Many of the foods that are already common in our diet are obtained from plant varieties that were developed using conventional genetic techniques of breeding and selection. Hybrid corn, nectarines (which are genetically altered peaches), and tangelos (which are...
Biotechnology
Biotechnological methods of genetic engineering are relatively new techniques that plant breeders have to make direct modifications of DNA, a living thing’s genetic materials. Scientists make copies to genes for desired traits and introduce the gene copy into an organism such as a food crop. The new gene is usually a single gene whose function is well understood. These new techniques avoid one of the major problems encountered by plant breeders who use cross hybridization – no unwanted or undesirable genes are introduced with the desired gene. In addition, scientists can make copies of genes from any organism – plant, animal, or microbe – that may yield a desired trait and introduce that gene into a food crop. This greatly expands the pool of potentially useful traits available to plant breeders to improve food crops.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) to ensure the safety and wholesomeness of most foods, except meat and poultry, including foods developed through modern biotechnology.
Scientists report that only a fraction of the thousands of proteins in the diet have been found to be food allergens. Therefore, it is unlikely that most proteins introduced into food through bioengineering will be allergens. Additionally, scientists can...
the new DNA is linked to a circular ring of genetic material called a transfer plasmid. Plasmids act like molecular taxicabs that carry genes from one place to another. The plasmid can be absorbed by a bacterium that transfers...
New plant varieties have been developed using biotechnology, and on May 18, 1994, the Food and Drug Administration announced it had determined that a new tomato developed through biotechnology is as safe as tomatoes bred by conventional means. This...
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