Pocket Ks International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications
Pocket Ks are Pockets of Knowledge. They provide packaged information on a wide range of issues related to crop biotechnology products. GM food safety, microbial fermentation, biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, and molecular pharming are but some of the topics included.
Based on the published scientific literature, this report examines the potential hazards and risks of consuming genetically modified (GM) plant products. Toxicity, carcinogenicity and food allergenicity, and the possible effects of consuming foreign DNA (including antibiotic resistance genes) are all taken into account.
Concerns have been raised that the commercial cultivation of GE crops could result in adverse effects on the environment. The report therefore reviewed the scientific knowledge on environmental impacts of GE crops derived from ten years of worldwide experimental field research and commercial cultivation.
Biopharming (using crops as drug-producing bioreactors) offers tremendous economic and health benefits stimulated by improving biotechnology methods. However, these benefits must be weighed against the potential risks to the food supply system and the costs of containing pharma crops to meet zero-tolerance contamination requirements.
Demanding proof that genetically modified foods are safe is all very well, but without a rational system for testing conventional foods, we may never get it.
