Are GM and conventionally bred cereals really different?  • REVIEW ARTICLE
Trends in Food Science & Technology, 14 January 2007,
Peter R. Shewry, Marcela Baudo, Alison Lovegrove, Stephen Powers, Johnathan A. Napier, Jane L. Ward, John M. Baker and Michael H. Beale

Abstract: Concerns over the safety of GM crops have led to detailed comparisons of their composition and performance with those of conventionally bred crops, under both field and glasshouse conditions. Such studies of wheat have shown that it is possible to develop GM lines which are substantially equivalent to conventional varieties. This information is important to inform the debate on the future development of GM food crops.

The two most important lines I feel are: "Comparison of the pairs of transgenic and ‘‘parental’’ lines (B102-1-1 v L88-31, B13554 v Cadenza, B1118 v Cadenza) showed only a small number of differentially expressed genes, with none differing by more than 2-fold. In contrast, comparison of the two non-transgenic sister lines (L88-31 and L88-18), which were produced from a single cross between the cultivars Olympic and Gabo, showed that a larger number of genes were differentially expressed in developing endosperms, 92 at 14 days (13 by greater than 3-fold) and 527 at 28 days (85 by greater than 2-fold). "

And "A striking result from our studies was the small numbers of differentially expressed genes between the transgenic and control lines when compared with sister lines (L88-31, L88-18) produced by a conventional crossing programme. This is consistent with the hypothesis that transgenesis is a highly precise and controlled method of crop improvement compared to conventional breeding in which many thousands of genes may differ between the lines."


Thomas R. DeGregori, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Houston
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