Genetic Engineering Gone Wrong

That ship has sailed my friend...

"Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been the source of much debate regarding their necessity and safety for many years. These organisms, for better or worse, now have a firm place in our food chain, finding their way into upwards of 30,000 different food products."

Almost everything we eat has been genetically modified...

Glow in the dark pigs? Yeah, we got those....

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/03/08/f-genetic-foods-bg.html

Very true. There's no question that genetic modification of plants and animals has become a staple of our food production, whether we like it or not.

My focus in this entry is more on genetic engineering in regards to medicine, and the delicacies associated with the process. It should not be taken lightly that very small errors can lead to very big failures in the industry, and that there are so many variables and unknowns when it comes to the effects of substances in the body.

they are very much tied together.

as I understand it, medicine is nothing more than modified proteins

Yes but your 1(one) example is not about genetic engineering per se , but about poor production quality control....We get recalls all the time on everything from baby carriers to hamburger to automobiles, any one of which can have fatal consequences...I don't know of any genetically modified foods or medications that cause any more problems than their non-modified equivalent...As far as medications go, they all cause deaths, why aspirin alone is sited as the cause of 500 deaths annually, and the side effects, let's just say it's inestimable....Prescription drugs taken under doctors supervision you're talking some 80,000 deaths annually....I could go on and on...But the point is, I don't know what your point is...What is your point?

In regards to my second statement, I'll break it up to clarify:

1. Genetic engineering can be a delicate process.

2. Small errors made in the pharmaceutical industry can lead to big failures, since there are a lot of variables associated with medicine and the body

All posts in this blog are merely to read, learn, and discuss mistakes made in industry related to engineering. As for the point, SolarEagle, I just misunderstood what you were saying in your response. As you pointed out, the fact that genetic engineering has become so prevalent today means that the chance of an error of this size is likely much lower.

I agree with your concerns, but I would modify your conclusion that errors are likely, much lower, due to prevalence of the technology. Long term errors may be subtle, but might also be the most insidious. Whatever the effects of GMOs, our body's adaptation to them may show severe bumps along the way. Or maybe not. But that is a key question. And the effects may not even be "recognized" as genetic errors.

As an example, the current "epidemic" of Type II diabetes among young people (who shouldn't be having this disease) has not had a cause proven. Some say it is dietary. I think it is the prime suspect. But due to what in the diet? (Here's a revealing graph.)

As Michael Pollen points out, corn is ubiquitous in the American diet. But are the potential links between such a high level of corn consumption and diabetes in young people, due to the high level and presence, or possibly, the fact that most corn used is GM? Or maybe both? I don't know, but it certainly begs the question. (And I pick corn because it is present in so many processed foods, which, in this form, have a higher glycemic index, as opposed to unprocessed corn -- an example would be, breakfast cereals. And hyperinsulinism is seen as a precursor to Type II diabetes.) I don't have the expertise to know how, or if, ingested modified DNA in food influences processes in our body. I would submit that no one does, completely. (If anyone knows of a good article or paper on this, I'd certainly be interested.) That's what makes GMOs a roll of the dice. And we have all been chosen to be beta testers.

For an overview of how GMOs are tested/treated/viewed around the world, here is a slide presentation for starters.

Agreed, there are so many GM foods now, we seem to be burning the bridges that would allow us to identify preventative strategies to diseases that have plagued mankind for many years...throw the additives, pollution and medications in the mix, and our only hope seems to be advanced technology outpacing our own path of muddying the waters to find the methodology of these diseases...forget curing anything...