem either. You are definitely smart enough. What needs fixing is the middle man. The teachers. So what can you do to be a better science learner or teacher? Read on ...

Knome and Personalized Medicine

On February 2nd, the New York Times ran an article featuring an up-and-coming company, Knome. Knome provides a combined hardware-software platform for interpreting human genetic information. Soooooo... what do they provide? What does this mean for personalized medicine in the 21st century?

Fecal Matter Transplants to Stool Bank Donations

Meet Clostridium difficile; a common bacteria found in the gut of many perfectly healthy people. It is generally only one of hundreds of bacterial species happily tucked away in the warm confines of your and my tummies. However, C. diff, as it is affectionately known, is a lot like ivy growing in the garden. If someone regularly prunes it, if other plants crowd it a bit, it can be a beautiful member of the garden community. But, if something happens so that the gardener and the other plants don't keep it in check, the ivy will overgrow the house and tear up the walls.

What is *cough* the Flu Shot Anyway?

Last week my wife and I both got sick.  We both passed the opportunity to get flu shots.  Would it help?  What magic elixir can keep someone from being sick?  How does it all work?

The flu, or influenza, is a virus, which Matt described very well in his post Viruses - A Vector to Remember. This particular virus is one bad hombre.  What makes this virus so bad is that the DNA that it carries makes people sick, sometimes very sick.  In fact, during World War I a flu epidemic known as the Spanish Flu infected half a billion people and may have killed as much as 3% of the world's population.

The Spanish Flu was not the first virus to leave a big wake of destruction.  Toward the end of the 1700s, smallpox killed nearly half a billion people in Europe alone.  While you are likely to catch the flu in your life, you will not get smallpox, thanks to the smallpox vaccine.