Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects (2004) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 17-22
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From page 17... ...
Since that time many plants have been bred to include desirable traits, such as pest and disease resistance and the ability to overcome environmental stresses. Major gains in crop yields have been attributed partially to advances in these classical plant breeding techniques.
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From page 18... ...
Traditional methods include selection and crossbreeding, while more contemporary techniques include embryo rescue, cell fusion, somaclonal variation, mutation breeding, and cell selection. Genetic engineering, or rDNA modification, is achieved through different techniques leading to specifically designated genetic changes.
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From page 19... ...
patented transgenic animal 1990 Sanford and Klein develop the "Gene Gun" for microprojectile bombardment Chymosin-an enzyme used to make 1994 cheese-is first commercially approved First bacterial genome sequenced 1995 genetically engineered food product Sequencing of E coli genome 1997 Flavr SavrTM tomato is first commercially approved genetically Sequencing of Drosophila genome 1999 engineered food crop Sequencing of Arabidopsis genome 2000 Draft sequence of human genome Draft sequence of rice genome 2002 Draft sequence of mouse genome FIGURE 1-1 A general history of genetics and genetic modification.
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From page 20... ...
The Scope of This Report While using biotechnology or conventional breeding techniques to enhance specific characteristics or increase the yield of food introduces the possibility of unintended deleterious effects on both human health and the environment, the focus of this report is health -- including an examination of whether the likelihood of unintended adverse health effects from compositional changes is greater for foods that are genetically engineered than for those genetically modified using other methods (such as conventionally bred plants)
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From page 21... ...
From these discussions, the committee developed a theoretical framework for identifying appropriate comparators for GE and other GM foods, increasing scientific understanding of the determinants of compositional variability among foods, increasing understanding of the biological effects of secondary metabolites in food, developing more sensitive techniques for assessing potential unintended effects from food modification, and improving methods for tracking and tracing exposure in genetically modified food. The committee's deliberations about identifying appropriate comparators for GE food clarified that while such comparisons are necessary, they alone are not sufficient for determining the likelihood of producing an unintended adverse health effect.
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From page 22... ...
Chapter 4 outlines new approaches for identifying unintended changes in food composition. Chapter 5 details diverse ways that adverse health effects can occur from food, while Chapter 6 suggests methods for predicting and assessing those effects that result from intended and unintended compositional changes resulting from genetic modification.
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