Tag Archives: genetic modification

Nonpartisan Fear of GMOs

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A recent NPR report: Americans Don’t Trust Scientists’ Take On Food Issues

This reports how frequently misinformed the US public is about is about food safety issues but at least this information is not associated with partisan political views.

An excerpt:

39 percent of the survey participants believe that genetically modified foods are worse for your health than non-GM food. However, there’s essentially no scientific evidence to support that belief — a conclusion confirmed most recently by a National Academy of Sciences report…

Americans believe that there’s no scientific consensus on GMOs. Just over 50 percent of respondents believe that “about half or fewer” of scientists agree that GM foods are safe to eat. Only 14 percent’s beliefs match the reality — that “almost all” scientists agree that GM foods are safe to eat…

Roughly equal shares of Republicans and Democrats (39 percent versus 40 percent) feel that GMOs are worse for people’s health. More Democrats than Republicans (60 percent versus 50 percent) believe that organic foods are healthier. It’s significant, but not a huge difference….

Related posts:

Here’s another related link: NY Times Stop Bashing GMO Foods

Ft Knox, Maine

Ft Knox, Maine

Genetically Modified Humans: Genome Editing 101

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In a review at last year’s NASPGHAN meeting, John Barnard gave a basic science review (Basic Science Year in Review -#NASPGHAN 2014 | gutsandgrowth) that touched on CRISPR-Cas9 for genome engineering (Cell 2014; 157: 1262-78).  Reading through a recent editorial (Lander ES. NEJM 2015; 373: 5-7), it seems that the potential for genome editing is not that far from landing into clinical use.

His points:

Genome editing holds great therapeutic promise…

  • “physicians might edit a patient’s immune cells to delete the CCR5 gene, conferring the resistance to HIV carried by the 1% of the U.S. population.”
  • “Editing blood stem cells might cure sickle cell anemia and hemophilia.”
  • Eliminate genes which increase the risk for Alzheimer’s, Huntingdon’s disease and heart attacks

Concerns:

  • “Genetically modified humans” and true “designer babies”
  • Technical issues to perform editing with precision.
  • Unanticipated effects with various edits. “We remain terrible at predicting the consequences of even simple genetic modification.”
  • Who decides?  Future generations cannot consent to their modification.
  • Is it morally right? “Would the ‘best’ genomes go to the most privileged?”

In the U.S., genome editing would not garner approval from FDA or NIH in the near future. But, given the advancing technical capabilities, it is not too early to begin the discussion about genome editing.  At the very least, this technology should spurn a couple great sci-fi movies.

Take-home point: “Authorizing scientists to make permanent changes to the DNA of our species is a decision that should require broad societal understanding and consent…We should exercise great caution before we rewrite” the human genome.

Zoo Atlanta (Kinda looks like a genetically-modified giraffe)

Zoo Atlanta (Kinda looks like a genetically-modified giraffe)