Expert from the Ministry of Agriculture: transgenic safety is not what Aunt Wang said next door.

Whether genetically modified food is safe or not is not the decision of Aunt Wang next door.

The safety of genetically modified foods has always been debated from abroad to China.

On October 17, Kou Jianping, Director of the Safety Management and Intellectual Property Office of Genetically Modified Organisms of the Department of Science, Technology and Education of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the safety testing and evaluation of genetically modified foods was carried out by authoritative organizations, not "the next door Wang aunt has the final say." But what exactly is the construct of authority? And how to detect it? Is it truly authoritative? These questions, like the mysteries of biotechnology, are not just "a step away" from the masses.

Controversy has always been part of the development of GM technology.

"Many of us scientists are still concerned about the development of this cause in a state of conscience. Our scientists aren't as connected to profit as many people say." Huang Kunlun, member of the National Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms Safety Committee, said. He said that in the safety assessment of genetically modified products, also always maintain objectivity,"In any occasion I say, Technology itself is advanced, Potential, But does not mean that this technology has no risk, So we should be objective, Not to say that we support the development of genetically modified technology, We are one-sided."

At the beginning of December 2009, two insect-resistant transgenic rice "Huahui 1" and "Bt Shanyou 63" developed by Huazhong Agricultural University obtained the safety certificate issued by the Ministry of Agriculture for transgenic rice for the first time, but after the expiration of the safety certificate, the approval was delayed. "Genetically modified technology, like the emergence of other new technologies, will encounter controversy." Huang Kunlun said it is normal for people to have such disputes when they are not fully aware of GM technology.

However, Huang Kunlun did not realize the rationality of the controversy and opposition from the beginning. "We used to engage in scientific research. We simply thought that as long as we spread scientific knowledge and let people understand it, there would be no fear. However, no matter how clearly you explained it, there would still be fear." Huang Kunlun said.

While this is a normal controversy, what bothers GM researchers is that they are not scientifically challenged. "Rumors move your mouth, rumors run broken legs." Wang Zhixing, a researcher at the Institute of Biotechnology of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said: "Rumors do not require relevant professional knowledge to understand, and you may need professional knowledge or field investigation to spread a rumor." You can't talk nonsense when refuting rumors."

"For example, in the Northeast corn incident in China, media reports said that sows ate genetically modified corn and did not give birth, and the mice died. Later, we specially organized personnel to investigate locally and found that it was not like that at all." Huang Kunlun said. As for the rumors circulating that genetically modified foods are harmful, Huang Kunlun said that so far there has been no scientific basis and experimental confirmation.

Most of the risks of genetically modified foods revolve around whether they will cause genetic or mechanical changes to the human body. Huang Kunlun said that as long as the proteins expressed by genetically modified foods are not allergenic proteins and toxic proteins, they will be digested into small molecular components after entering the stomach and intestines, providing the nutrients and energy needed by the human body."In fact, the foods that people often eat also contain thousands of genes. Modern science has not found a single instance of the integration of genetic material into human genetic material through food transmission."

Compared with rumors, Liu Peilei, deputy director of the genetically modified organism safety management office of the Science and Technology Development Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, said it was much more difficult to dispel rumors. They printed brochures and organized corresponding anti-rumor work, but with little effect."You responded to the public not necessarily, this is the key."

"The current network looks at the number of clicks, the higher the number of clicks, the lower the number of clicks, and some people don't care. Therefore, when things that refute rumors are posted online, they are quickly overshadowed by those information with high clicks." Huang Kunlun said.

In addition to the controversy over safety, Huang Kunlun denied the idea of gaining benefits through the promotion of genetically modified products."Now I myself, including these people in the testing center now, have not said that there will be a benefit relationship with genetically modified products in the future. We just do safety evaluation."

But regarding benefits, Huang Kunlun has his own understanding: "As a research and development personnel, if you make significant contributions, you will definitely be rewarded, and it is due to gain benefits." For example, Mr. Yuan Longping, who studies hybrid rice technology, has produced so many hybrid rice and promoted the development of the entire rice industry. Do you think he should receive a reward of 1 million yuan from the state?"

"Advancing the development of the GM industry is our ultimate goal, but we want to promote healthy and sustainable development. Those that are unsafe and haven't undergone a complete safety evaluation will be stuck there." Liu Peilei said that safety is the foundation of the development of the whole industry, so we must do a good job in every step of safety. We cannot say that we only value the development prospects of the industry without considering the possible risks, which is also unfavorable to the development of the whole industry. "But we hope that whether we support or oppose GM, everyone can discuss it from a scientific point of view, rather than relying on rumors." Liu Peilei said.

What does genetically modified food safety mean?

"We've been talking about GM safety, but in fact many people don't understand the concept of safety." Liu Peilei said. He believes that transgenic technology itself is neutral, so the starting point of the debate should be the safety of genetically modified products, according to the current situation, mainly the safety of genetically modified foods.

The "safety" of genetically modified food is not only what its literal meaning can fully show, but it still has its particularity. "When evaluating the safety of genetically modified foods, it means relative safety, not absolute safety." Huang Kunlun said.

Huang Kunlun, who has been conducting research on food safety and genetically modified food safety at China Agricultural University, said that no food is absolutely safe,"Take the beans we eat, if they are not cooked, they will contain toxic substances." Including potatoes, all contain toxic substances to some extent."

There is a principle in evaluating the safety of genetically modified foods, the principle of comparative analysis. It is based on the concept of "substantial equivalence" proposed by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) in 1993. This principle has become an internationally accepted standard for determining the similarity of health and nutritional characteristics of a GM food to its control.

The principle of comparative analysis means that when evaluating the safety of GM foods, it is first necessary to compare them with crops that have not been genetically modified before, such as GM soybeans and non-GM soybeans. "Transferring or deleting this gene, if it does not increase its risk compared to the crop before it is transferred, we call it substantially equivalent, that is, substantially as safe, and vice versa." Liu Peilei said.

In the 1990s, DuPont Pioneer used biotechnology to successfully introduce the 2S albumin gene from Brazil nuts into soybeans, effectively increasing the sulfur amino acid levels in soybeans. However, researchers later found that people who were allergic to Brazil nuts were also allergic to the transgenic soybean, so it was inferred that 2S albumin might be the main component of sensitization. The experiment was then terminated.

Huang Kunlun said that if a crop, such as peanuts and nuts, had a risk of allergy to consumers before it was genetically modified, it could not be used as evidence that the genetically modified crop was unsafe,"because it had nothing to do with the genes we had transferred." In fact, crops with a history of allergies, such as peanuts, do not have their GM counterparts.