What is Genetic Modification (GM) or Genetic Engineering?

The process of taking a gene from one organism and inserting it into the genome of another unrelated organism to give it certain new traits is called GM. Genes can be found in the nucleus of every cell in all living organisms and are the very building blocks of life. They decide the characteristics, structure, growth and behaviour of all organisms, including us. They play the critical role of passing on genetic information from one generation to the other. If you are tired of people telling you how you resemble your parents, you can blame genes for that. In the 1970s, some clever scientists figured out that they could transfer genes of one species into the genome of another and that got them excited. What if we were to insert spider genes into the genome of goats? May be the goat milk would contain spider web protein? What if we were to insert cow genes into the genome of pigs? May be they would develop cowhides? And that’s how the whole genetic experiment began.

'The ability to introduce alien genes into a genome is an impressive technological manipulation but we remain too ignorant of how the genome works to anticipate all of the consequences, subtle or obvious, immediate or long-term, of those manipulations'.
David Suzuki, Geneticist, Author of more than 30 books, Awarded UNESCO prize for science

What can go wrong?
GM scientists would normally say ‘It is just like taking a page out of one book and putting it into another'. One can only wish it were that simple. The process of producing a GM crop can cause significant changes in the natural functioning of the plant's genome (gene sequence). Let's take the same analogy to see what can go wrong with a GM experiment?

The inserted page (gene) may turn out to be multiple identical pages, partial pages, or small pieces of text. Sections of the insert may be misspelled, deleted, inverted, or scrambled. Next to the inserts, the story may become indecipherable, with random letters, new text, and pages missing. There will now be typos throughout, sometimes hundreds or thousands of them. Letters may be switched, words scrambled, and sentences deleted, repeated or reversed. Passages from one part of the book, even whole chapters (chromosomes) may be relocated or repeated elsewhere, and bits of text from entirely different books can show up from time to time. Many of the characters in the story may now act differently. Some minor roles might become permanent, leads demoted and some may have switched roles from hero to villain or vice versa.

Quite simply, one may start with Rama and end with Ravan. Many things may happen to the plant's genome (gene sequence) that can not only cause problems for the plant and its environment, but also to those who consume it.

How can GM affect you?
When a foreign gene is inserted in to the cell of an organism, it can disrupt the genome (gene sequence) in ways one can't predict. These unintended side-effects of genetic modification can be harmful to those who consume it, to those who grow it and also to the environment. When GM food was tested on rats by independent scientists, the results were alarming. They had stunted growth, impaired immune systems, potentially precancerous cell growth in the intestines, inflamed kidneys and lung tissue, less developed brain, enlarged livers, pancreases and intestines and higher blood sugar. Even their offspring were affected, showing that there are even inter-generational effects with GM crops/foods.

The regulation for such harmful food is surprisingly lax. In US, for example, safety is the company's responsibility and their reports on studies are often not made available for public scrutiny. The food doesn't even carry a label, so the consumer has no knowledge or choice about GM. GM food is all set to be launched in India very soon and in all likelihood these foods may not carry a label. In any case, when the food is not packaged as it is mostly in India, labeling is not possible.

Check out the statements made by scientists the world over at : http://ngin.tripod.com/foodstatements.htm and http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/gmoquote.htm.

It is imperative to note that "Potentially, it could breed new animal and plant diseases, new sources of cancer, novel epidemics." Are we ready for this ?