Genetic Modification Process Research Articles

Safety aspects of novel foods

Cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops with benefits to farmers (pest resistance, herbicide tolerance) has rapidly gained adoption since 1996. Future GM crops are envisioned that will also provide health benefits to their consumers. To assess the food safety of GM crops, internationally recognised strategies have been developed. These strategies focus at the characteristics of the genetic modification process, the properties of newly expressed compounds and at possible alterations in composition of the new crop. Substantial equivalence has been proven to be an adequate guidance principle in order to identify relevant safety issues of GM crops. New profiling methods are described for the detection of unintended effects, which may occur in GM foods as a result of the genetic modification. These profiling techniques are of particular relevance for those food crops in which profound changes in metabolic pathways may have taken place as a result of the genetic modification process.

Non conventional technologies and impact on consumer behavior

Consumers are becoming more conscious about the potentially negative impact of food processing on human health and the environment. In particular, there is increased public concern about the application of emerging technologies such as genetic modification to food production, particularly with respect to consumer perceptions of potential for negative impact of genetically modified organisms on ecology. However, less is understood about consumer acceptance of potentially controversial technologies where such technological innovation replaces traditional manufacturing methods, which themselves have the potential for environmental harm. In the present study, consumer acceptance of a genetically modified product was examined. In this research, the process of genetic modification had the potential for reducing the environmental impact caused by the alternative, traditional method of production. The analysis took account of the effects of other factors such as reduced price and brand in consumer decision making, as well as the provision of information about manufacturing process. The product investigated was vegetable oil. One hundred and sixty five consumers evaluated the relative importance of different combinations of manufacturing process (traditional process, versus genetic modification) as well as the commercial brand (familiar versus unknown), price (low v ersus high) and label image (sunflower versus an image of a green globe indicating environmental friendliness), on purchase intentions. The data were analysed using conjoint and cluster analyses. Three clusters of consumers were identified. The first cluster (11% of the sample) based the purchase intention decisions on the label the image. The second one (25% of the sample) preferred environmentally friendly oil, highly priced and branded as Mazola. The third cluster (19% of the sample) considered mainly information about manufacturing process as of importance to their decision about purchases. In particular, these consumers preferred products associated with information about “environmentally friendly processing methods”. The results are compared with a similar sample of British respondents, and the implications of cross-cultural differences discussed.

Transgenic plants: performance, release and containment

This review focuses on transgenic plants, from the initial stages of the genetic modification process in the laboratory to their release stage in the field and indicates possible areas of concern and strategies for dealing with them. The classes of marker genes and issues about their safety, the gene flow and strategies that are used to isolate transgenic plants genetically are specifically examined. In addition, an assessment is provided of the phenomena which affect the performance of transgenic plants, such as gene disruption, the pleiotropic effect on plant phenotype and genetic variation. Finally, strategies are suggested for preventing unexpected consequences of transgenic plant production.