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HealthEffectsofGeneticallyModifiedFoods
Introduction
Overthelasttwodecades,developmentofgeneticallymodifiedfoodshasbecome
increasinglyprevalent.Itisestimatedthatover60percentoffoodproductsinretailstores
containatleastonegeneticallymodifiedingredient.1Forexample,almostallsoybeans
usedtoproducesoybeanoil,apreservative,areGMOs.1Geneticallymodifiedcropsare
engineeredtoincreaseyield,promptingtheirwidespreadusebyagricultureandfood
industries.However,theDNAofgeneticallymodifiedcropstranscribesproteinsatypical
toplants,whichhassparkedanongoingdebateoverthesafetyofsuchfoodsforhuman
consumptioninboththescientificandpublicspheres.Researchhasshownthatthelong
termintakeofgeneticallymodifiedfoodscanleadtoserioushealthproblems,including
cancer.2Thisstudyhasledtoamajorpushbackbyconsumersagainsttheproductionand
saleofgeneticallymodifiedfoods.2However,otherstudiessuggestthatGMOscan
potentiallybeusedsafely,andmayevenhelptocombatworldhungerandmalnutrition.6,7
Thisreportassessescurrentresearchonthehealtheffectsofhumanconsumptionanduse
ofgeneticallymodifiedfoods.
HealthOutcomesVaryByGMOStrain
Onemajorhealthconcernsurroundinggeneticallymodifiedfoodsisthepotential
allergenicityofsomestrains.Researchsuggestedthatgeneticallymodifiedcropscould
exposethe6%ofchildrenand2%ofadultswhohavefoodallergiestoharmfulallergens.
Studiesshowthatwhenagenefromanallergenicsourceisincorporatedintoanewcrop,
themodifiedcropcanalsobecomeallergenic.2IfaGMfoodisknowntobeallergenic,it
isnotapprovedforhumaningestion,butthosewithfoodallergiescanstillbeexposed
indirectly,eveniftheydonotdirectlyconsumeanallergenicGMO.1Forexample,
StarLinkcornisageneticallymodifiedcropthatcancauseanallergicreactioninhumans
duetoitsincorporatedBacillusthuringienisDNAsequence.Therefore,itwasnot
deemedsafeforhumanconsumption,butwasapprovedforuseinanimalfeed.Inastudy,
StarLinkcornproteinswerefoundtobepresentinhumanbloodduesolelytothe
consumptionofcattlewhosedietconsistedprimarilyofthiscorn.2Noknownallergic
responsesresultedfromtheinfiltrationofStarLinkcornintothehumandiet,butthe
healthcommunityhasbecomeconcernedaboutindirectallergenexposure.Thisstudy
suggeststhatconsumerscanbebothdirectlyandindirectlyexposedtoallergensbysome
geneticallymodifiedfoodstrains.
AdditionalresearchhasstudiedotherhealthcontraindicationscausedbyGMO
consumption.Forinstance,onestudytestedtheeffectoftheconsumptionofGMOcorn
onratsoveratwoyearspan.Ratsfedadietof33%RoundupReadycornshoweda
significantdeviationfromstandardhormonelevels,notablythesexhormones
testosteroneandestradiol.3Additionally,tumorincidenceincreasedby50%inGMOfed
rats.Thesetumorswereoftenmalignantandmetastatic,spreadingquicklythroughoutthe
bodytocriticalorgansincludingthelungs,liver,andbrain.Thiscausedasignificantly
increasedmortalityratefromthecontrolgroup3.Thisstudysuggeststhatlongterm

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consumptionofsomegeneticallymodifiedfoodstrainsmayleadtoserioushealth
problemsinhumans.
Althoughthereisresearchshowingnegativehealtheffectsofsomegenetically
modifiedcropstrains,studiessuggestthatvariousotherstrainsposenothreatto
consumerhealth.Forinstance,onestudyfocusedonthehealthoutcomesofratsfedadiet
consistingofupto50%GMOcornovera90dayperiod.Ratsdisplayednonegative
healtheffectscomparedtocontrolgroupsinareasincludingwhitebloodcellcount,red
bloodcellcount,andsexhormonelevels.Additionally,theGMOcornproteinswere
undetectableinratbloodserum.4Asimilarstudywasconductedonratsusinggenetically
modifiedsoybeans.Thesafetyofthesesoybeanswastestedina90dayfeedingtrialof
ratsfedupto30%GMOsoybeans.Theratsexperiencednosignificantchangein
hematologyororganweight,andthesoybeanproteinswerenotdetectableinblood
serum.5Additionally,noallergenicitytothemodifiedsoybeanswasdetectedinanyofthe
rats.5Thesestudiessuggestthatsomegeneticallymodifiedcropsmaybesafetoconsume
byhumans.
HealthEffectsofGMOsUsedInMedicalApplications
Furtherresearchhassuggestedthatgeneticallymodifiedfoodscouldhave
positivehealtheffectsonhumansthroughnutritionalapplications.Onesuchstudywas
conductedonGoldenRice.Thisisaricestrainthathasbeengeneticallymodifiedto
producebetacarotene,whichisconvertedtovitaminAinthehumanbody6.Inthisstudy,
humanvolunteerswithnormalvitaminAlevelswerefed200gramsofcookedGolden
Riceperdayfor25days.Inthesesubjects,betacarotenelevelsinthebloodgradually
decreased,indicatingthatitwassuccessfullybeingabsorbedbythebodyandusedas
vitaminA.7Thisresearchindicatesthatgeneticallymodifiedfoodscanbeusedto
introducenecessarynutrientsintothebody.
Inasimilarstudy,geneticallymodifiedricewasengineeredtoproducehuman
serumalbumin,aproteinthatisusedpharmacologicallyforthetreatmentofhemorrhagic
shockandsevereburninjuries,amongotherailments.8Inclinicaltestsdoneonrats,HSA
derivedfromricewasequallyaseffectiveintreatinglivercirrhosisasHSAderived
naturallyfromhumanbloodserum.9Italsohadthesameimmunogenicityasnatural
humanserumalbumin,meaningthatitdidnotexpressadditionalallergens,anditwas
safelyacceptedbythebody.9Thus,researchsuggeststhatgeneticallymodifiedcropscan
beengineeredtoproduceimportantpharmaceuticals.
Conclusion
Astheprevalenceofgeneticallymodifiedfoodscontinuestogrow,questions
surroundingtheirsafetybecomemuchmorepressing.Asthisreportdetails,studiesboth
supportingandrefutingthesafetyofgeneticallymodifiedfoodshavebeenpublished.For
instance,researchshowedthatgeneticallymodifiedcropshavethepotentialtocauseboth
directandindirectallergicreactionsinconsumers.Inordertoavoidnegativehealth
responsestogeneticallymodifiedfoodsbythosewithfoodallergies,itiscriticalto
enforcestrictallergenicitysafetystandardsforeachGMcrop,andtoconsiderpossible
introductionofallergensthroughGMOsfedtolivestock.Additionalresearchshowedthat

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whensomestrainsofgeneticallymodifiedfoodswereconsumedoverlongperiodsof
time,serioushealthproblemsoccurred.Thissuggeststhatlongtermfeedingtrialsarethe
onlyexhaustivemethodoftestingtoensurethatGMOswillnotbeharmfultohumans
overaspanofseveralyears.Therefore,itisrecommendedthatlongerstudiesbe
conductedoneachfoodpriortoitsapprovalforhumanconsumption.
Ifprovensafe,geneticallymodifiedfoodscouldprovidesignificantworldwide
healthbenefits.VitaminAdeficiencyisasignificanthealthproblem,especiallyin
countrieswherericeisapredominantpartofthenormaldiet.Itisthecauseofonein
threeofalldeathsinchildrenunderfiveyearsoldinthesecountries.6Theintroductionof
GoldenRiceintheseareashasthepotentialtopracticallyeliminatedeathduetothis
preventabledisease.Similarly,humanserumalbuminisdifficultandexpensivetoobtain
fromnaturalsources.9RicethatisengineeredtoproduceHSAcouldreducethecostof
thismedicineaswellasincreaseitsyield.Thesepharmaceuticalinnovationsshowthe
potentialpositivehealthimpactofgeneticallymodifiedfoods,andadditionalresearch
shouldbeconductedtoexploreothermedicalapplications.
References
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UniversityofFloridsIFASExtension.
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Rubin,C.,Sampson,H.,2003.ClinicalandLaboratoryInvestigationofAllergyto
GeneticallyModifiedFoods.EnvironmentalHealthPerspectives,111,11141121.
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Hennequin,D.,SpirouxdeVendomois,J.,2014.LongtermtoxicityofaRoundup
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9. He,Y.,Ning,T.,Xie,T.,Qiu,Q.,Zhang,L.,Sun,Y.,Jiang,D.,Fu,K.,Yin,F.,
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