The year is 1843. Gregor Mendel is a young monk, educated in the ways of science, who arrives at a Benedictine monastery and begins his experiments cultivating hybrid plants in the monastery garden. In testing over 29, 000 pea plants in the extensive two-hectare garden, he discovers that the hybrid pea flowers showed unmistakable hereditary traits as they were cultivated. In this, he produced a paper – which was not popular, widely accepted, or at the very least quotable, for the next 35 years. This simple and elaborate experiment, rediscovered later in the early 20th century, meant that Gregor Mendel, the humble scientist monk who dreamt of being a teacher, only gained posthumous recognition. His early work with peas plants laid the foundations of modern advancements in genetic engineering. Today, in our textbooks, Mendel is known as the Father of Genetics.
Peas aside, have you wondered where food comes from? The answer is deceivingly more complex than the ideals of farm-fresh beef and eggs, straight from the farm to the grill. And while we’re on the topic, even the cotton in the clothes that you have on is more than meets the skin. Arguments have been made on almost every angle of this topic, but as of yet, there is no clear solution. Had God created one answer to man’s problems of overpopulation and undernourishment, disease and war, and to promote instead health, happiness, contentment, abundance, then genetic engineering would be it. Or would it? And in that the irony of the situation is that is not even, strictly speaking, God’s own solution.
The concept of genetic engineering stems from Mendel’s early work with peas. It is the act of manipulation of the genes of plants, animals or even bacteria to produce a desirable trait in the consumable, such as the ability to produce in abundance a required protein. For example, Insulin produced from bacteria is now widely used as a substitute of extracted insulin from the pancreas of cows for diabetics. This is not only economically favourable but also allows the insulin taken in to be adapted to the patient and reduces risk of infection by animal-transmitted diseases. Now, however, the growing concern of the wide use of genetically modified food and the harm and the benefits demand concern and attention from the public.
One advantage of genetically engineered crops over normal crops is pest resistance. An example of a pest is the Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt), a common pest
found in the soil where maize and cotton are planted. Monsanto, a biotechnology company creates a strain of Bt crops, which had a gene from the pest inserted, and would produce a toxin that eliminates the Bacillus Thuringiensis pest itself. Genius, isn’t it? The prey, silently eliminating the predator itself. By 1996, Bt crops had become widespread in the United States, and farmers still grow Bt. Potatoes other range of Bt. crops, after being approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. However, another problem soon sprouted up...in November 2009, the first news of pests that were resistant to the specially-altered plants cropped up in four regions in India. Plant pest resistance is akin to antibiotic resistance. The pink bollworm, once a pest eliminated by the Bt. plant, now returns, and remains a pest to Bt. Cotton. If this instance is to be relied upon, then who knows when and what kind of deadly plants will surface in the future.At the beginning of the 21st century, there were strict regulations enforced by European officials to “restore consumer confidence” in food. This meant that there was to be strict labelling and traceability of all food as well as animal feed. However there is ultimately no consumer control over the choice of genetically modified consumables, as the labelling and rigorous monitoring of GM foods does not guarantee that there are no adverse (or positive) effects on health or state of well-being any more than organic, non genetically engineered substances. Worldwide, pressure groups and consumer rights groups such as Greenpeace are strongly against the idea of the use of genetically engineered crops and animals, as is Japan’s consumer union, which claims that the research in the field of genetically modified food is monopolized by GM companies that have developed the GM crops. Cross-contamination, as a result of pollination or breeding now results in genes from genetically engineered crops and animals being transmitted to wild plants and animals, which means that what we are eating, is not necessarily what we have planned to eat at all, or that H&M organic cotton shirt that you have just bought, as news have suggested – is contaminated with Bt. cotton.
Genetic engineering, while fraught with controversies and legal issues, is a grey area, not only because it deals with manipulating nature, but because it concerns all corners of society, from countries in South Africa, that reject food aid because the food is genetically modified, to the middle-class that would rather save for a rainy day at the expense of providing GM vegetables for supper, to scientists that are pressured for new ideas to save civilization from humanity itself – the same humanity that wastes one-third of global food production, about 1.3 billion tonnes. We have to remember that our species are not the only ones sharing this ecosystem, or food. Hence, the wider interests of all populations inhabiting Earth must be considered for impacts before any further major developments in genetic engineering are made.
