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Listen to this siteFriday 19 March 2004
The aim of this research project was to further scientific knowledge of the risk of gene transfer from GM plants to gut bacteria.
Study Duration : January 1999 to July 2002
Contractor : Institute of Food Research
Molecular understanding suggests that gene transfer is unlikely to occur from antibiotic resistant genes in GM plants to human gut bacteria. This research investigated the issue further.
This project looked for evidence of gene transfer from GM rice and maize to the bacteria within the human digestive system. In one experiment the researchers used laboratory conditions to artificially increase the likelihood of gene transfer taking place. In a separate experiment the same GM material was introduced into a laboratory model that simulated conditions in the lower gastrointestinal tract of the human gut. The researchers looked for any transfer of antibiotic resistance from GM plant material to the gut bacteria present in the model, thereby giving a more realistic representation of the conditions that DNA (including GM DNA) would encounter should it survive passage to the lower human gut.
Main Findings: No natural transfer of antibiotic resistance was detected. Gene transfer was only detected when laboratory-based techniques were applied to artificially increase the likelihood of it taking place. It is not possible for the human or animal gut to reproduce these conditions.
The researchers concluded that drug resistance is so well established in the gastrointestinal tract, that even if antibiotic resistance gene transfer took place from a GM plant it would not be significant.
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(pdf 56KB) Research project G01012: Lay SummaryDownload pdf
(pdf 14KB) Research project G01012: Report FiguresDownload pdf
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