So.
What is GM?
My go-to dictionary is the Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation (Park, 2010). Here GM is described under 'Genetic Engineering' as:
As definitions sometimes vary amongst authors in a field, I also went to the World Health Organisation (WHO) for another definition:"The selective, deliberate alteration of the genetic makeup (DNA) of an organism by removing, modifying, or adding genes to a chromosome in order to change the information it contains, which enables cells or organisms to make new or different substances (proteins) or perform new functions." (Park, 2010).
"Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as organisms (i.e. plants, animals or microorganisms) in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination. The technology is often called “modern biotechnology” or “gene technology”, sometimes also “recombinant DNA technology” or “genetic engineering”. It allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between non related species" (WHO,www).
Key people and dates
Gregor Mendel - 1865 - "the father of modern genetics" - developed the concept of selective cross-breeding to produce hybrids
Watson and Crick - 1953 - put forward the Double Helix structure of DNA
Cohen and Boyer - 1973 - DNA cloning technique developed
Cohen, Chang and Boyer - 1974 - creation of first GMO (Genetically Modified Organism)
1980+ - introduction of transgenics (DNA from more a foreign animal)
Late 1980s - first GM crop (tomatoes) on sale in China
1995 - first GM potato crop approved safe for commercial use in America (Bt potato, approved by EPA)
1995 - birth of Dolly the Sheep, first cloned animal born
1997 - GMO-related food safety regulations enforced. Produce must pass before going on sale.
1998 - first GM labelling obligation rules enforced to make it clear and give consumers a choice
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