From: Crop Biotech Update

Ever since the introduction of genetically modified (GM) plants, its inclusion in the human diet and the possible transfer of transgenes from GM plants to intestinal microflora and enterocytes have been a major concern. The persistence in the human intestinal tract of DNA from dietary GM plants is still an unexplored area.

In a research conducted by Harry J. Gilbert of the Schools of Cell and Molecular Biosciences, University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom, and his colleagues, they determined the survival of the transgene epsps from GM soya in the small intestine of human “ileostomists,” or individuals whose terminal ileum is surgically removed and where digesta are diverted from the body via a stoma to a colostomy bag.

Results showed that the transgene did not pass through the intact gastrointestinal tract of human subjects fed with GM soya. Three of the seven ileostomists also exhibited a low-frequency of gene transfer from GM soya to the microflora of the small bowel of the subjects before their involvement in the feeding experiments.

For more information, email Harry J. Gilbert at h.j.gilbert@NewCastle.ac.uk .

The article is published in Nature Biotechnology.
It can be downloaded for a fee at
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nbt/journal/v22/n2/full/nbt934.html&filetype=pdf.