Yuan Longping, the famous father of hybrid rice in China, expressed his own opinions on the more controversial genetically modified foods at the three sessions of the 11th session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Genetically modified foods need to be treated with caution as well as scientifically. Yuan Longping said that he is willing to take risks for science and take the lead to eat GM rice that is resistant to insects and disease. What is genetically modified food? The following Xiao Bian will take you to find out.
What is genetically modified food
Genetically Modified Foods (GMF) is the use of modern molecular biological technology to transfer genes of certain organisms to other species, transform the genetic material of organisms, and bring them to people in terms of shape, nutritional quality, and consumer quality. Needed goals change. Foods that are processed or produced by using genetically modified organisms as direct food or raw materials are "genetically modified foods."
From the world’s earliest transgenic crop (tobacco) was born in 1983, to the United States Monsanto company developed the ripening and preservation of genetically modified tomatoes in the United States in 1994 approved the market, and China's rice research institute developed transgenic hybrid rice in 1999 passed the expert appraisal, The research and development of genetically modified foods are developing rapidly, and the variety and output of products have also exponentially increased. The issue of genetically modified foods has become increasingly prominent.
In fact, the basic principle of genetic transformation is not difficult to understand, it has similarities with conventional crossbreeding. Hybridization is the transfer of the entire gene strand (chromosomes), and the transgene is the selection of the most useful small segment of gene transfer. Therefore, transgenes have higher selectivity than hybridization.
That is, one or more exogenous genes are transferred to certain organisms (animals, plants, and microorganisms) by genetic engineering means, and they are effective to express the corresponding products (polypeptides or proteins). Organisms are foods or processed as raw materials.
Types of genetically modified foods
In order to increase the nutritional value of agricultural products and produce foods faster and more efficiently, scientists apply genetically modified methods to change genetic information of organisms and organize new genes so that future crops are highly nutritious, resistant to storage, resistant to pests, and resistant to weed control. The ability of agents to continuously produce new genetically modified foods.
The first category, plant genetically modified foods
There are many phytogenetic foods. For example, bread production requires wheat with high protein content, while current wheat varieties contain lower protein, and the transfer of highly expressed protein genes into wheat will result in better baking performance of the resulting bread.
Tomato is a kind of fruit and vegetable with rich nutrition and high economic value, but it is not resistant to storage. In order to solve the problem of storage of fruits such as tomato, the researchers discovered that the enzyme gene controlling the ethylene synthesis of the plant senescence hormone is an important gene that causes plant senescence. If genetic engineering methods can be used to suppress the expression of this gene, then the aging hormone ethylene Biosynthesis will be controlled and tomatoes will not easily become soft and rot. Many scientists in the United States, China and other countries have worked hard to cultivate such new tomato varieties. This tomato is anti-aging, anti-softening, resistant to storage and capable of long-distance transportation, which can reduce waste in processing and production and transportation.
The second category, animal genetically modified foods
There are also many types of animal genetically modified foods. For example, in cattle, human genes are transferred into the body. The milk produced after the cow grows up contains genetic drugs that can be used for the treatment of human diseases after extraction. By transferring the human auxin gene into the pig's genome, the pig's growth rate has doubled, and the quality of the pork has greatly increased. Now such pork has been brought to the table in Australia.
The third category, genetically modified microbial foods
Microorganisms are the most commonly used transgenes for transgenes, so transgenic microbes are easier to cultivate and the most widely used. For example, rennet that produced cheese can only be removed from the stomach of the calf that was killed. Now, the use of genetically modified microorganisms has enabled rennet to be produced in large amounts in vitro, avoiding the calf’s innocent death and reducing the Cost of production.
The fourth category, genetically modified special foods
The family uses biological genetic engineering to turn common crops such as vegetables, fruits, and grain into magical “vaccine foods†that can prevent diseases. Scientists have developed a plant that can prevent cholera. Feeding mice with this cockroach can greatly increase the disease resistance of mice. Moreover, this cholera antigen can withstand the corrosion of gastric acid without being destroyed, and it can stimulate the body's immunity against cholera. As a result, more and more disease-fighting genes are being transferred to plants, enabling people to achieve the purpose of disease prevention while tasting delicious fresh fruits.
The safety of eating genetically modified foods
Genetically modified foods are products created using new technologies, and they are also new things. People naturally have doubts about the safety of eating genetically modified foods.
In fact, the first person to raise this issue was Professor Putai of the British Aberdeen Rout Institute. In 1998, he discovered in his research that the consumption of genetically modified potatoes in young rats would damage the internal organs and the immune system. This has caused great concern in the scientific community. Immediately afterwards, the Royal Society conducted a review of the report and announced in May 1999 that the study was "filled with holes." In 1999, Britain’s authoritative science magazine “Nature†published a paper by John Rossi, a professor at Cornell University in the United States. He pointed out that butterfly larvae and other field beneficial insects will develop stunted and die after they have eaten cabbage with some kind of genetically modified corn pollen. The rate is particularly high. There is still some evidence pointing out the potential dangers of GM foods.
But more scientists' experiments show that genetically modified foods are safe. There are several reasons why scientists agree with this view. First of all, any kind of genetically modified food has undergone a lot of scientific experiments before it is put on the market. The state and the government have relevant laws and regulations to restrain them, and scientists also have a very rigorous academic attitude. In addition, when the traditional crops are planted, farmers use pesticides to ensure quality, and some pest-resistant genetically modified foods do not need to be sprayed with pesticides. In addition, whether a food will cause poisoning depends mainly on whether it has receptors in the human body and whether it can be metabolized. The transformed genes are screened and have a clear role, so the genetically modified components will not accumulate in the human body. It will not be harmful.
For example, we have cultivated an insect-resistant maize. The transfer of maize to the corn is a gene from Bacillus thuringiensis that can only cause lepidopteran deaths because only lepidopteran insects have this gene coding. Protein specific receptors, but humans and other animals, insects do not have such receptors, so no toxic effects.
Regular Kitchen Mixer,Kitchen Sink Mixer Tap,Kitchen Sink Mixer Faucet,Kitchen Faucet Mixer Tap
Kaiping City Kaipu Sanitary Ware Co.,Ltd. , https://www.china-kpo.com