Tag Archives: GMO

Happy to Be a GMO

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We’ve posted about GMO foods on this site, but some of the most interesting genetic engineering is happening in medicine. I’ve just found this story from last fall:

Gene silencing: The first Huntington’s Disease patients have been successfully dosed with gene silencing drugs targeting the HD gene. These brave volunteers are the first HD patients to ever be treated with drugs designed to attack HD at its root cause. hdbuzz

Scientists are changing genes – or, at least, gene expression – inside living human beings.

Huntington’s is caused by a mutated version of a gene that was inherited. You, I and everyone has two copies of the HD gene, one from mom and one from dad. If one of these copies has a repetitive bit of code near one it changes the way this gene does its job. Science doesn’t yet understand the details, but this fairly simple variation causes a horrible disease.

‘Gene silencing’ drugs, also known as ‘antisense’ drugs, are designed to reduce production of a chosen protein by attaching to the mRNA ‘message molecule’ that’s made whenever a gene is activated. medicalxpress

There’s a drug, pumped directly into the brain’s fluids, that targets the mutant gene and curtails production of a damaging protein. After trials on mice the technique has been used on human volunteers with early symptoms in a test of safety. There have been no complications over several months, but subjects will be evaluated in 2016. If the drug is deemed safe, trials of its effectiveness will proceed. A terrible disease could be cured.

You may ask,
What’s this got to do with Golden Rice or Arctic Apples?

It reinforces my opinion that knee-jerk reactions make no sense on either side. I doubt the Frankenfolk rendered disease free (if the drug pans out) will mind becoming GMOs.

Techniques vary, risks-to-benefits must be evaluated, and you may feel differently about genetic changes that effect only one organism or can be passed on to offspring. But GMOs are a growing part of our lives and seem to be responsibly researched. I wish the Huntington’s researchers luck and am still looking forward to my first Arctic Apple.

http://en.hdbuzz.net/204
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-10-patients-dosed-gene-silencing-drug.html
and other outlets

Build a Better Apple

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better-appleNon-browning GMO potatoes may be beaten to your local store by non-browning apples. Many outlets carry news of the USDA’s approval of Arctic Apples® for commercial use. They’ll be marketed as Arctic Grannies and Arctic Goldens.

Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. has inserted a non-bruising trait into the apples using gene silencing and precision breeding – they’ve created a GMO apple that won’t brown after being cut. No more dropping each slice in a bowl of lemon-scented water as you prepare pie filling; now you can pre-slice apples for your lunchbox; and no more sulfites on pre-sliced apples at the salad bar. Well, I guess it will depend on the price and the taste, but we’ll have a chance to find out in 2017.

Some folks are outraged. For example, “the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), which petitioned the USDA to deny approval, said the genetic changes that prevent browning could be harmful to human health, and pesticide levels on the apples could be excessive.” Note the “could” and “could” – there’s no proof. I’m sure OCA would say “yet.”

OCA’s opposition strikes me as self-defeating. Surely people who prefer organic will be more motivated than ever to buy their produce. As various articles point out, the USDA only evaluated the apples’ impact on agriculture, not on humans. “The Food and Drug Administration, which has no mandatory review process for genetically engineered foods, is looking at the new apples through a voluntary consultation with Okanagan.” The company is confident since the “apples have undergone ‘rigorous review’ and are ‘likely the most tested apples on the planet.’”

The Arctic Apple® takes GMOs to a new place. Not life saving like microbes that manufacture insulin, not nutritional like Golden Rice, not enhancing profits like Roundup resistant soybeans. Just convenient, just nice-to-have. (Well – okay – less bruising will probably help with profits, too. But – raising apples is a business and all business is about money.) Will consumers buy it? I, for one, will give it a try. I plan to buy one, eat half of it, and leave the rest, sliced, on my counter for hours.

We’ve posted about GMOs before.