Digestion breaks them down into polypeptide chains, which are further processed into amino acids. Furthermore, when we eat, our systems digest the hell out of proteins in food! As we all know, consumption of proteins is essential to life functions. While scientists are still discovering and cataloguing domains, it’s safe to say GMOs do not sport any novel protein structures. As GM technology gets more precise, individual protein domains could very well be manipulated in more specific ways. We know that organisms are modified to achieve desirable traits through introducing or changing expression levels of proteins. When discussing the central dogma of molecular biology, I’ve been asked, “Is the protein itself modified in GMOs?” This is a broad question. Without this knowledge at minimum, you can’t logically promote an inherently anti-GMO stance, even if you have a few hundred page likes on Facebook. Importantly, the 3D structure determined by the amino acid sequence results in a protein, comprised of multiple structural and/or functional units called protein domains (which themselves are comprised by structural motifs.) Effectively, these various functional structures make proteins do what they do in any given organism.
This is a very abridged explanation, but there are some nice primers here and here. The DNA in a gene of any organism can be transcribed (into RNA), and translated (into proteins) in many varied permutations by alternative splicing of introns, allowing the functions of life to be carried out. This sequence of amino acids is determined by codons, each codon coded for by 3 adjacent nucleotides. They are macromolecules comprised of amino acid chains (polypeptides.) The sequence of amino acids in any protein determines its 3D structure. Proteins serve all purposes from structure, immunity, metabolic, nutritive, enzymatic functions, and more. By LadyofHats via Wikimedia CommonsĪnd as usual, I’ll steal from one of my previous posts for a layperson briefing on genetic literacy: Essentially, proteins are the most basic functional components of living things. So as usual I need to digress for a moment, this time to give a quick explanation of protein structure. IMO, I’m all for my children consuming foods with predictable, targeted, and tested traits (GMOs are among the most stringently-tested crops in existence.) Pro-GM folks have been repeating ad nauseam, “we’ve been modifying crops/organisms for millennia,” a process known as artificial selection (check out this neat image of well-known crops in their indigenous states.) I must agree and add that if you understand basic biology, you know that organisms have been modifying themselves as well (natural selection.) More so, artificial selection by conventional breeding is so much less precise than genetic modification GM could be called targeted artificial selection. This said, my primary intention of pointing this out is not to be snarky, but to encourage scientific literacy (and if you follow my writing, my apologies for sounding like a broken record.) The person running this page clearly has no clue about basic molecular biology, let alone how genetic modification is carried out, therefore s/he not only rejects GM technology outright, but speaks for the state of Minnesota by using resounding but unsubstantiated “we” and “us” collective language.
“Leave us alone…we don’t want our food or bodies to be genetically altered by unproven, dangerous technology.” What does this even mean? This all too common sentiment from “Label GMOs Minnesota” illustrates my mantra that fear of the unknown leads to a mob with torches and pitchforks mentality. There is so much of what you see outlined in red running rampant on the internet. The post disappeared after another couple commenters chimed in.
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