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Summary
The
purpose of this monograph is to provide an independent analysis of the
scientific basis for assessing the benefits and risks of genetically modified
(GM) crops and food, specifically in relation to their current and future
impacts on human health and nutrition worldwide.
In 2000, two of ICSU’s member unions, the International Union of
Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) and the International Union for Toxicology (IUTOX)
initiated this project on GM food (GMF) and GM crops for human health and
nutrition. Four other ICSU member unions and two ISCU scientific committees,
representing a breadth of scientific interests, joined in the project[1].
A
monograph with ten specialized chapters was prepared to provide the basis for
the Summary report and conclusions. Chapter 1 considers the role of science in
the development and application of transgenic (genetic modification)
technologies, in relation to the needs and concerns of society in general.
Chapters 2 to 4 review topics pertaining to GM crops and food quality and
human nutrition, improving agricultural practices, and industrial products and
processes; Chapters 5 to 7 review GM fish, livestock, poultry, and
microorganisms. Each of chapters 2 to 7 reviews current knowledge on the
expected or potential contribution of genetic modification technology,
outcomes and impacts of the use of GM organisms (GMOs), standards of use,
methods for the evaluation of outcomes and impacts, and knowledge gaps.
Chapter 8 reviews the scientific basis for risk assessment of GMOs. Economic
and social issues pertaining to the use and control of GMOs are reviewed in
Chapter 9, and public attitudes towards GMFs are discussed in Chapter 10.
Overall conclusions are outlined in Chapter 11. The monograph is intended to
serve the increasing dialogue between society and science and thus contribute
to ongoing discussions about the application of the technological innovations
that make GMFs possible.
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Addressing
public concerns
Public
discussions about the ethical and socioeconomic issues surrounding the
development and use of applications of modern biotechnology for agriculture
are widespread, particularly discussions about the development of GMFs and
GMOs and the safety and efficacy of the new products.
Public concerns about gene technology lie in four major areas, namely
ethical concerns, socioeconomic issues, effects on the environment and food
safety and human health.
Although
acknowledging the importance and the interconnectivity of all these areas, the
monograph’s principal focus is the scientific basis for assessing the risks
and benefits to human health of GMFs and GM crops. It also seeks to identify
ways in which knowledge gained from the health and nutrition sciences can
contribute to the broad public debate, help clarify choices for individuals,
communities and countries and inform policy development, while recognising
that the context in which choices are made varies significantly with
differences in societies, environments and economies across the world. In
support of these aims the monograph also identifies gaps in knowledge where
additional scientific research may help resolve uncertainties about safety,
benefits, utility, acceptability and other aspects pertinent to the
development and use of GMFs.
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Context
of scientists and society
The
ideal relationship between scientists and society is one of dialogue amongst
those who are mutually concerned with improving the human condition and
minimising inequalities. Such dialogues must consider the values of diverse
groups and identify the desirable balance between science directed at applied
missions and science conducted for the sake of generating new knowledge.
The
present biological revolution is based on a series of key discoveries in
genetics, molecular biology and related fields. These include Mendel’s
description in the late 19th century of the principles of genetic
inheritance, Watson and Crick’s discovery in the 1950s of the double helix
structure of DNA and the recent elucidation of the human genome. Developments
associated with this continuum of discoveries have sometimes been responsive
to dialogue between society and science. Successful exchanges are reflected in
the early implementation of recombinant DNA technology in medicine. For
example, many new pharmaceuticals, including new forms of insulin widely used
by diabetics, are presently produced using new biotechnology. The present lack
of consensus on appropriate uses of gene technology for the modifications of
food and fibre crops is an example of a failure in exchange.
The
monograph focuses on risks and benefits to human health, including the
possible improvement of human nutrition, by transgenic modifications of plant
and animal food sources. Its principal focus is the technological dimension of
transgenic modifications. Other important issues are discussed where they
illustrate the impact of setting technical priorities. Many of these other
complex issues, such as any direct and indirect impacts of GMOs on the
environment, bioethical considerations, and other social and economic
concerns, are addressed more comprehensively elsewhere.
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Assumptions
The
monograph’s focus on the transgenic modification of plants and animals
explicitly assumes that gene technology has the potential to achieve positive,
dramatic, and useful results. The robustness of this assumption is tested
throughout the monograph. Generally, arguments promoting the utility of
transgenic technologies are based on the increased versatility and speed by
which such modifications can be produced relative to traditional breeding
techniques. This focus is not intended to imply that solutions and responses
to the problems and challenges the future holds should be solely or even
partially technological in nature. The only assertion made by this focus is
that the technological dimension merits consideration along with others, for
example economic policies such as those that govern global trade and
agricultural subsidies. Most importantly, full accessibility to diverse,
affordable, nutritionally adequate, wholesome diets remains the goal for all.
Two
further assumptions are that the capabilities for exploiting technological
possibilities enabled by current scientific advances must be available in the
developing world and that transgenic modifications of plants and animals hold
known and unknown risks, as do all technologies, old or new. Implicit in the
latter assumption is that absolute safety is not an achievable standard.
In
the light of the above assumptions, it is essential to identify the following:
the type and ‘magnitude’ of benefits and risks; who is likeliest to
benefit from the application of specific technologies; to whom risks are
likeliest to accrue; and the time frame for anticipated benefits and risks.
The monograph explores how scientific knowledge can help answer these
questions.
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Conclusions
Considering
the reviews of current knowledge in the monograph as a basis for expert
opinions and projections about the development, use and risk assessment of
GMFs for human health and nutrition, the following ten conclusions were drawn
from the study:
1. Categories of risk
·
The process of the development of transgenic organisms presents
no new categories of risk compared with conventional methods for improving
plants, animals or microorganisms. However, specific traits introduced by
either approach might pose unique risks, which need to be identified.
2. Food quality and human nutrition
·
The potential benefits of improving the nutritional quality of
foods are higher for low‑income countries, where food budgets account
for two-thirds or more of total expenditures and where poor dietary quality
and micronutrient malnutrition are widespread. Most consumers in rich
countries have access to a relatively inexpensive supply of safe and healthy
food.
·
Nutritional and quality traits of foods can be altered through
transgenic methods. A large number of products are under development and
testing.
·
The nutritional efficacy of these products and risks of
unintended harmful effects have yet to be tested and demonstrated.
·
The commercial viability of these products has yet to be
demonstrated.
·
The sustainable solution to malnutrition in developing countries
is provision of a sufficient quantity of high quality diet, which the poor
desire but presently cannot afford. During the long-term process of achieving
this goal, biofortification is a low-cost strategy, which complements other
technological and social interventions – assuming that the nutritional
efficacy and commercial viability can be established.
3. Agricultural practice
·
The development of crops resistant to biotic and abiotic
stresses is critical for sustainable food production in the developing world.
The use of GMF crops should go hand-in-hand with other technologies such as
plant tissue culture, marker assisted breeding and conventional plant
breeding.
·
GMF crops could decrease the cost of production and have
positive effects on the environment in both developed and developing
countries.
·
It is, however, prudent that the outcomes and impacts of the use
of GMF crops are scientifically monitored with respect to farming efficiency,
food production and environmental impacts.
·
Gaps in knowledge about GMF crops include their efficacy
compared with conventionally bred varieties with similar traits and potential
direct and indirect effects on the environment, such as their risks of
invasiveness, their impact on non-target organisms and possible unintended
effects. Some of these gaps may be filled by new technologies under
development and by continuing ecological research.
4. Industrial products and processes
·
Crops can be genetically modified to produce oils, starch, fibre,
protein or other chemicals useful for industrial processes. For example,
soybean oil, with high oleate content, and canola oil, rich in laurate, are
both being produced commercially using these methods.
·
A principal concern is how to use genetic modification
technology in a way that gains the advantage of using renewable resources to
replace products from petroleum and other non-renewable resources while
maintaining a safe and adequate human food supply.
·
It is also crucial to ensure that GM crops designed to produce
industrial products but not registered for human use do not inadvertently
enter the human food chain or contaminate food or other crops with their
transgenes.
5. Fish
·
GM fin fish of a variety of species have been produced, many
involving the use of model fish for fundamental research, although some of the
modifications are applicable to species important in aquaculture.
·
The present and projected increasing demand for fish suggests
that GM fish may become important in future in both the developed and
developing worlds. However this will only be possible if consumer acceptance
is achieved.
6. Livestock and poultry
·
Food products derived from GM livestock and poultry are far from
commercial use.
·
The methods involved are presently inefficient and expensive.
There are significant issues for the introduction of GM animals into breeding
stock and dissemination to producers.
·
Potential hazards to humans, involved in production or when
products become part of the food chain, will require assessment through a
regulatory process with appropriate licensing powers.
·
There are serious public concerns about the ethics of
manipulating domesticated animals and the possible welfare effects.
7. Microorganisms
·
At present no GMMs are used commercially in food fermentations;
however, many enzymes produced by GMMs are routinely used in the food
industry.
·
The safety evaluation of GMM-derived food additives and
processing aids should follow the same guidelines and practices as the
conventional products; however special emphasis should be placed on the
detection of possible unintended effects.
8. Regulation and risk assessment
·
Safety assessment of GM foods is carried out on a case-by-case
basis, taking the specific modification features into account, and comparing
the properties of the new food with those of the traditional counterpart. This
comparative approach, applying the so-called principle of substantial
equivalence, is based on the assumption that conventional foods are generally
considered as safe for consumption, based on a history of use. Identified
differences between the GM food and its counterpart are assessed with respect
to their safety and nutritional implications for the consumer. The concept of
substantial equivalence is a starting point for a safety evaluation and
contributes to an adequate food safety assessment strategy.
·
Safety testing of whole GM foods needs improvement. The use of
specific in vitro models and new methods such as DNA microarray
technologies may elucidate mechanisms of action and interactions of
biologically active compounds in food.
·
·Present approaches to detecting expected and unexpected
changes in the composition of GM food crops are primarily based on a targeted
approach (measuring a limited selection of single compounds). In order to
increase the possibility of detecting unintended effects a non-targeted
approach (using new technologies such as the gene expression technologies –
proteomics and metabolomics) can be used.
·
The
usefulness of post-market surveillance to obtain information on long-term
effects of foods or food ingredients, either GMO-derived or traditional,
should not be overestimated, given the multifactorial origin of many
food-related diseases and the variability in genetic predisposition of the
human population. It may be useful in cases with specific biological outcomes,
for example allergenicity or food intolerance, or when the exposure assessment
provides insufficient insight into the diets of specific consumer groups.
9. Socioeconomic considerations
·
The currently available GMOs are suggested to have both positive
and negative effects on three indicators of sustainable agriculture and rural
development. These are stocks (of natural resources and environmental
capital), efficiency and equity. These bilateral effects depend on the
socioeconomic conditions underlying the development, use and control of GMOs.
·
The three key policy options that shape socioeconomic conditions
are intellectual property protection, trade liberalisation and biosafety
implementation. The effects of applying these options on the socioeconomic
conditions are very intricate, as optimising one option may have contrary
effects on the other options and thus on the socioeconomic conditions.
10. Societal issues and public attitudes
·
Communication activities need to take account of the factors
driving public concern, which may be different in different countries. This
should include taking account of cross-cultural differences in information
needs, if appropriate. In particular, discussion of ethical issues and
effective communication about known and potential uncertainties and unintended
effects must be addressed.
·
Failure to consult the public about policy development leads to
a loss of public confidence in science and technology. The purpose of such
consultations is to make a difference to policy development.
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IUNS/IUTOX
2002. Genetically Modified Foods for Human Health and Nutrition:
The Scientific Basis for Benefit/Risk Assessment.
Monograph
Table
of Contents
Executive
Summary
Chapter 1 General
introduction: The role of science in identifying common ground in the debate on
genetic modification of foods
Cutberto Garza and Patrick Stover
Chapter 2 Genetically
modified food crops and their contribution to human nutrition and food quality
Howarth E. Bouis
Chapter 3 Genetically
modified food crops for improving agricultural practice and their effects on
human health
Jennifer Thomson
Chapter 4 Genetically
modified crops for industrial products and processes and their effects on human
health
Thomas A. McKeon
Chapter 5 Genetically
modified fish and their effects on food quality and human health and nutrition
Norman Maclean
Chapter 6 Genetically
modified livestock and poultry and their potential effects on human health and
nutrition
Helen
Sang
Chapter 7 Genetically
modified microorganisms and their potential effect on human health and nutrition
Atte
von Wright
Chapter 8 The scientific
basis for risk assessment and regulation of genetically modified foods
Harry A. Kuiper, Gijs A. Kleter
Chapter 9 Socio-economic
consideration relevant to the sustainable development, use and control of
genetically modified foods
Yoshiki
Otsuka
Chapter 10 Societal issues
and public attitudes towards genetically modified foods
Dr Lynn Frewer
New Genetics, Food &
Agriculture: Scientific Discoveries - Societal Dilemmas