A Deeper Look at GM Foods

Hey everyone, Kristen here. Now so far, our blog has covered a lot of interesting things dealing with the topic of GM crops. We’ve mentioned some of the foods that are commonly under scrutiny for being the usual suspects in the GM crop round up. But how exactly have these different foods each been modified?

Let’s take a little look at these foods and see exactly how they’ve changed through genetic modification.

Corn

Corn is what I’d like to refer to as the "poster child" of the GM crop world. GM corn is so popular now that just about the majority of the products that utilize corn may be considered genetically modified themselves; foods that a processed with corn like crackers, corn chips, feed for animals and plain old corn on the cob. But why are they so popular? Well corn of today has been genetically modified to be resistant to most pests like the European corn borer, reducing the use of chemical pesticides. They do this by inserting of the insecticidal protein Cry1Ab. As of 2014 they were declared 76% resistant to insects.

Wine

Let’s look at something a little different now. With wine, the end product itself does not actually contain any GM material. However, it is interesting to note that GM bacteria (yeast strain ML01) has been used in the fermentation process to halt the production of harmful byproducts like histamines. These byproducts usually are what causes headaches in individuals. It also increases the speed at which processing takes place. The risk of spoilage during the process also decreases. To read more about GM wine follow this link 

Soy

Soy is another food that is heavily side eyed by many anti-GMO activists as it is another crop which is heavily used in genetic modification. GM soy has a higher tolerance for herbicides. This means that “Herbicide tolerance is the inherent ability of a species to survive and reproduce after herbicide treatment” (Weed technology,1998). It is found in different processed foods like breads and cereals. It is also, like corn, used as feed for animals.

These foods are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to GM foods. There are also tons of controversy surrounding each of the foods mentioned here. There’s a lot more to be covered so stick around.😉

Sources

Brooke Borel, "GMO Facts: 10 Common GMO Claims Debunked" (2014)
retrieved from: https://www.popsci.com/article/science/core-truths-10-common-gmo-claims-debunked

Phillips, T. (2008) Genetically modified organisms (GMOs): Transgenic crops and recombinant DNA technology. NatureEducationhttps://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetically-modified-organisms-gmos-transgenic-crops-and-732

Images
Natural News "GMO corn news" (2014)
https://www.naturalnews.com/GMO_corn.html

Saibante Carola (2013) "Soy From A to Z: 26 Things You Need To Know About Soy"
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2017/01/30/are-we-ready-for-genetically-modified-wine/