2. Identification of public health issues that need to be addressed

Now that the stage has been set, we can identify the issues that may potentially raise health concerns. These concerns primarily relate to substances that will be newly produced and are foreign to the unmodified plant.

The primary concern, however, is the presence of foreign genes or even DNA sequences. Can these genes or certain DNA fragments be transmitted to other organisms—particularly humans or animals that consume GMOs—and, if so, what are the consequences?

A second concern relates to the proteins newly synthesized by the plant as a result of the action of the genes of interest and the marker genes. As we have just seen, only these genes will determine protein synthesis; the other genes or DNA sequences serve only to enable the transformation and to regulate the expression of the genes of interest and marker genes. Are these proteins,...