Upload Now
Read this article to learn about the application of modern biotechnology to food production!
Modern biotechnology is the application of (i) in vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles, or (ii) fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family, that overcome natural physiological reproductive or recombination barriers, and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection.
The application of modern biotechnology to food production presents new opportunities and challenges for human health and development.
Recombinant gene technology, the most well-known modern biotechnology, enables plants, animals and microorganisms to be genetically modified (GM) with novel traits beyond what is possible through traditional breeding and selection technologies.
It is recognised that techniques such as cloning, tissue culture and marker-assisted breeding are often regarded as modern biotechnologies, in addition to genetic modification. The inclusion of novel traits potentially offers increased agricultural productivity, or improved quality and nutritional and processing characteristics, which can contribute directly to enhancing human health and development.
From a health perspective, there may also be indirect benefits, such as reduction in agricultural chemical usage, and enhanced farm income, crop sustainability and food security, particularly in developing countries. The novel traits in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may also, however, carry potential direct risks to human health and development.
Many, but not all, genes and traits used in agricultural GMOs are novel and have no history of safe food use. Several countries have instituted guidelines or legislation for mandatory premarket risk assessment of GM food. At the international level, agreements and standards are available to address these concerns.
GMOs may also affect human health indirectly through detrimental impacts on the environment, or through unfavourable impacts on economic (including trade), social and ethical factors.
These impacts need to be assessed in relation to the benefits and risks that may also arise from foods that have not been genetically modified. For example, new, conventionally bred varieties of a crop plant may also have impacts—both positive and negative—on human health and the environment.
Foods produced through modern biotechnology can be categorised as follows:
1. Foods consisting of or containing living/viable organisms, e.g. maize.
2. Foods derived from or containing ingredients derived from GMOs, e.g. flour, food protein products, or oil from GM soybeans.
3. Foods containing single ingredients or additives produced by GM microorganisms (GMMs), e.g. colours, vitamins and essential amino acids.
4. Foods containing ingredients processed by enzymes produced through GMMs, e.g. high-fructose corn syrup produced from starch, using the enzyme glucose isomerase (product of a GMM).