Rainbow papayas, non-bruising potatoes, pink pineapples, salmon and beer were just some of the GMO (genetically modified organism) foods served at an all-GMO dinner in Davis. The dinner was a prelude to the 麻豆传媒-hosted international Transgenic Animal Research Conference, which focuses on new developments in genetic engineering of animals.
Consumers may be surprised to learn many of these foods are GMOs, or what scientists call genetically engineered food. Store shelves are now filled with food items with a 鈥淣on-GMO鈥 label. The label has helped stoke fears among many consumers that something about GMO food must be bad for people or the environment. It didn鈥檛 help that large agrochemical companies were among the first to produce GMO crops, which were designed to benefit farmers growing the crops by protecting them from insects and weeds. But the potential consumer benefits of GMO foods have never been greater, as a pointed out.
To genetically engineer an organism, the genetic material (DNA) of one organism is altered and transferred to another organism to give it a desired characteristic. The resulting organism with the desired trait is referred to as transgenic or a GMO.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been frustrating for those of us working in the field, how long it鈥檚 taken genetically engineered food to get to market,鈥 said 麻豆传媒 animal geneticist , a cooperative extension specialist in the Department of Animal Science who hosted the dinner. Regulatory hurdles mean it often takes years, if not decades, to bring the foods to the consumer. It鈥檚 one of the reasons Van Eenennaam held the all-GMO dinner, as a demonstration of the food鈥檚 benefits.
鈥淭here are some really useful products out there that are delicious and that fit well with people that are interested in the environment and sustainability. I think that narrative often doesn't get out there among all the fear mongering around the technology,鈥 said Van Eenennaam.
The dinner was served to a small group of invited colleagues and friends before the conference. Family friend and chef, Roger Praplan of La Gare Restaurant in Santa Rosa, cooked the meal.
GMO salmon, 30 years in the making
No better time for a GMO dinner since the harvest of the first FDA-approved genetically engineered salmon came just this spring. The Atlantic salmon, now available for commercial sale, expresses a gene from chinook 鈥榢ing鈥 salmon that enables it to get to market weight in less time.
鈥淵ou can produce more fish for less resources and feed as they鈥檙e more efficient,鈥 said , 麻豆传媒 emeritus professor and former chair of the Department of Animal Science. He said the fish are also grown in the United States in land-based recirculating aquaculture tanks, making it more sustainable. 鈥淩ight now, when you go to the store to buy Atlantic salmon, you鈥檙e probably getting fish that were raised in Scotland, Norway or Chile with a huge transportation carbon footprint associated with them.鈥 He said growing the fish locally in recirculating aquaculture tanks rather than in open sea cages is a more sustainable way to grow salmon.