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| Introduction: What Are the Issues in Addressing the Allergenic Potential of Genetically Modified Foods? Dean D. Metcalfe Laboratory of Allergic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA Abstract
There is growing concern among the general public and the scientific community regarding the potential toxicity of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) . The use of biotechnology to enhance pest resistance or nutritional value has raised a number of fundamental questions including the consequences of insertion of reporter genes, the spread of resistance genes to surrounding plants, and the use of suicide genes to prohibit reuse of seed from engineered plants. Of particular interest is the ability of proteins from GMOs to elicit potentially harmful immunologic responses, including allergic hypersensitivity. The lack of information of the potential toxicity of these products suggests a need to identify the critical issues and research needs regarding these materials and to develop testing strategies to examine the allergenicity of these compounds. Key words: biotechnology, decision tree, food allergy, genetically modified crops, IgE, immunology, sensitization. Environ Health Perspect 111:1110-1113 (2003) . doi:10.1289/ehp.5810 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 19 December 2002]
This article is part of the mini-monograph "Assessment of the Allergenic Potential of Genetically Modified Foods." Address correspondence to D.D. Metcalfe, Laboratory of Allergic Diseases, NIAID, NIH, Bldg. 10, Rm. 11C205, MSC 1881, 10 Center Dr., Bethesda, MD 20892-1881 USA. Telephone: (301) 496-2165. Fax: (301) 480-8384. E-mail: dean_metcalfe@nih.gov The author declares he has no conflict of interest. Received 31 May 2002 ; accepted 27 September 2002.
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