The Safety of Genetically Engineered Food

With the myriad problems with food safety and food shortage these days, it's hard to keep up with all of the new safety methods and technologies. One fairly recent scientific advancement is that of bioengineering of food projects. By genetically engineering certain foods, researchers and scientists hope that an ample supply can be produced to feed the growing population. One interesting debate over cloning and genetic engineering is that is applied fully, it would reduce genetic diversity, which is nature's way of mutating genes which may be helpful in fighting certain diseases. This is what Darwin's survival of the fittest is all about. Without genetic diversity, it's possible that some plants or animals could become susceptible to a new disease or blight. Of course, the science behind bioengineering is getting better and better all the time.

Another objection is that genetic engineering is 'playing God', taking away the natural course of living organisms. Other people have voiced their beliefs that cloned or bioengineered foods might not be safe due to the artificial means in which they were created. Cloning alone is a hot topic in today's society, so it's no wonder that opinions and debates rage over the subject of cloned farmed animals. There's always the question of whether or not we actually need to have bioengineered foods. Many modern farms manage to produce a sufficient amount of food, not to mention a surplus many times, so why would scientists wish to use biotechnology?

Scientists refute the objections by stating that bioengineered foods could be made resistant to certain parasites or diseases. If a resistant strain is cloned or engineered to carry the resistant gene, then all of the crop will be resistant. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes that genetically engineered food is safe for human consumption and is continuing to study the process. To bioengineer a food type, the DNA is recombined or spliced with a particular gene with whatever trait the company wants repeated in all of the crop. This modified genetic makeup would be present in each of the seeds or animals that are bred. The very first modified product were tomatoes that were created to make them less likely to spoil while in the store. The FDA gave their approval that it was safe to eat and since then, scientists have developed other fruits and vegetables that are bioengineered for various beneficial traits.

Some of the companies developing bioengineered foods don't want labels on the products stating that it has been genetically engineered, while many consumer groups insist that they should be labeled so that consumers can choose to buy engineered products or not. According to the FDA, a food product must be labeled if there is something very different about the food itself, not just the way it was produced. Therefore, the FDA leans toward not requiring labeling. However, as more groups raise the question, the discussion of labeling will continue.