Soybeans
Soybeans in pods
Cultivating corn
Cultivating corn
Cows and calves
Modern FarmingDiscovering Biotechnology
What's
cooking? A big batch of biotechnology. Recent breakthroughs in the field of
genetic engineering are changing
the way our food is produced. Biotechnology is the use of living organisms
or other biological systems in the manufacture of products or for environmental
management.
Traditional Biotech
Traditional biotechnology has always
been a part of food production. The use of microorganisms
like yeast and bacteria to create food and drink is traditional biotechnology.
Gasses from yeast make bread rise and are used to ferment beer and wine. Bacteria
contributes to creating yogurt and enzymes assist in making cheese.
Natural selection and crossbreeding are also techniques of traditional biotechnology.
Those methods create stronger and higher yielding crops and result in more
desirable traits in livestock.
Traditional biotechnology uses the natural biological functions of organisms
to help create crops and livestock and food and drink.
The New Biotech
Now, genetic engineering—a
modern biotechnology—is competing with traditional biotechnology. Genetic
engineering allows scientists to replicate, improve or even completely change
the natural functions of the organisms we rely on for food.
Why would food producers turn to science instead of relying on nature? Three
good reasons: efficiency, effectiveness and cost.
A genetically engineered version of an enzyme or a protein can often be produced
more efficiently than its natural counterpart. For instance, genetic engineering
is used to produce mass quantities of an enzyme important to making cheese,
chymosin. The traditional method of obtaining chymosin can't produce the large
quantities that genetic engineering can, making the new method more efficient.
Sometimes science provides a more potent version of a natural enzyme or protein.
And cost almost always factors into the equation when deciding whether to
use genetic engineering in food production.
Right now the most common uses of genetic engineering in food production focus
on traits that benefit producers of food, not consumers of food.
Genetically engineered traits like disease and insect resistance are now common
in crops like corn and soybeans. That means many foods wind up with ingredients
that were genetically engineered, instead of the whole food being genetically
engineered. (Margarine made with soy oil made from soybeans genetically engineered
to tolerate pesticides.)
The Future of Biotech
The biggest changes for food could
come when genetic engineering focuses on consumer traits. Foods could be genetically
engineered to have fewer calories, increased vitamins and minerals, or have
allergens removed—making peanut butter safe for everyone!
Currently there is a lot of debate over whether genetic engineering should
be used in food production at all. There are plenty of opinions expressed
for both sides of the issue. Anyone wanting to learn more about the issues
associated with the use of genetic engineering in food production will have
no trouble locating information.
Sources:
- New York Times Online. Genetically Modified Organisms. (Online.) September 2002. http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/gm-index.html
- Food and Drug Administration. Genetic Engineering Fast Forwarding to Future Foods. (Online.) http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/geneng.html
