Ecological Concerns of Genetically Modified Foods

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jaeger/genetically_modified_foods.htm

This article was posted under the toxicology section on the New York University Sciences website in 2005. The blog has already discussed many positives and negatives of GM foods, and this article gives more depth into the mechanisms that allow for the growing and manufacturing of GM foods. The included mechanisms include natural gene transfer via an Agrobacterium tumefaciens vector, a basterium normally found in soils. External DNA may be partially inserted, inserted completely, or backwards.
This article also explores the process of making GM foods that are resistant to certain herbicides. This strategy does reduce the risk posed by chemical pesticides. GM crops such as these produce endotoxins that cause resistance to pesticides, but these endotoxins are harmless to humans and animals. Plants have also been engineered to be resistant to stress factors such as cold weather or drought.
Prior articles haven given insight into a variety of health risks related to GM foods, but this article focuses on the risks that GM foods pose to the environment. One of these is the fact that plants that are resistant to pests will cause the selection of new strains of pests that resist the effects of transgenes. This could cause the rise of new herbicides to fight these new "superpests." It is not yet certain whether the resistance to pests and pesticides in GM foods can be transferred to weeds and other unwanted plants. If so, this could cause a huge spike in weed populations.
This article states that the FDA has stated that "a food or food ingredient developed by genetic engineering must meet the same rigorous standards under the Act as other food products, and the FDA has broad legal authority to take action against a substance that poses a hazard to the public." This certainly would ease the minds of most consumers, though there is still a large debate over the labelling of GM foods.
GM foods still do not need to be labelled as such. The FDA does not see any way of distinguishing genetically modified foods from others and, thus, does not see any way to label them as such. In response, the USDA has developed standards for foods to be labelled as "organic" and will prohibit the use of recombinant DNA crops in organic farming. This is good new for consumers looking to avoid the risks of GM foods that have been presented in previous articles.
Concerning health care, this article presents both positive and negative effects of GM foods. The lingering debate is over whether or not GM foods should be labelled as such. If Americans want to avoid GM foods due to health or environmental risks, they can certainly do so.