Genetic Modified foods are Organic.

Thanks for the debate racketguy. Definitions Organic means “relating to natural products” and “often certified by a regulatory body.” [1] Burden of Proof As instigator, my opponent has the burden to prove that all genetically modified (GM) foods are both: 1) Derived naturally 2) Certified by a regulatory body Contention 1: Derived Naturally GM crops are obviously not derived from natural products. Unlike with selective breeding of crops, which is natural, GM crops have sequences of DNA artificially spliced into their genomes. The DNA is usually from another species, often a bacteria or animal species. Contention 2: Certified by a regulatory body According to a guide on how to avoid GM foods, “The US and Canadian governments do not allow manufacturers to label something 100% organic if that food has been genetically modified or been fed genetically modified feed.” [2] My opponent is wrong – the FDA does not certify GM foods as “100% organic.” Contention 3: GM =/= organic My opponent’s resolution is “GM crops are organic.” We can rewrite this to “if something is a GM crop, then it is organic.” However, something being a GM crop is not a sufficient condition to make it organic; it must also be grown in the correct manner. GM crops are often grown with non-organic pesticides and thus, not all GM crops are organically grown. My opponent should have written the resolution as: “GM crops CAN BE organic.” Contention 4: allergies There is a reason that GM crops are not certified as 100% organic – because they can cause food-borne allergies. A study by Ordlee et al found that soybeans that were modified with a gene from the Brazil nut sparked potentially fatal allergic reactions in people who were allergic to Brazil nuts. [3] This makes sense because people are allergic to the proteins in the Brazil nut, not the nut itself, so when the GM soybeans start manufacturing those proteins, people are allergic to the soybeans as well. Certifying something as organic is the only way to help people with certain severe allergies (such as peanut allergies) avoid GM foods that may contain genes they are allergic to (such as peanut genes) because the US does not require GM foods to be labeled as “genetically modified” (due mostly to lobbying efforts by the agricultural lobbies). John Boyles, MD, says, "I used to test for soy allergies all the time, but now that soy is genetically engineered, it is so dangerous that I tell people never to eat it-unless it says organic." [5] Even scarier, according to the Institute for Responsible Technology, “the situation [with GM crops] may be made much worse by something called horizontal gene transfer (HGT). That's when genes spontaneously transfer from one species' DNA to another. While this happens often among bacteria, it is rare in plants and mammals. But the method used to construct and insert foreign genes into GM crops eliminates many of the natural barriers that stop HGT from occurring. Indeed, the only published human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted verified that portions of the gene inserted into GM soy ended up transferring into the DNA of human gut bacteria. Furthermore, the gene was stably integrated and it appeared to be producing its potentially allergenic protein. This means that years after people stop eating GM soy, they may still be exposed to its risky protein, which is being continuously produced within their intestines.” [4] Eating a GM crop ONCE could cause you to have an allergic reaction every day for the rest of your life! When GM soybeans were first introduced from the United States into the UK market, soy allergies suddenly skyrocketed in the UK by 50%. [6] A study by Charles Benbrook found that levels of one allergen, trypsin inhibator, were SEVEN TIMES HIGHER in GM soybeans than non-GM soybeans. [7] Obviously, people with food allergies need to know which crops are safe and need the “organic” label to tell them whether a food has been genetically modified. Contention 5: Antibiotic resistance According to Arpad Pusztai, Ph.D. in chemistry, “When food-crops are genetically modified . . . one or more genes are incorporated into the crop’s genome using a vector containing several other genes, including as a minimum, viral promoters, transcription terminators, antibiotic resistance marker genes and reporter genes. Data on the safety of these are scarce even though they can affect the safety of the GM crop. For example: DNA does not always fully break down in the alimentary tract. Gut bacteria can take up genes and GM plasmids and this opens up the possibility of the spread of antibiotic resistance.” [8] Without the certified organic label, people will not know whether they are ingesting crops that may transfer a deadly antibiotic resistance to bacteria in their bodies. For all these reasons, the FDA should continue its refusal to certify GM crops as “100% organic.” I thus urge a Con vote. [1] http://tinyurl.com...; [2] http://tinyurl.com... [3] J. Ordlee, et al, "Identification of a Brazil-Nut Allergen in Transgenic Soybeans," The New England Journal of Medicine, March 14, 1996. [4] http://tinyurl.com... [5] See supra note 4 [6] Louis J. Pribyl, "Biotechnology Draft Document, 2/27/92," March 6, 1992, www.biointegrity.org [7] Charles Benbrook, "Genetically Engineered Crops and Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Nine Years"; BioTech InfoNet, Technical Paper Number 7, October 2004. [8] http://tinyurl.com...