Do Genetically Modified Foods Affect Human Health? Essay

Rationale

Godfrey (2000) in the Lancet claimed that “it is unknown whether the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture affects human health”. While the article discussed uncertainties of GM foods, it stated the USA has a broad range of modified nourishment already but lacks case study on the affects for those who digest the genetically modified food and those who do not, as research upon human test subjects violate the ethical code of conduct.

Subsequently, with preliminary investigation, a general research question ‘Does genetically modified tomatoes affect human health?’ was established based on the claim. This was developed further to reflect genetically modified tomatoes (GM tomatoes), are tomatoes that have had genes altered using genetic engineering. An overview of this alteration and particular research question is stated below.

The term ‘genetically modified tomatoes’ refer to them as a whole, there are quite a number of ways that scientist have genetically altered the tomatoes; adding certain genes, inbreeding tomatoes with each other etc. The most known method is by subduing two enzymes (beta-Hex and alpha-Man) which are both associated with ripening, thus pushing the shelf life of genetically modified tomatoes to last up to forty-five days before turning mushy, this genetically altered tomato is also known as the Flavr Savr, the earliest form of GM tomatoes (Rao, 2010). This new variety of tomato produces large amount of health-boosting compounds-along with anthocyanins and flavanols. It includes identical amount of resveratrol to the equivalent of 50 bottles red wine. (Stoye, 2015). As a result, this essay states the resulting research question: ‘How does neutralizing the enzymes (‘beta- Hex’ and ‘alpha- Man’) affect human health by the consumption of genetically modified tomatoes?’.

Background

For the duration of ripening, various fruits, including tomato, deconstruct components of its cell wall, ensuing the softening of the developed fruit. The subcellular localization of the -Hex and -Man were both discovered to be parts of cell wall proteins, and thus when neutralized, enhances the tomatoes shelf life. (Meli et al. 2010)

According to articles, genetically enhanced tomatoes have only been on the market since 1994, thus lacking information on the effects of long-term consumption. But compared to an average tomato, the genetically modified technology has considerably enlarged crop yields and farmers wages in the preceding 20 years. While also decreasing the use of pesticides. (McDivitt, 2017) But with the lack of knowledge whether the genetically altered crops affect human health, the public is unwilling to purchase the produce, unless of course certain company’s fail to inform buyers that the produce they are acquiring have been scientifically modified. Which has been debated to be unethical as the public has a right to know what they are procuring.

So far, experiments upon whether genetically modified crops affect health have only ever been performed upon animals, disturbingly several of these experiments have resulted in a cascade of failures that associates genetically modified foods to inflammation, reduced fertility, liver and kidney malfunction and altered metabolism. Within one investigation, several generations of hamster’s nutrition consisted of genetically modified soy and as a result; the third generation of hamsters began losing the capability to produce offspring, only able to produce half the amount of pups in comparison to the non- genetically modified soy (Mount, 2019).

Evidence

A study performed found a lack of significant alterations of total mineral, vitamins and protein content and toxic glycoalkaloids between the parent tomato and the genetically modified tomato, thus deemed “substantially equivalent”. Further experimenting found there to be a lack of acute toxicity when digested by female and/or male rats, by being tube-fed the homogenized genetically modified tomatoes (Bawa, Anilakumar, 2013).

Though there was no ‘significant’ difference of total minerals, vitamins and proteins, there were indeed adaptations. Additional research of genetically engineered mice that are created to express human CRP (C-reactive protein) were fed a diet consisting of genetically modified tomatoes.

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CRP is created in the liver; it is a blood test indicator focused on inflammation within the human body and is not detected unless inflammation of some degree is present within the body (Stöppler, 2019). Enlarged levels of CRP indicates the onset of cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes.

By supplying the peel of genetically modified tomatoes as sustenance to the genetically engineered mice, researchers were able to study the potential human health consequence of digesting genetically modified tomatoes, as the skin comprises of more than ninety five percent of flavonoids. Rein and colleagues reported that the diet of CRP mice consisted of 4 g per kilogram of tomato skin, which is equivalent to the average daily human consumption of 230 g of fresh tomatoes or 2-3 grams of tomato skin. Which is said to be an achievable portion within the human diet (Health24, 2015).

Consequently, after seven weeks of feeding the CRP mice the respective diets, Rein and co-workers measured the levels of cardiovascular risk and general health, such as cholesterol levels, and plasma CRP. It was observed that the digestion of tomato skin was associated with a substantial decrease in human CRP levels. With the GM ‘significantly exceeding’ the result of normal tomato (respectively 56 to 43 percent of reductions) while the HDL-cholesterol, also known as the ‘good’ cholesterol, levels had risen within both tomato groups. After a two-week washout period, the CRP in the genetically modified tomato had risen back to baseline levels.

The evidence obtained from within the study validate that a genetically modified fruit can have anti-inflammatory and other positive results, far exceeding its counterpart wild-type. Though regardless of these positive results upon the mice, it’s still unclear whether similar effects would be acquired within humans as a result of digesting genetically modified tomatoes and would remain so, due to the ethical side of experimenting upon humans and the negative consequences in doing so.

Evaluation

There are problems linked with the evidence obtained however. Health24 was the only source of information upon the experimentation of genetically modified tomatoes on CRP mice, and as it is a secondary source, it could be assumed that the journalists were not interested with the specific numeric data that was tracked throughout the experiment by the scientists, hence the lack of quantitative data. As a result, the absence of sources and statistics of evidence limits the reliability of the article.

It is also stated that only after seven weeks did the scientists measure cholesterol levels, plasma CRP, cardiovascular risk and other general health issues. The results of the CRP mice digesting the genetically modified tomatoes is not sufficient enough to determine and provide further in-depth analyzing as it’s unknown whether maybe the genetically modified tomatoes reacted negatively with the mice before they became immune to it within the seven-week period, nor is it known if sustained consumption of the tomatoes over yearly periods would hold negative consequences for the digestive track and other human health issues.

Conclusion

To conclude, the claim that ‘it is unknown whether the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture affect human health’ is not entirely supported, as the claim is wide-ranging and requires experimentation on all agriculture than is possible. The specific research question that is considered also cannot be appropriately supported. Due to the evidence provided for the research task comprehending entirely upon experiments that have been tested on animals, and not humans, while also lacking sufficient numeric data on the effect of the genetically modified tomatoes upon the certain aspects of the mice’s health.

A more suitable study may perhaps be performed to include actual quantitative data and track human health over a yearly period time of digestion. In addition, further research could be performed to better understand the affect genetically modified tomatoes has not only on human health but future generations and its offspring.

References

1. Godfrey, J. (2000). Do Genetically Modified Foods Affect Human Health? Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)74043-5/fulltext. Last accessed 20/7/2019.
2. Rao, S. (2010). Genetically Modified Tomatoes Can Last 45 Days on the Shelf. Retrieved from http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/02/02/genetically-modified-tomatoes-can-last-45-days-on-the-shelf/#.XTKgEPZuKUl
3. Stoye, E. (2015). Gene-Modified Tomatoes Churn Out Healthy Nutrients. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gene-modified-tomatoes-churn-out-healthy-nutrients/
4. Meli et al. (2010). Silencing of a-Man or B-Hex Enhances Tomato Shelf Life. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Silencing-of-a-Man-or-b-Hex-enhances-tomato-shelf-life-A-Transgenic-T-0-and_fig3_41408513
5. McDivitt, P. (2017). Disease-Resistant GMO Tomato That Could Eliminate Need for Copper Pesticides Blocked by Public Fears. Retrieved from https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2017/10/11/green-technology-disease-resistant-gmo-tomato-eliminate-need-copper-pestic
6. Mount, R. (2019). How Do Genetically Modified Foods Affect Your Health? Retrieved from http://www.oprah.com/health/genetically-modified-foods-affect-health-and-body
7. Bawa, AS. Anilakumar, KR. (2013). Genetically Modified Foods: Safety, Risks and Public Concerns—a Review. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3791249/
8. Stöppler, M C. (2019). C - Reactive Protein CRP Test, Ranges, Symptoms, and Treatment. Retrieved from https://www.medicinenet.com/c-reactive_protein_test_crp/article.htm#what_is_c-reactive_protein_crp
9. Health24. (2015). GM Tomatoes Boost Heart Health. Retrieved from https://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nutrition/Healthy-foods/GM-tomatoes-boost-heart-health-20120721
10. Misha, K. (2015). Human Experiments – the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/human-experiments-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-39876