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人类的智力基因显而易见在人体DNA内和注入卷心菜DNA后的作用是不同的。但将它植入卷心菜中会产生什么样的副作用呢？换句话说，食用转基因食品安全吗？没有人知道答案，因为人们尚未进行长期的测试。
Is Gm Food1) Safe To Eat?
Traditional plant breeding involve s crossing varieties of the same species in ways they could cross naturally．For example，disease－resistant2) varieties of wheat have been crossed with high－yield wheat to combine these properties．This type of natural gene exchange is safe and fairly predictable3)．
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 scorpion4) toxin5) genes into maize6) or fish antifreeze7) 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 for 10 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 allergic8) 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 prosecuted9) for covering up research that suggested possible risks from GM foods．
