The word “biotechnology” simply means using living organisms, or parts of them, to provide goods or services. Foodstuffs made from plants bred using genetic engineering are already being sold in parts of the world and they are, in general, not different to the foods we already eat. A genetically modified organism is defined as an organism that has had its DNA modified by genetic engineering. A legal definition is not intended, and the word transgenic is also commonly used. This word derives from the insertion on the DNA of a gene that is not included naturally in the food or in the crop (transgene), and the word transgenic derives from this modification and applies to foodstuff or to modified crops.
The development and application of genetic engineering techniques has led to the introduction of a number of traits.
The multinationals created, or are going to, science fiction products. There are strawberries enabled to resist cold weather thanks to the introduction of a gene collected from an arctic fish; beetroots can offer diet sugar once crossed with a Jerusalem artichoke, in particular with its harsh resistance to parasites. Tomatoes can be forgotten for even weeks in the fridge, they won’t go off. Rice turning red because of proteins and vitamin A; plus, it can be planted in brackish water. Cheese with no mould. Milk drank to vaccinate against exanthematous diseases. Garbage and vegetables untouched by the ice. Potatoes, maize, corn, artichokes, tobacco, and further tens of other vegetables immune from the attacks of virus and bacteria. Vegetables and cereals that, before getting to our tables, come to light on a genetic engineering lab, where they undergo complex molecular manipulations.. In a word: transgenic plants. Plants, differently from vertebrates, do not have antibodies able to set up defences when the organism is attacked by a virus or bacteria: they can only ‘burn’ attacked cells, aiming at the isolation of the enemy. But they lose most times. The intuition of manipulating a plant DNA in order to obtain increasingly more perfect products, preservable, capable of countering the actions of micro-organisms and insects, came, in 1976, to a group of researchers’ mind, while working for a small Californian society: Genentech. By then the growth of transgenic food seems to be unstoppable.
To genetically manipulate an organism means to introduce a DNA molecule able to produce a protein which the organism couldn’t have produced before. We’ve always been fed with proteins, however some of those, as other substances, might be refused by our body. When in touch with certain molecules, in fact, our system can react violently, exploding in what we named ‘allergic reactions’, that is allergies.
Transgenic food supporters argue that the introduction of such products in our diet cannot raise risks of new allergies, quoting the example of the insertion of a banana gene in tomatoes, without considering that - in this case - it is widely consumed food. Genetic engineering, though, often concerns genes, hence proteins, not belonging to the traditional sorts of food: dangers cannot be predictable when the ‘transplanted’ gene, wheat for bread, pasta and so on, comes from, say, a scorpion, a petunia or other organisms never eaten before.
Chemically our body is made from the food and water we consume, and these chemicals flow through the body throughout our life. The consumption of food is therefore of great importance for human health. Every living organism relies on consumption of energy and metabolites in order to live. Food is defined as material that contains essential body nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins or minerals, and is ingested and assimilated by an organism to produce energy, stimulate growth, and maintain life. The main sources of food for animals are animals, fungi and plants: there are many countries where food supply is not guaranteed, and biotechnology is necessary to stimulate production and reduce losses due to disease. Once the food supply is guaranteed, the consumer tends to concentrate more on the particular individual tastes and preferences, and food quality and food choice are goals that developed economies seek, and are also important for food-exporting nations.
Genetically manipulated products have more risks than traditional foods since genetic engineering processes can introduce new allergens in foods that previously were naturally safe.
There are various risks in genetic engineering, for example the risk of unintentionally changing the genes of an organism, the risk of harming that organism, the risk of changing the ecosystem in which it was involved, and the risk of harming the ecosystem, and the risk of change, or harm, to any other organism of that species or others, including human beings. The concept of risk in biotechnology involves both the potential to change something and the potential to harm. Differently from chemical or nuclear contamination, unfortunately, gene pollution is very difficult to clean up, since new living organisms, bacteria, and viruses can be released into the environment to reproduce, migrate, and mutate. They can easily transfer their new characteristics to other organisms and can never be recalled or contained, so the global effects of genetic engineering could potentially be irreversible and irretrievable.
On the other hand, genes from bacteria, viruses, and insects, which have never been part of our human diet, could be spliced into food, and no one knows now if these foods are safe. Since genetic engineering is not an exact science, scientists could unintentionally create changes in the genetic make-up of plants that bring about new and unknown proteins, microbes, plants, insects, and animals, with dangerous, unpredictable, and deleterious effects for mankind. Food manipulated through genetic engineering could become a dangerous and even toxic substance for the metabolism. Even if the gene itself is not dangerous or toxic it could alter complex biochemical systems and create new bioactive compounds or change the concentrations of those which are normally present. Properties of proteins can also change in a new chemical environment, given that they can yield and adhere to new forms. Genetically manipulated products have more risks than traditional foods since genetic engineering processes can introduce new allergens in foods that previously were naturally safe.
The fact that genetic engineering will accelerate the rhythm of loss of global biodiversity of agricultural crops and plants is especially alarming. Transgenic crops constitute a threat to wild plants and rural varieties (traditional varieties of crops) that constitute a principal source of the genetic diversity of the crops.
Third World countries are faced with larger environmental risks than the Western countries because, in contrast, they harbor a great quantity of natural relatives of many crops, which makes easier the generation of mutant wild species. On the other hand, almost all global centers of origin and diversification of crops are found in Third World countries, and in consequence, the erosion of vegetable biodiversity and the germoplasm of plants (so crucial for a sustainable agriculture) in these countries, increases the risk of a lack of food at global level in the future.
Another of the possible environmental problems derives from the possible chemical pollution of the superficial and subterranean waters by microorganisms or plants with metabolically altered processes. It can be impossible to recuperate and even more difficult to control, the genetically manipulated organisms that are harmful, especially those agents that controlled or do not enter in contact with the atmosphere.

Sources: Nadir, Eat Online, Alimentazione

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