The techniques of modern genetics have made possible the
direct manipulation of the genetic makeup of organisms. In agriculture, genetic engineering allows
simple genetic traits to be transferred to crop plants from wild relatives,
other distantly related plants, or virtually any other organism. As such, recombinant DNA technology has brought
a new precision to the process of crop development, which traditionally selects
desired traits through crosses between crops and their wild relatives (a
laborious and relatively imprecise method). Genetic modification can be used in
many ways to control a variety of traits of organisms, and the consequences of
one manipulation may be completely different from another based on the traits
modified.
When most people talk about genetically engineered foods or GMOs, they are referring to crops modified utilizing the modern techniques of genetic modification, termed recombinant DNA above. The term, GMO or genetically modified organism, in this modern usage refers to a plant or animal altered using the new genetic techniques. The term, LMO or living modified organism, refers to a GMO that is still alive, such as a fresh fruit or vegetable or a seed that has been modified using recombinant DNA. The use of the terms GMO and LMO can be somewhat confusing, however, because, if you think about it, many crops have been genetically modified through traditional plant breeding for thousands of years. We refer to the foods developed through the new genetic technologies as new GM foods, rather than GM foods, to try to avoid this confusion.
Duke University Bio 280s – this site has links to detailed lectures on GMOs (Lecture 24) as well as many other interesting topics
ucbiotech.com – click on the links to Resources or Biotechnology Information for pages of different articles regarding genetically modified foods
USDA Agricultural Biotechnology – website made by the US Dept. of Agriculture with links to GMFoods in the news.
Access Excellence – has links to GMO under “Biotechnology – It’s in your food” and “From farms to your table”
SCOPE – forum for both sides of GMO.
This site is funded by the National Science Foundation .