GM food?

[chinnychinchinchilla]

in science we have been studying genetically modified foods and i am currently working on a paper about it. (actually im supposed to be doing that right now... oops) and of course i had to wonder if it was safe for chinchillas. obviously fruits and veggies were out of the question but what about hay? is it safe for any pets? are there any gm foods that pets eat? maybe i can use this on my essay. thanks a bunch )

 

[eroomlorac]

This is kind of off topic but I'm curious what you are finding about GM foods in your research. I am not very knowledgeable about it but I think we've been eating genetically modified foods for years. Aren't things like tangelos (have tangerine half orange) and super sweet corn, all the new varieties of apples, etc. all genetically modified foods? I think, but I'm not positive, that any food we've modified from the original kind is genetically modified. Can you tell me what you've discovered?

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

sure! most of what ive found is from this site: http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php
i personally am for it. most claims against it hasnt been proven and theres so much that we can get out of it. my biggest concern for animals eating hay is the fact that they have many gm plants that have a natural pesticide. im not sure if this will harm them.

 

[eroomlorac]

Ah, I see. What is considered a natural pesticide? Certainly nothing chemical. I know there are many natural pesticides such as ants can be repelled by cucmber peels, borax, etc. And fleas might be kept off an animal by feeding them garlic or brewers yeast. If it's a 'natural pesticide' along those lines, I don't see any harm.

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

true i didnt really think about it like that. i saw the word pesticide and ran for the hills. i love this subject theres so much controversy and its soo interesting!

 

[caiti]

I don't see why they wouldn't be safe. We have been genetically modifying crops for years and have recently started genetically modifying animals as well. The concern is that if we aren't familiar with the plants genome or how the recombinant DNA will affect it, then we have unforeseen problems. Also, most plants are genetically modified to cater to human use, but I'm under the impression this would effect the type of plants we modify and the traits we modify them to have or not have would mostly not be fundamentally or hypothetically detrimental to anyone eating it (like if we make a plant bigger, or to withstand certain environments better).

But things like manipulating their nutrition could make a plant less nutritious for another animal. There could be problems with say if we put in a gene that creates a protein which attacks a certain bacteria or something and that bacteria is not a pathogen in another animal, it could kill off something beneficial to that animal.

I have no idea whether there are GM foods in pet food, but if I had to guess I'd say yes. I think they are in livestock feed. Probably things like corn, oats and wheat etc would be the types of GM foods that would be in pet food. I would also assume these GM foods would be studied in lab animals before giving them to humans, like a lot of things.

 

[GorillaJTA]

my biggest concern for animals eating hay is the fact that they have many gm plants that have a natural pesticide. im not sure if this will harm them.

Most of the corn and soy you eat and cotton clothes you wear are grown from seeds bought from the Monsanto corporation, who develop the "Round-up ready" seed. These plants are bred with a resistance to the herbicide Round-up and so can be sprayed without being killed.
We have been genetically modifying plants for millenia through selective breeding; it is just recently that we have been able to do it one gene at a time. Compare most of our domesticated plants to their wild counterparts and they have larger, more developed fruits or grains and produce exponentially more.
I think it is a testament to human ingenuity that we can make plants work for us just an animal would (trees that absorb toxins, etc).

 

[Spoof]

my biggest concern for animals eating hay is the fact that they have many gm plants that have a natural pesticide.

There are two sides to this, those developed to resist pests, and those to resist pesticides.

We actually covered this topic in college, Sex and Evolution 413 if you get a chance to take it at WSU.

The discussion was regarding how pregnant women have an avoidance to certain veggies during the early stages of pregnancy. Veggies and Fruits both have natural repellants and "insecticides" that they've developed simply to exist. In early fetal development it has been proven that some of these will cause damage - hence our natural and sometimes violet aversion to them.

Brought up was the observation that "organic" fruits/veggies are from strains that show higher natural resistance to blights and pests. This leads them to have higher quantities of the natural "insecticides" so to speak, causing even more likelihood of fetal damage.

And the debate: is it better to use pesticides that we know have a half-life and degrade by the time the food gets to us, or buy these strains of superfoods that have been modified to have a better natural resistance?

It's a good one!

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

thanks everyone this has been very helpful.

 

[caiti]

I am confused now. So does genetic modification include breeding? I was talking about transgenic organisms, which falls under the umbrella of genetic modification. I looked up the definition of it but I think I misunderstood it. Then I looked at some recent slides from my genetics class and I think I did get it wrong. Breeding does seem to be a modification but everything I said is still relevant since it was pretty vague. By the way, I don't know if this will help you, but I copied the text from some slides from my genetics class (the pdf file of the slides was too big to attach. The book we use is Genetics, 3rd ed by Robert Brooker, if you have it and want to look up the figures):



Genetically Modified Plants


• Selective breeding has been used for centuries
– This has produced plants with desirable characteristics
• larger, disease resistance, high-quality food
• Genetically engineered crops have been used since
mid-1990s
– In 2006, roughly 20% of all crops were transgenic
– More than 100 million hectares planted with transgenics

A. Tumefaciens Can Be Used to Make
Transgenic Plants
• The production of transgenic plants is somewhat
easier than transgenic animals
– Plant cells are totipotent
• An entire organism can be regenerated from a somatic cell
• Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a
bacterium that naturally infects plants
causing crown gall tumor

Tumor-inducing
plasmid
Transferred DNA
Figure 19.7
Tumor-inducing
plasmid
Transferred DNA
Figure 19.7


A. tumefaciens does not infect all plant species
other methods are available
– Biolistic gene transfer (i.e., biological ballistics)
• The second most common way to produce transgenic plants
• A “DNA gun” is used to shoot DNA-coated microprojectiles into the
cells
– Microinjection
• Microscopic-sized needles are used to inject DNA into the cells
– Electroporation
• An electric current is used to create transient pores in the plasma
membrane through which DNA can enter


Transgenic Plants


• Transgenic plants can be given characteristics that
are agriculturally useful
– For example, the Monsanto Company has produced plants
highly tolerant of glyphosate
(The active ingredient in the herbicide RoundupTM)


– Compared to nontransgenics, these plants grow quite well
in the presence of glyphosate-containing herbicides


• Transgenic plants have been approved for human
consumption
– The first example was the FlavrSavr tomato (Figure 19.15)
• This transgenic plant has been given the gene that encodes an
antisense RNA
– Complementary to the mRNA for polygalactorunase (an enzyme
involved in fruit ripening)
• The antisense RNA binds to the mRNA and prevents translation
• The double stranded RNA is targeted for degradation
– RNAi-mediated silencing (refer to Chapter 15)
– This is called a “Knock-down”
– the FlavrSavr does not spoil (overripe) as quickly as
traditional tomatoes