Health risks associated with the approaches that are reviewed generally fall into four categories- allergies, toxicities, nutrient imbalances, and decreasing diet diversity. Allergic reactions generally refers to clinically evident, adverse immunological responses to specific antigens. Toxicity refers to the ability of a substance to cause non-immunological adverse effects to the consumer. Nutrient imbalances refers to the possibility that the quantities of two or more nutrients might interfere adversely with nutrient absorption .Concerns about diet diversity arise from the possibility that the biofortification of staple crops might displace multiple foods that traditionally served as good sources of the ‘fortificant’ and, thus, potentially other food constituents important to health.
1. Allergens:- Genetic engineering could potential introduce or create allergens.for e.g., inserting genes from a nut into another plant could be dangerous for people who are allergic to nuts .
2. Harm to other organisms
Pollen from Bt corn was shown to cause high mortality rates in monarch butterfly larvae. BUT follow-up studies have shown that the exposure levels in the fields are negligible
- Insects might develop resistance to pesticide-producing GM crops
- Herbicide-tolerant crops may cross-pollinate weeds, resulting in "uper weeds"
No comments:
Post a Comment