Biotechnologies and  foodstuffs

The word biotechnology simply means using living organisms, or parts of them, to provide goods or services. Foodstuffs made from plants bred using genetic engineering are already being sold in parts of the world and they are, in general, not different to the foods we already eat. A genetically modified organism is defined as an organism that has had its DNA modified by genetic engineering. A legal definition is not intended, and the word transgenic is also commonly used. This word derives from the insertion on the DNA of a gene that is not included naturally in the food or in the crop (transgene), and the word transgenic derives from this modification and applies to foodstuff or to modified crops.

The development and application of genetic engineering techniques has led to the introduction of a number of traits for example, disease resistance, or extended shelf life into several important crops. The tomato is a practical example since it is one of the first transgenic crops likely to be commercialized. It is also processed into a number of food products such as ketchup, tomato juice, canned tomatoes or concentrates. To date the evaluation of transgenic crops has focused mostly on yield and field performance. Consumers rely basically on physical characteristics, like color and firmness of fruits and vegetables to indicate freshness, nutritional quality, and flavor, but a luscious-looking bright-red tomato could be several weeks old and be of little nutritional value: a consumer could never tell that since  the DNA of the tomato could have been altered for the purpose of giving the consumer a misleading appearance of freshness.

There are various risks in genetic engineering, for example the risk of unintentionally changing the genes of an organism, the risk of harming that organism, the risk of changing the ecosystem in which it was involved, and the risk of harming the ecosystem, and the risk of  change, or harm, to any other organism of that species or others, including human beings. The concept of risk in biotechnology involves both the potential to change something and the potential to harm. Differently from chemical or nuclear contamination, unfortunately, gene pollution is very difficult to clean up, since new living organisms, bacteria, and viruses can be released into the environment to reproduce, migrate, and mutate. They can easily transfer their new characteristics to other organisms and can never be recalled or contained, so the global effects of genetic engineering could potentially be irreversible and irretrievable.

On the other hand, genes from bacteria, viruses, and insects, which have never been part of our human diet, could be spliced into food, and no one knows now if these foods are safe. Since genetic engineering is not an exact science, scientists could unintentionally create changes in the genetic make-up of plants that bring about new and unknown proteins, microbes, plants, insects, and animals, with dangerous, unpredictable, and deleterious effects for mankind. Food manipulated through genetic engineering could become a dangerous and even toxic substance for the metabolism. Even if the gene itself is not dangerous or toxic it could alter complex biochemical systems and create new bioactive compounds or change the concentrations of those which are normally present. Properties of proteins can also change in a new chemical environment, given that they can yield and adhere to new forms. Genetically manipulated products have more risks than traditional foods since genetic engineering processes can introduce new allergens in foods that previously were naturally safe.