In recent years, genetically modified food has attracted people's attention because of its unique quality and characteristics. Some people are ecstatic about the technological progress made in agricultural science, calling it "food in the new century". At the same time, some people are afraid of its safety and stay away from it. Whether the transgenic technology brings happiness or misfortune to mankind, I'm afraid the initiative is not in our own hands.
Genetically modified crops trigger a new green revolution.
Transgenic crops, also known as transgenic crops, refer to crops cultivated by directional evolution by using genetic technology to overcome the uncertainty of traditional grafting and hybridization techniques. Transgenic technology can endow crops with new characteristics according to people's needs. For example, crops can release pesticides by themselves, crops can grow on dry land or saline-alkali land, or they can produce more nutritious food. Scientists also use transgenic technology to develop crops that can produce disease-resistant vaccines and foods.
If people say that the birth of hybrid crops and the extensive use of chemical fertilizers have greatly improved the output of agricultural products, it is the symbol of the first green revolution. So now, the application of genetic engineering in agriculture makes the second green revolution close at hand.
The breakthrough of gene technology enables scientists to improve crops in ways unimaginable to traditional breeding experts, and its advantages are obvious. First, the production cost can be reduced. Adding another gene to a variety will change the characteristics of the variety and make it have factors that the original variety does not have, thus enhancing the ability to resist diseases, weeds or pests, thereby reducing the dosage of pesticides and herbicides and reducing the planting cost. Second, it can increase the yield per unit area of crops. After genetic improvement, a crop can adapt to the environment more easily, resist various disasters more effectively, and make its yield higher. Third, transgenic technology can greatly shorten the time for developing crops. Using traditional breeding methods, it takes seven or eight years to cultivate a new variety, while genetic engineering technology can cultivate a brand-new crop variety, and the time can be shortened by half. Therefore, some experts believe that in a few years, transgenic technology will change the world agricultural map.
According to FAO data, the global planting area of genetically modified crops was about 1 1 10,000 hectares in 1997, and it rose to nearly 30 million hectares in 1998, and it is expected to reach 40 million hectares by the end of 1999, with an average increase of more than/kloc-0.
The United States is the country with the most transgenic technology. Since the gene transformation technology was actually put into agricultural production in the early 1990s, 55% of soybeans, 45% of cotton and 40% of corn in the annual output of agricultural products in the United States have been gradually transformed into gene transformation. At present, about 20 kinds of seeds of genetically modified crops are allowed to be planted in the United States, including corn, soybeans, rapeseed, potatoes and cotton. It is estimated that from 1999 to 2004, the market size of genetically modified agricultural products and food in the United States will expand from $4 billion to $20 billion, and will reach $75 billion in 20 19. Some experts predict that at the beginning of 2 1 century, it is likely that every food in the United States will contain a certain amount of genetically modified ingredients. Other countries, such as Argentina and Canada, are also developing genetically modified agriculture rapidly.
Great progress has also been made in transgenic research in China, which has comparative advantages in gene drugs, transgenic crops, crop gene maps and new varieties. However, few crops actually enter commercial production. As far as crops are concerned, there are only insect-resistant cotton, Petunia, antiviral sweet pepper and antiviral tomato.
The safety of genetically modified food is questioned.
With the development and progress of genetic engineering, the increase of genetically modified crops and the emergence of a large number of genetically modified foods in the market, some negative effects have begun to appear. People are thinking deeply about how far gene transplantation and transformation can go. How safe is it? At the same time, people keep accusing and questioning.
1999 In May, the authoritative British science magazine Nature published a paper by john rossi, an associate professor at Cornell University in the United States, which shocked the world. According to the paper, the researchers spread the pollen of insect-resistant transgenic corn-Bt gene corn on the leaves of chicory, and then let butterfly larvae eat these leaves. Four days later, 44% of the larvae died, and the surviving larvae were small and listless. The other group of larvae ate vegetable leaves sprinkled with ordinary corn pollen, and the mortality rate was not high, and there was no growth retardation. Based on this, the paper draws the conclusion that BT transgenic corn pollen contains toxins.
BT transgenic corn is cultivated because of its ability to resist pests and diseases, and its cultivation method is to implant a gene that can effectively kill corn pests into corn seeds. Some scientists believe that the implantation of BT gene can make corn produce substances that kill pests and make it resistant to pests, but it is also toxic. This has a negative impact on the ecological environment.
Then, people want to know whether genetically modified crops and genetically modified foods made from them are also harmful to human body. For example, is the action mechanism of insect-resistant and self-weeding transgenic crops different from that of traditional pesticides, and will it "transmit" toxic substances to consumers' organic systems? Also, a genetically modified food can resist bacterial invasion, so will it mutate bacteria inside and outside our bodies and make them immune to all antibiotics? At present, these problems cannot be explained clearly. Moreover, British researchers recently confirmed in the laboratory that after eating transgenic potatoes 10, the kidneys, spleens and digestive tracts of mice were damaged. This deepened people's fears.
At present, some consumer groups in the United States and Europe, as well as Greenpeace, have launched a massive campaign to boycott the cultivation of genetically modified crops and the sale of genetically modified foods. In order to cater to customers' appetite, many food supermarkets in France insist on refusing to sell foods containing genetically modified ingredients. Nestle and Unilever, two major food companies in the world, claim not to intervene in the production of genetically modified agricultural products.
Governments also attach great importance to this. The National Academy of Sciences has investigated the safety of genetically modified foods. European Union countries held a meeting of environment ministers in Luxembourg, at which it was unanimously agreed to suspend the cultivation and circulation of genetically modified crops before formulating new regulations. Brazil, a big soybean producer, recently announced that it will temporarily stop producing genetically modified soybeans until the impact of genetically modified crops on the environment is determined.
The development trend is unstoppable.
It should be noted that from a global perspective, genetically modified foods are not introduced to the market at will. The research and development of bioengineering in China is carried out on the basis of protecting people's health and resources and environment. The management and monitoring of genetically modified products have laws to follow and rules to follow. 1993 issued by the former state science and technology commission (measures for the safety management of genetic engineering), 1996 issued by the Ministry of agriculture "implementation measures for the safety management of agricultural biological genetic engineering". The Ministry of Agriculture accepts two batches of genetic engineering safety evaluation every year, and so far, it has accepted 193 items, and only 6 items have been approved for commercial production. Under this management system, genetically modified products that have passed safety assessment and testing are safe.
Due to the early development, the United States and Canada adopted a more tolerant policy on genetically modified foods, and they adopted a filing system. After the assessment, the engineering objects and products deemed safe will no longer be monitored.
In the long run, it is imperative to improve crops through genetic engineering. This is mainly due to the increasing pressure of the global population. Experts estimate that the global population will increase by 50% in the next 40 years. Therefore, the grain output must be increased by 75% to solve the problem of feeding the world population. The improvement of urbanization level and the shrinking of arable land have deepened the urgency of green revolution. In addition, the aging population has brought more and more pressure to the medical system, so it is necessary to develop foods that help to enhance human health.
The safety of genetically modified crops and food depends on whether there is a set of international standards and related rules. There are no rules, Fiona Fang. Only by correctly guiding the development and application of genetically modified agricultural products and standardizing the detection methods can we ensure the edible safety of genetically modified agricultural products and the safety of the ecological environment.
It is reported that FAO, OECD and WHO are setting up an expert working group to formulate relevant rules for the development, production and sale of genetically modified foods, and it is planned to come up with a specific plan before July 2000.
Follow the will of the people, and you will win the world. It is reported that some European and American enterprises are actively adjusting their strategies for developing genetically modified agricultural products. Starting from the interests of consumers, they have shifted from blindly increasing production to paying attention to the practicality and high added value of genetically modified agricultural products. For example, DuPont plans to develop anti-osteoproliferation soybeans before 2002 and anti-cancer soybeans with high linoleic acid content in 2005, and plans to use life engineering technology to increase the added value of agricultural products such as corn for the benefit of human beings and enterprises.
Genetically modified is a new biotechnology, and no country will shrink back in the field of genetically modified food. With the formulation and improvement of international rules, genetically modified food will surely appear in the fields of 2 1 century with a brand-new attitude.