But before we get frightened off our feed, let's be sure we know the facts. The presence of the gene in the corn plant means farmers do not have to spray chemical insecticides to control insect pests. The furor arose because this StarLink corn has been approved so far only for animal feed. Its approval for human food use is still pending. The BtCry9C protein, produced from the BtCry9C gene recipe, is slower to digest than its cousins.
Slow digestion is one of the many features of allergenic proteins.
It is a reasonable question that perhaps the BtCry9C protein has other allergenic properties that need to be investigated before food-use approval is granted. This is fair and prudent. However, Genetic Id did not find the BtCry9C protein because they used a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR assay, which detects only DNA, the chemical base of genes. Genetic Id tested the taco shells for the presence of the BtCry9C-gene DNA, but not for the protein. No gene or fragment of DNA, even deep-fried DNA, is allergenic, toxic or otherwise harmful to humans.