WHAT ARE THE APPLICATIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY TO FOOD?
Genetic modification processes are typically employed to realize benefits to the producer (e.g., to lower production costs by increasing resistance to pests) or to the consumer (e.g., to have better flavours or nutritional content). Some of the applications include the following: • Cheese-making involves the action of enzymes from microbes. Enzymes are proteins which promote specific chemical reactions. Chymosin from calves’ stomachs is an example of an enzyme which promotes curdling of milk for cheese production. The integration of the gene for chymosin into a yeast allows for the production of chymosin in commercial quantities. This chymosin is then introduced into the microbes used in the production of different kinds of cheese. • Potatoes have been engineered for pest resistance to the Colorado potato beetle. Genes from a soil bacterium (Bacillus thuringiensis, or B.t.) which produces its own insecticide to protect it naturally against insects have been introduced into potatoes, pr
