Known commonly as biotechnology, the science behind Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) is in itself exciting and offers dramatic promise for facing challenges of the twenty-first century. “GMOs represent organisms whose DNA has been altered in a laboratory in order to acquire new, desirable qualities,” says Kostas Lazaridis, Biologist and Clinical Dietologist at Harokopio University in Athens, Greece.
The bio-technology has been used, for better or worse, to create pet fish that glow under ultraviolet light to tomatoes infused with cactus genes among other applications. “If we insert a specific cactus gene in the tomato’s DNA, we have new tomatoes which need less water to grow,” illustrates Lazaridis.
But like all new technologies, it poses risks that are both known and unknown. While humans have regularly improved crops through selective breeding, genetic engineering speeds up the process considerably and allows the introduction of exotic traits from unrelated species (such as ripening genes or glowing genes).
To begin on a positive note, genetically modified organisms (GMO) include crops that have been manipulated to improve taste and quality while increasing nutrients, yields and stress tolerance. The idea is that this would lead to increased food security for growing populations and reduce the need for using harmful pesticides. “The limit of these new techniques developed by modern DNA technology is literally the sky,” says Lazaridis. As new products and growing techniques come into play, GMO crops are becoming more resistant to disease, pests and herbicides. Proponents of GMOs such as global bio-tech firms Monsanto and Syngenta also state that the environment would benefit through improved conservation of soil, water and energy. No-tears onions have been created, so have caffeine-free coffee plants. While the implications are amazing, all is not as rosy as it sounds.
“We do not know how these new proteins will affect the human body and our DNA,” says Lazaridis. “The interactions between these new proteins and human ones could increase the risk for cancer, allergies or even autoimmune diseases.” Indeed, there is a major fear of allergies to certain foods from GMO foods. For example, soybeans with nut genes were abandoned for fear of harming individuals who are allergic to nuts.
Ecological habitats and environmental damage could also be an issue. A type of GMO maize called Bt Corn developed by bio-tech giant Monsanto caused high mortality rates in the endangered monarch butterflies that migrated from Mexico to the US. Also, while Bt Corn kills insects indiscriminately, there is no sure way to know if these insects may eventually develop resistance to the crop. Needless to say, vegetarians and the health-conscious would certainly object to consuming animal genes in fruits and vegetables.
Critics of GM technology also fear that these “Frankenfoods” tamper with nature and could have unforeseen, adverse health effects on consumers by producing toxic proteins and allergens. They could even transfer other genes to human gut bacteria with unknown results, although there has been little evidence to demonstrate such risks so far.
There is also the possibility that a handful of powerful companies such as Monsanto and Syngenta may end up controlling the world markets of food production, as well as increasing dependence of developing countries on industrialised nations.
To find out if genetically modified foods were being indiscriminately sold in the Arab world, Greenpeace recently tested 35 products containing maize sold in supermarkets in Qatar, UAE and Kuwait. The testing, which was carried out by an accredited laboratory in Berne, Switzerland, revealed that 40 per cent of the samples were contaminated with GMOs.None of the products were labelled as containing GMOs, as all three Gulf countries do not require labelling of such products.
This study raised the alarm as Kuwait’s Food Safety Committee declared that the country would soon introduce mandatory labelling for all food products containing GMOs. The report also prompted the Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR) in Qatar to introduce a labelling system for GMO products. One supermarket has already introduced such a system at its Doha outlet, with more supermarkets to follow suit.
Recently speaking at the ‘GMOs and Bio-Safety workshop” in Qatar Benedikt Haerlin of the Berlin-based Foundation on Future Farming urged all Arab countries to set up a strict labelling system about any GMO ingredients. “Consumers have a right to know what is in their food and to choose products accordingly,” he says. Like Lazaridis, Haerlin said that not enough studies had been conducted on the effects on using GM organisms directly or indirectly. “The consequences might show up maybe after an entire generation,” he added.
Greenpeace also identified in 2006 that US imported rice products in Gulf countries were contaminated with an unauthorized GMO rice variety. Elsewhere in the Arab World, there has also been widespread evidence of GMO soybean and maize products coming from the West on the Egyptian market. Workshops in Jordan and Lebanon have discussed the GMO issue, but more ‘immediate’ concerns such as economic and political stability seem to have overshadowed any progress in identification and labelling. With no labelling laws required in almost all of the Arab world (with the exception of Saudi Arabia so far), there could be a wide array of genetically modified foods across the region’s supermarkets.
There is more to GMO technology than meets the eye as it reaches into genetically manipulating animals, although it may take generations to establish how beneficial or detrimental it is to humanity and the planet.
Future applications of GMOs include bananas that produce human vaccines against infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B, salmon that matures more quickly, fruit and nut trees that yield years earlier, pigs with spinach genes that produce low fat bacon, and plants that are used to create unique plastics. There’s even talk of goats engineered to create spider silk in their milk and mice that produce healthy fish oils. Safety testing must ensure that the perceived benefits will indeed outweigh the perceived and hidden costs of development. “Further investigation is needed before we reach a conclusion about the compatibility of the foreign DNA and proteins with the human body and its functions,” says Lazaridis. “Until then, it would be wise to refuse to become part of an enormous experiment.”
