Is Gm Food Safe To Eat

吕琴

Traditional plant breeding involves crossing varieties of the same species in ways they could cross naturally.For example，disease-resistant varieties of wheat have been crossed with high-yield wheat to combine these properties.This type of natural gene exchange is safe and fairly predictable.

Genetic engineering（GE）involves exchanging genes between unrelated species that cannot naturally exchange genes with each other.GE can involve the exchange of genes between vastly different species――e.g.putting scorpion toxin genes into maize or fish antifreeze genes into tomatoes.It is possible that a scorpion toxin gene，even when it is in maize DNA，will still get the organism to produce scorpion toxin――but what other effects may it have in this alien environment？We are already seeing this problem――adding human growth hormone genes to pigs certainly makes them grow――but it also gives them arthritis and makes them cross-eyed，which was entirely unpredictable.

It will be obvious，for example，that the gene for human intelligence will not have the same effect if inserted into cabbage DNA as it had in human DNA――but what side-effect would it have？In other words，is GM food safe to eat？The answer is that nobody knows because long-term tests have not been carried out.

Companies wanting a GM product approved in the UK or USA are required to provide regulatory bodies with results of their own safety tests.Monsantos soya beans were apparently fed to fish for 10 weeks before being approved.There was no requirement for independent testing，for long-term testing，for testing on humans or testing for specific dangers to children or allergic people.

The current position of the UK Government is that “There is no evidence of long-term dangers from GM foods.” In the US，the American Food and Drug Administration is currently being prosecuted for covering up research that suggested possible risks from GM foods.

食用转基因食品安全吗

传统的植物育种包括同一种类变种的杂交，它们的杂交方式是自然的。例如，小麦的抗病变种与高产量的小麦杂交，结合形成一些特性。这一类型的自然基因交换很安全，并且其结果也是可以预见的。

转基因工程包括不相关物种之间的基因交换，它们之间的交换方式并不自然。转基因工程指截然不同的物种交换基因，如将蝎毒素基因植入玉米中或将鱼的抗冻基因植入西红柿中。即使在玉米基因中，蝎毒素基因也有可能获得生产蝎毒素的有机体，但是在这个陌生的环境下，它还会产生什么影响呢？我们已经遇见了这个问题：将人类生长激素注入猪的体内，它能促进猪的成长，但同时这一激素也让猪患上了关节炎和斜视疾病，这种情况是完全是没有预料到的。

打个比方，将本应在人体基因内的人类智力基因植入白菜的基因内，显而易见，效果是不一样的，但是这么做有什么副作用呢？换言之，食用转基因食品安全吗？没有人知道这个答案，因为人们还没有进行长期的测试。

在英国或者美国，公司若想一种转基因食品获得批准，那么它们必须出具监管机构对其产品自身安全检测做出的结果证明。孟山都公司的大豆在获得批准前，已经用其喂鱼十个星期了。没有要求规定需要进行独立测试、长期测试和人体测试，或针对儿童或过敏群众的特定危险进行的测试。