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“The ‘green biotechnology’ pretends to be eco-friendly
and to reduce the chemical input. I’m sceptical.
Our future lies in decentralised and organic solutions.”
Hardy Vogtmann, Honorary president IFOAM
Will your health be affected by GE?
Maybe. Maybe not.
GM-food is a new product, with new proteins we have never eaten before. We have never eaten bacterial proteins in maize, nor fish proteins in tomatoes, nor viral proteins in potatoes. Our bodies have no experience of these; and there is no way to predict if the novel food will cause allergies or other chronic bodily ailments in 5 or 10 years. Genetic engineering is not a precise technology: there is no means of inserting a gene into a specific position within the host cell. The genes end up in random locations. But genes do not operate in isolation, they interact with each other. The inserted genes may disrupt vital other genes, they might affect neighbor relationships, they might disturb vital interactions. Possibly no acute toxic food will enter the market, but nobody can predict possible harmful long-term effects. According to scientists, GM-food might have the following harmful effects:
• Allergenic and immune system reactions to the new substances contained in GMOs
• Antibiotic-resistant genes, often used in genetic engineering, could be transferred to pathogens in the gut. Disease triggered by these pathogens could no longer be treated with these antibiotics.
• New genes could alter the expression of native genes and so may have unexpected secondary effects.
IFOAM GMO Brochure -The facts and the fiction, from bees and carrots 4 stories, your questions our answers
Genetically Modified vs. Organic
Questions or comments contact the Platform Coordinator
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