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Organics |
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environmental
kitchen
archiveantibiotic
resistance |
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Antibiotic Resistance |
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When gene engineers
splice a foreign gene into a plant or microbe, they often link it to another
gene, called an antibiotic resistance marker gene (ARM), that helps determine
if the first gene was successfully spliced into the host organism. Some
researchers warn that these ARM genes might unexpectedly recombine with
disease-causing bacteria or microbes in the environment or in the guts
of animals or people who eat GE food, contributing to the growing public
health danger of antibiotic resistance--of infections that cannot be cured
with traditional antibiotics, for example new strains of salmonella, e-coli,
campylobacter, and enterococci. EU authorities are currently considering
a ban on all GE foods containing antibiotic resistant marker genes.
Information provided with the help of Ronnie Cummins Organic
Consumers Association
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