Transgenic technology PK Traditional breeding technology Are genetically modified crops really safe?

Everything has two sides, and we can't completely deny or completely affirm transgenic technology. On the positive side, transgenic technology is beneficial to human beings. Since 1983, the world's first transgenic plant tobacco came out, the research and application of transgenic plants have developed rapidly in just over 20 years. Nearly 1000 transgenic plants have been approved for field trials, involving more than 50 plant varieties, and 48 transgenic plant varieties have been approved for commercial production. Transgenic technology has the following advantages: First, it can increase the yield. After the rapid growth gene is implanted into traditional crops, the characteristics of crops have been improved, which can not only shorten the growth period, but also increase crop yield, so that the land can be fully utilized to the maximum extent, and human beings can bid farewell to the history of food shortage. Second, improve quality. Implanting different gene fragments can completely change the appearance, taste, taste and even nutritional components of food, which will make human food enter a new era of free will. For example, genetically modified rice is a kind of rice produced by artificially changing the genes of rice to make it have better characters. It may be more resistant to waterlogging, drought and insects, and increase the content of protein in rice. Third, enhance resilience. Through genetic modification, traditional crops have the ability to resist pests and diseases, so the use of pesticides and insecticides can be greatly reduced and environmental pollution can be prevented; By improving genes, human beings can make crops have different characteristics of cold tolerance, heat tolerance, drought tolerance or waterlogging tolerance to adapt to different growing environments, and crops will bid farewell to the history of planting by the sky. For example, in the early 1980s, Zhou Guangyu, a Chinese scholar, put forward that the transgenic insect-resistant cotton cultivated by pollen tube channel method in the largest area in China is the best proof that transgenic technology is beneficial to human beings. The biggest advantage of transgenic insect-resistant cotton is that it does not rely on tissue culture to artificially regenerate plants. The technology is simple and unnecessary, and the well-equipped laboratory is easy for conventional breeders to master.

Transgenic technology not only brings good news to mankind, but also brings harm. For example: 1999, John, a researcher at Cornell University, USA? Roche reported in the British journal Nature that feeding butterflies with leaves coated with genetically modified Bt corn pollen caused 44% of the larvae to die. In 2004, Professor Helbik of the Kicking Botany Institute of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology found that the Bt toxin used to kill the European corn borer in the transgenic Bt- 176 corn developed by Syngenta could not be decomposed, and eventually poisoned the cows. On May 22, 2005, the British Independent also disclosed a report by Monsanto, a well-known biotechnology company, saying that rats fed with genetically modified food had organ variation and blood composition changes. On June 6, 2005 165438+ 10/6, a research report published by CSIRO showed that a four-week experiment showed that mice fed with genetically modified peas had inflammation in their lungs, and the mice developed allergic reactions, which made them more sensitive to other allergens, and accordingly stopped taking 18. In 2006, the higher nervous activity of Russian Academy of Sciences and Irina? Dr almakova's research found that more than half of the young mice who ate genetically modified soybeans died in the first three weeks after birth, which was six times that of the young mice who ate non-genetically modified soybeans. In 2007, with the financial support of the Austrian government, Professor Zetek and his research team conducted experiments on the hybrid of transgenic herbicide-resistant corn NK603 and transgenic insect-resistant corn MON8 10 developed by Mondushan Company. After 20 weeks of observation, it was found that genetically modified products affected the reproductive ability of mice, and Russian scientists confirmed that genetically modified foods were harmful (2). In June, 2007, 5438+ 10 and June, 5438+065438+ 10, new york Times and other media reported that after long-term and meticulous follow-up, it was found that two kinds of genetically modified corn planting did harm to the survival of butterflies, and the threat to ecological environment safety exceeded the acceptable level. To this end, the EU has initially decided to ban the sale and use of genetically modified corn seeds. In 2008, American scientists also confirmed that long-term feeding of genetically modified corn would damage the immune system of mice, and the research results were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in the same year. From June 5438 to February 2009, French scientists published new research results, which confirmed that the transgenic corn produced by Monsanto was toxic to the liver and kidney of rats, and these side effects were gender-dependent and often dose-dependent. Other side effects are also seen in the heart, adrenal gland, spleen and hematopoietic system of rats. 201April 16, Russian scientists published new independent research results, which further proved that hamsters will be extinct if they eat genetically modified soybeans for three generations! At the same time, the development of transgenic technology has broken the law of natural development and more or less destroyed the harmony in the field of biology. The harm of transgenic technology to ecosystem and human health: first, gene elegance, that is, gene flow or horizontal gene transfer to other related species (3). For example, in Canada, it was found that transgenic rape hybridized with wild related species, thus forming so-called super weeds, leading to the loss of wild alleles, thus causing the loss of genetic diversity and affecting ecological balance (4). Secondly, the insecticidal toxins produced by transgenic plants can penetrate into the soil from the roots, and the large-scale planting of a single transgenic plant may have adverse effects on soil organisms, microorganisms and the environment, thus reducing the species diversity in this area. Third, the toxicity of genetically modified products will cause allergic reactions. 1995 found that the transgenic soybean of American international pioneer company can cause human allergy, and the crops with transgenic peanut gene appear allergic phenomenon. Fourthly, marker genes (especially antibiotic genes) transferred into plants may spread to other microorganisms in some way, causing them to develop new drug resistance, leading to the generation of super pathogenic bacteria.

Actually, personally, I think it's useless to think about this question. Genetically modified products will definitely be "better and cheaper" than traditional products. In China, manufacturers will only choose cheaper products.