Enzymes in Food Technology || GMO and Protein Engineering

✍ Scribed by Whitehurst, Robert J.; van Oort, Maarten

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 659 KB
• Edition: 2
• Category: Article
• ISBN: 1405183667
• DOI: 10.1002/9781444309935.ch2

✦ Synopsis

Although there are still intense public debates about using genetically modified organisms (GMOs), especially regarding transgenic plants and animals, general fear, due to lack of knowledge, is subsiding, especially in the scientific community. After several decades of experience gained through experiments, it is now possible to evaluate GMOs on the basis of safety, environmental issues and economical effects in a more rational manner. As a matter of fact, GMOs are playing increasingly important roles in various industries and everyday life. These include the following:

r Pharmaceuticals: Drug proteins (hormones, antibodies, vaccines, etc.) produced by ge- netically modified microorganisms, plants or animals including cells; for example human insulin produced by recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli).

r Materials for food or food processing: Nutrient materials such as amino acids and vitamins produced from GMOs, enzymes as food processing aids, enriched crops such as β carotene enriched rice ('the Golden Rice'), bovine chymosin produced from genetically modified yeast and fungi for cheese manufacturing.

r Agricultural products: Crops and vegetables with improved properties such as pesticide resistant, insect resistant or crops with improved nutritional values; for example insectresistant corn, slow softening tomatoes and oil seeds containing higher concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids.