Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/112551
G.M.O. News In every corner of the globe, at every level of society, people are up in arms about genetic engineering. The British Medical Association has called for a moratorium on all commercial plantings of transgenic crops. The European and Japanese food industries are refusing our genetically engineered (GE) exports unless these products have been segregated and labeled. Austria and Norway are fighting to be biotechfree zones. Family farmers in India and Africa are launching campaigns to protect their countries from the GE technologies that could destroy their indigenous agriculture. Organic farmers are struggling to prevent contamination of their crops by GE pollen blowing onto their fields from neighboring farms. And parents are demanding the right to choose what foods they feed to their children. What is genetic engineering? Genes are the building blocks of life ��� they make a tomato, a tomato and a human being, a human being. Genetic engineers cut, splice, and transfer genes between totally unrelated living things to produce combinations that would never occur naturally ��� like fish and strawberries, viruses and vegetables, humans and animals. Many leading scientists say that the process is unpredictable, unstable and dangerous. By: Victor Karydis C.N.H.P What are the risks? Toxins and allergens: GE can damage the functioning of the natural genes of an organism and cause unanticipated toxins, allergens, and reduced nutritional content in our foods. Super bacteria: Genetic engineers incorporate antibiotic-resistance genes into nearly every GE organism as markers to indicate that the organism has been successfully engineered. Doctors warn that this could lead to the creation of super bacteria, the diminished effectiveness of antibiotics as medicines, and the development of new, antibiotic-resistant strains of infectious diseases like meningitis. Environmental hazards: GE threatens our wildlife, alters natural habitats, perpetuates our dependence on pesticides and herbicides, and exposes the entire ecosystem to irreversible pollution. Paralyzing food losses: GE has given the world millions of acres of crops with unnatural genetic uniformity. Page 8 | Abby���s Magazine - www.AbbysHealthandNutrition.com