Are transgenic plants intrinsically less safe than plant varieties produced by traditional genetic crosses?

Traditional Breeding	Transgenic Plants
Novel proteins may be introduced from closely-related plant species.	Novel proteins may be introduced from ANY species.
Little control over how or where a gene is expressed.	Precise control over how or where a gene is expressed.
Many genes change.	Only one gene added or inactivated.
-	Highly-sensitive methods for monitoring transgenics in the environment.
Usually no selective advantage.	Usually no selective advantage.
Some unsafe traits can be bred out.	Increased number of ways to make foods safer.

It is important to recognize that many segments of the biotech industry involve non-food crops. However, in food crops, there are many strategies to ensure safety in transgenic plants:

1. Use gene knockout wherever possible.
2. Modify regulation of a gene whose protein is already present.
3. Use genes for proteins that already appear in other food crops.
4. Limit expression of a novel protein to specific, non-food tissues.
5. When a novel protein must be present in a food, it must be demonstrated to be safe.

previous page

next page