Debate & Controversy
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Image Permission Granted – (Greenpeace)
1)
Creation of a Genetically Modified Organism
No matter how great of an argument you make
for these medicinal foods, they are still genetically modified organisms. Therefore, you enter the whole debate of
whether genetically modified organisms are safe in our environment. Organizations like Greenpeace or Friends of
the Earth would argue that GMOs are too dangerous to use and therefore would be
opposed to edible vaccines and the like.
2)
Heating Medicinal Foods
Generally all these medicinal foods are
creating food products that result in the expression of a certain protein. So what happens when you heat a food with
protein in it? The protein becomes
denatured by the heat and is therefore ineffective. There has been no definitive test to
determine whether or not heating these medicinal foods will in fact render them
ineffective after heating, but conceptually the proteins should become
denatured.
3)
Inability to Enter Through Digestion
There is some debate as to whether or not
medicinal foods when consumed will be able to deliver the medicinal cargo into
the body via the digestive system. Will
the full dosage actually enter the bloodstream?
Will the digestive enzymes or acids in the stomach destroy the proteins
prior to entering the bloodstream (Langridge
2000)? Some experiments on animals
and one small scale human clinical trial have shown that the medicinal cargo
does find its way into the bloodstream (Langridge
2000). There are still many
questions about the dosage and administration of the medicinal foods. Since we are unsure of dosage levels, there
is a large concern for people who receive too much which could be toxic or too
little which would result in non-immunized people walking around thinking they
have immunity (Lazaroff
2000).
4)
Economics & Ethics
As with everything else, money is always
involved. Who would benefit other than
third-world countries from the adoption of medicinal foods? Companies like Monsanto who create these
products would be raking in the dough if these products were used globally. Sure, these food products are cheaper than
conventional medication and vaccines, but are these products still going to be
affordable for small subsistence farming?
Is Monsanto cashing in on the plight of impoverished people or are they
actually trying to create a healthier world?
This webpage
was created by David Shelburne ’04 & Paul Toran ’03 as an assignment for an
undergraduate
course—Bio
361: Genetically Modified Organisms—at
© Copyright 2002 Department of Biology,