The safety assessment of genetically modified (GM) plants and their derived food and feed is nowadays a matter of lively debate. Any nutritional consequence of GM food consumption needs to be considered, both in terms of possible changes in the levels of nutrients in the food itself, and in terms of direct or indirect, immediate or cumulative effects on the overall diet. From this point of view, several potential risks have been taken into consideration by scientists when evaluating the safety of GM organisms (GMOs) by animal feeding trials; in particular, the possibility has been considered that GM food effects might not be due to the introduced gene itself, but to the unintended consequences of its introduction, such as allergy induction, DNA transfer to gastrointestinal flora (including antibiotic resistance), production of toxic compounds (i.e. insecticidal proteins), persistence of herbicide residues in transgenic herbicide-tolerant plants, any kind of unintended effects associated with the expression of recombinant proteins in non-native hosts. In this review, an overview of the literature data is reported on the effects of GMO intake in different animal models, with the scope to outline the state of the art of the scientific research on this subject. © CAB International 2009.
Animal feeding trials for assessing GMO safety: answers and questions.
MALATESTA, Manuela
2009-01-01
Abstract
The safety assessment of genetically modified (GM) plants and their derived food and feed is nowadays a matter of lively debate. Any nutritional consequence of GM food consumption needs to be considered, both in terms of possible changes in the levels of nutrients in the food itself, and in terms of direct or indirect, immediate or cumulative effects on the overall diet. From this point of view, several potential risks have been taken into consideration by scientists when evaluating the safety of GM organisms (GMOs) by animal feeding trials; in particular, the possibility has been considered that GM food effects might not be due to the introduced gene itself, but to the unintended consequences of its introduction, such as allergy induction, DNA transfer to gastrointestinal flora (including antibiotic resistance), production of toxic compounds (i.e. insecticidal proteins), persistence of herbicide residues in transgenic herbicide-tolerant plants, any kind of unintended effects associated with the expression of recombinant proteins in non-native hosts. In this review, an overview of the literature data is reported on the effects of GMO intake in different animal models, with the scope to outline the state of the art of the scientific research on this subject. © CAB International 2009.
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