The USDA may approve a genetically-modified strain of rice
that contains human genes. Rice is self pollinating, so
it will not cross pollinate with rice plants in nearby
fields, but it will mix with other varieties during storage
and handling, meaning that it may soon become the only
strain of rice available in areas where it is grown. This
has happened with StarLink corn in Mexico and is also
happening in agricultural areas of the U.S., meaning that
very soon, it may be impossible to buy organic,
non-genetically modified, rice.
The plants have been modified to express the human
glycoprotein lactoferrin and human lysozyme.
Lysozyme is an enzyme that breaks down the walls of
bacterial cells in the body and is part of the immune
system. It cannot be used as a drug except for topical
application because the molecules are too large. But current
research into ways of instilling lysozyme into the body are
promising, and it could provide a powerful replacement for
antibiotic therapy.
Lactoferrin contains 702 amino acids and is also involved
with the destruction of bacteria in the body. Animal
lactoferrin is advertised as an antioxidant, and it does
have measurable antibacterial properties.
Human versions of these substances would be much more potent
in the human body, and the ability to synthesize them would
be a major advance in bacterial therapy at a time when
antibiotics are becoming less and less effective.
But do we want to synthesize them in a food as widely grown
and essential as rice, when genetically modified crops have
already shown an unexpected tendency to spread their genes
to other varieties of the same plant, and even to other
plant species?
It's been discovered that a large amount of corn's GM
contamination happens as a result of corn dust from several
varieties mixing together in grain elevators, since these
elevators are not cleaned between batches. This kind of
storage and handling situation could also be a problem with
rice.
Organically grown fruit has a five-numeral code, which
begins with the number 9. Since organic fruits and
vegetables now have to be in separate areas in grocery
stores, this code confirms that your apple hasn't ended up
in the wrong pile. However, the store does not have to
reveal which fruits and vegetables are genetically
modified?but you can find out by looking at their stickers,
which begin with the number 8.
One major problem with the new genetically engineered rice
is that it will come in a box that will probably not be
labeled this way. Products made from StarLink corn were
only discovered after a consumer group bought a variety of
foods made from corn flour in a grocery store and tested
them. They discovered that one of the products was even
produced by a Health Food company!
Art credit: http://www.freeimages.co.uk
Blue Apples
sounds like fruit that has been genetically-modified, but it
is actually the code for the lost technology that Jesus used
in his life and resurrection.
For more information, click here.
