In 1994, the first-ever genetically modified food was released for commercial sale, by the California company Calgene Inc. This was called the Flavr Savr™ tomato, which was engineered to have a longer shelf life having an antisense gene that delayed ripening. It didn't prove to be successful, as Flavr Sav failed because it made a very minimal impact on shelf-life or fruit softening, failing to meet its goal. This failure wasn't in vain, however, because it paved the way for the future of genetically modified foods.
Soon after, other corporations and companies from creating GM foods, which now dominate the food market in the U.S. They are used in staple crops, such as corn, canola, and soybean, being the basis for many processed foods. It is interesting to note that in merely 25 years, this scientific innovation has revolutionized the production of food, improving efficiency, nutritional value, as well as overall resilience, although not without its controversies.
Sources:
https://www.genengnews.com/insights/mistakes-shorten-first-approved-gmos-shelf-life/
https://www.nongmoproject.org/gmo-facts/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism
I really enjoyed this blog post about Genetically Modified Organisms and thought it was really well written. I did some research and found that in 1973 two scientists, Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen, made the the first genetically modified organism by cutting genes out of organisms and pasting them in others. This was a very earlier instance of scientists discovering how to modify organisms.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/from-corgis-to-corn-a-brief-look-at-the-long-history-of-gmo-technology/
In your post you mentioned that genetically engineered food is very important in the modern world in terms of efficiency. Another benefit is that it can be used to increase nutrition value. In 2000, a variety of rice called Golden Rice was created with the help of genetic engineering in order to combat malnutrition, specifically for children suffering with vitamin A deficiency.
ReplyDeletehttp://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/good-as-gold-can-golden-rice-and-other-biofortified-crops-prevent-malnutrition/
I really like this post as it describes both the historical and modern-day relevance really well. I did some research and found that technically the first GMOs were dogs. Humans selectively bred wolves to ensure that their offspring receive desirable traits. This process is called Artificial Selection (as opposed to natural selection) and while these ancient humans had no understanding of genetics, they manipulated DNA and therefore technically created GMOs.
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/from-corgis-to-corn-a-brief-look-at-the-long-history-of-gmo-technology/