Microbiologists at New York University have found that the BT toxin in residues of genetically altered corn and rice crops persists in soils for up to 8 months and depresses microbial activity. And in another study, scientists in Oregon tested an experimental genetically engineered soil microbe in the laboratory and found it killed wheat plants when it was added to the soil in which they were grown. Even as the biotech industry and government regulators have assured us that there is no reason to worry, a growing body of evidence indicates that genetic engineering can cause unintended changes to our food, making it less nutritious or even harmful. Americans have been drinking unlabeled BGH-produced milk for years, but it has always been banned in Canada and Europe. The foundation of genetic engineering is DNA, which directs the production of proteins.
Proteins are also common sources of human allergies.
Based on those findings, the company shelved development of the soybean. But, wrote the author of an editorial in the same NEJM issue, the next case could be less ideal, and the public less fortunate. People who choose not to eat animals for religious or moral reasons face an almost impossible task with many genetically engineered foods. Genetic engineers use antibiotic marker genes to help them transfer genetic coding from one life-form to another. But some scientists worry that this process could compound the already serious problem of antibiotic resistance in humans.