Volume 42 | Number 2 Spring 2007
The European Communities Biotech Dispute: How the WTO Fails to Consider Cultural Factors in the Genetically Modified Food Debate
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II. Introduction to Genetically Modified Foods
A. Genetically Modified Foods
In order to understand the controversy, it is important to know how GM foods are created and why Europeans might be wary of them. Genetically modified foods are derived from organisms whose DNA has been altered through the insertion of genes from one organism into a second organism in order to suppress, encourage, or otherwise alter particular genetic traits in the second organism.7 One example of a genetic modification is the creation of an herbicide-resistant cotton plant—a gene increasing herbicide resistance is isolated in one plant, removed, replicated, and then reinserted into the DNA of the target plant.8 The process often uses bacteria to carry the selected DNA and antibiotic marker genes to identify altered cells. Genes can be transferred between plants, animals, or microorganisms—both plants and animals have been genetically modified.9
GM food comes primarily from four crops that dominate GM agriculture: soybeans, maize (corn), cotton, and canola.10 Within commercial GM crops, the predominant modification is herbicide resistance, followed by insect resistance.11 Other modifications include viral and fungal resistance, improved ability to resist environmental stresses, acceleration of growth time, and reduction in the maturation time of trees.12 The above traits affect plant growth, or “input,” characteristics.13 Traits affecting the characteristics of the food itself, or “output” characteristics, are less common14 and have had less commercial viability.15
B. Potential Risks and Benefits of Genetically Modified Foods
Much of the debate over GM food regulation stems from the tension between the potential risks and benefits of GM foods. Concerns over human health and the environment have driven both sides of the argument: while GM foods may pose unknown risks to human health, they may also be the key to feeding a growing world population.16
Because GM foods are relatively new and the techniques that create them are complex, fears abound that GM foods may carry serious risks both to human health and to the environment. Two human health risks associated with GM foods are potential allergies to novel proteins that appear in the GM food17 and the risk that antibiotic resistance could be spread through GM organisms.18 In addition, there are serious environmental concerns regarding the release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment.19 These concerns include negative and unintended consequences to the biosphere, as demonstrated in U.S. field trials.20
Balanced against the risks are the potential benefits of GM foods,21 including reduced usage of pesticides and herbicides, better yields, foods with better nutritional value, foods altered to be less allergenic, production of vaccines within foods, and even the production of alternative fuels.22 These potential benefits offer strong justifications for further research by biotechnology companies.23 However, the difficulty remains in determining how to assess the potential benefits and risks and whether regulation can adequately manage the risks.24
As a result, two approaches to GM food regulation have emerged from the different opinions concerning the role science should play in determining food safety. The first approach assumes that GM foods are safe after limited testing because they are equivalent to foods that have not been genetically altered. The second approach assumes that more extensive testing on a broader scale is required to prove the safety of GM foods. These competing approaches to regulation underlie the different positions in EC Biotech.