GENETIC MODIFICATION AND FOOD

Food biotechnology is defined as the application of biological techniques on food crops, animals and microorganisms with the aim of improving he attributes, quantity, safety, ease of processing and production economics of our food.

The most recent application of food biotechnology is genetic modification (GM), also known as genetic engineering, genetic manipulation, gene technology and/or recombinant DNA technology.

Recombinant DNA is merely DNA from different sources joined together. Recombinant DNA technology is consequently a set of techniques that makes use of special enzymes to cut DNA modules, trim them and then join (or splice) the pieces together again to make hybrid DNA molecules.

A number of advantages and potential benefits of genetic modification have been identified. They are as follows :

Ø GM allows a much wider selection of traits for improvement : not only pest, disease and
herbicide resistance achieved to date in plants but also potentially drought resistance,
improved nutritional content and improved sensory properties.
Ø GM is faster and lower in cost.
Ø Changes can be achieved in very few generations.
Ø Improved agricultural performance with reduced use of pesticides.
Ø Improved processing characteristics leading to reduced waste and lower food costs to the
consumer.

GM has huge potential for mankind in medicine, agriculture and food. In food, the real benefits are not the early instances that have been appearing so far, but its longer-term benefit to the world, especially the Third World countries. It has a strong potential of eliminating hunger and malnutrition in these countries.

Safety regulations for genetically modified foods have also been outlined to safeguard and protect human health. Where differences are identified, extensive animal feeding and toxicological trials are required. The comparison may be a simple task, or a very lengthy one, depending upon the nature of and experience with the foods or components being compared.