GM foods: Health concerns brew amid global debate

Survival is the foundation upon which human life is based. Constant researches have afforded man the ability to optimize his chances in his environment. Interestingly, the field of biotechnology has formed a meeting point when nature in its need for sustenance to utilize technology to achieve a more productive purpose. A unique relationship between biology and technology is Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO).

Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods derived from organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally, e.g. through the introduction of a gene from a different organism.

These techniques have allowed the introduction of new traits and a far greater control over a food’s genetic structure than previously afforded by methods such as selective breeding and mutation breeding.

The initial objective for developing plants based on GM organisms was to improve crop protection. The GM crops currently on the market are aimed at an increased level of crop protection through introducing resistance against plant diseases caused by insects or viruses or through increased tolerance towards herbicides.

Insect resistance is achieved by incorporating into the food plant the gene for toxin production from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT). This toxin is currently used as a conventional insecticide in agriculture and is safe for human consumption. GM crops that permanently produce this toxin have been shown to require lower quantities of insecticides in specific situations, e.g. where pest pressure is high.

Since approval by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for genetically modified seeds to be planted by farmers for consumption in Nigeria, there has been increasing concerns about such food among activists, civil society groups and scientists regarding its health risks.

The BioSafety Bill is being engineered to ensure that GMO is allowed in Nigeria. Notwithstanding the benefits of GMO, stakeholders have called for caution and not to rush to accommodate GMO quickly.

Health concerns

Arpad Pusztia, Scotland Rowett Research Institute researcher and world’s leading lectins and plant genetic modification expert conducted the first ever independent experiment. His findings reveal that rats fed GM potatoes had smaller livers, hearts, testicles and brains, damaged immune systems, and showed structural changes in their white blood cells making them more vulnerable to infection and disease compared to other rats fed non-GMO potatoes.

His findings further revealed that thymus (a lymphoid organ situated in the neck of vertebrates which produces T-lymphocytes) and spleen damage showed up; enlarged tissues, including the pancreas and intestines. There were cases of decrease in liver size and significant proliferation of stomach and intestines cells that could be a sign of greater future risk of cancer. Equally alarming, results showed up after 10 days of testing, and they persisted after 110 days that’s the human equivalent of 10 years.

Ify Aniebo, a molecular geneticist from Oxford University, disclosed that lab test showed that GMOs produce massive changes in the natural functioning of a plant’s DNA. While inserted gene can become truncated, fragmented, mixed with other genes, inverted or multiplied, and the GM protein it produces may have unintended characteristics that may be harmful, Aniebo stated that the risks are enormous and will take years to study them.

According to Aniebo “The few scientific research done on these foods have showed stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, abnormal and potentially precancerous cell growth in the intestines, impaired blood cell development, misshaped cell structures in the liver, pancreas and testicles, altered gene expression and cell metabolism, liver and kidney lesions, inflamed kidneys, less developed organs, reduced digestive enzymes, higher blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates and higher offspring mortality as well.”

She continued “Mice fed either GM potatoes engineered to produce Bt- toxin or natural potatoes containing the toxin had intestinal damage. Both varieties created abnormal and excessive cell growth in the lower intestine. The equivalent human damage might cause incontinence or flu-like symptoms and could be pre-cancerous. The study disproved the contention that digestion destroys Bt-toxin and is not biologically active in mammals.”

Nnimmo Bassey, renowned environmentalist said the fact that GMOs will not feed the world is well studied and documented. While referring to the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report, Bassey added that GMOs will enslave the world through the intellectual property rights that allows the biotech industry to patent their seeds, debars farmers from sharing or saving seeds and forces them to buy seeds every planting season.

GM ban in countries

Several countries have banned the sale of GM foods. For instance, the Japanese people are staunchly opposed to genetically modified crops and no GM seeds are planted in the country. In New Zealand, no GM foods are grown in the country. The same can be said of Germany where there is a ban on the cultivation or sale of GMO maize.

In Austria, Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria and Luxembourg, there are bans on the cultivation and sale of GMOs. Madeira, the small autonomous Portugese island requested a country-wide ban on genetically modified crops last year and was permitted to do so by the European Union.

Last September, Russia suspended the import and sale of Monsanto’s genetically modified corn after a French study suggested it may be linked to cancer. Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister ordered regulatory agencies to consider a possible ban on all GMO imports into Russia.

According to Putin “Russia must protect its citizens from the use of foods derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and this can be done in compliance with the country’s obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The WHO connection

Three main issues debated on GM foods are tendencies to provoke allergic reaction (allergenicity), gene transfer and outcrossing. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the transfer of genes from commonly allergenic foods is discouraged unless it can be demonstrated that the protein product of the transferred gene is not allergenic.

While traditionally developed foods are not generally tested for allergenicity, protocols for tests for GM foods have been evaluated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and WHO with no allergic effects found relative to GM foods currently.

The global health body revealed that it will take an active role in relation to GM foods, primarily for two reasons: (1) on the grounds that public health could benefit enormously from the potential of biotechnology, for example, from an increase in the nutrient content of foods, decreased allergenicity and more efficient food production; and (2) based on the need to examine the potential negative effects on human health of the consumption of food produced through genetic modification, also at the global level.

Work is therefore under way in WHO to present a broader view of the evaluation of GM foods in order to enable the consideration of other important factors. This holistic evaluation of GM organisms and GM products is to consider not only safety but also food security, social and ethical aspects, access and capacity building.

As it stands, the policy on GMO in Nigeria must be generated through the choice of the people and not through an administrative directive. It is important that the people are carried along and properly educated on the GMO policy as the mistrust against GMO is gathering. If care is not taken, such a policy may be short changed due to inherent health implication GMO portends.

 ALEXANDER CHIEJINA