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建议 转基因食品安全吗
Traditional plant breeding involves crossing varieties of the same species in ways they could cross naturally. For example, disease-resistant varieties of wheat have been crossed with high-yield wheat to combine these properties. This type of natural gene exchange is safe and fairly predictable．
Genetic engineering（GE）involves exchanging genes between unrelated species that cannot naturally exchange genes with each other. GE can involve the exchange of genes between vastly different species―e.g. putting scorpion toxin genes into maize or fish antifreeze genes into tomatoes. It is possible that a scorpion toxin gene, even when it is in maize DNA, will still get the organism to produce scorpion toxin―but what other effects may it have in this alien environment? We are already seeing this problem―adding human growth hormone genes to pigs certainly makes them grow―but it also gives them arthritis and makes them cross-eyed, which was entirely unpredictable．
It will be obvious, for example, that the gene for human intelligence will not have the same effect if inserted into cabbage DNA as it had in human DNA―but what side-effect would it have？In other words, is GM food safe to eat？The answer is that nobody knows because long-term tests have not been carried out.
Companies wanting a GM product approved in the UK or USA are required to provide regulatory bodies with results of their own safety tests. Monsanto’s soya beans were apparently fed to fish for10 weeks before being approved. There was no requirement for independent testing, for long-term testing, for testing on humans or testing for specific dangers to children or allergic people.
The current position of the UK Government is that “There is no evidence of long-term dangers from GM foods.” In the US, the American Food and Drug Administration is currently being prosecuted for covering up research that suggested possible risks from GM foods.
转基因食品安全吗
传统作物育种能自然地在同种物种间相互多样性的杂交。如已经有抗病品种的小麦与高产品种的小麦杂交结合。这种自然基因的交换是安全的而且能清楚地预测的。
基因工程能转变两种互不关联的物种之间的基因，这在自然进化中是无法完成的。基因工程还能转换许多不同物种的基因，如把蝎子毒素基因转入玉米，或把鱼类的防冻基因转入番茄中。尽管蝎子毒素基因转入玉米基因，玉米依然有可能得到其有机体而产生蝎子毒素。但在玉米这相异的环境中还会不会产生其他影响呢？我们已经看到这个问题，把人生长荷尔蒙基因转入猪中能促进它们的生长，但同时它们会患上关节炎和斜视，这些是完全预测不到的。
显然，当卷心菜的DNA中接入人体智慧的基因后是没有效果的，但是有没有副作用呢？换句话说，转基因食品能安全食用吗？因为没有长期试验的完成，所以没有人知道这个问题的答案。
在英国和美国，未经核准的转基因产品的公司需要提交管理机构的自身安全性测试。Monsanto的大豆喂鱼10周后就得到认可。对独立测试，长期测试，人体测试，对儿童的特殊危害测试和过敏人群皆无要求。
英国政府目前的立场是：“转基因食品的长期危害是没有证据的。”在美国，国家食品药品监督管理局因掩盖转基因可能的危险的报告而被告发。
