Microorganisms have been used throughout human history to aid in food production, and humans have long known and assumed that these organisms produce a variety of foods and substances through fermentation processes. But after the microbes responsible were discovered in the 1830s, food manufacturers began to test ways to use these microbes to make them more efficient. It took thousands of years for humans to discover the microbes responsible for the survival of most foods, and once discovered, it was approximately a hundred years before humans began to use techniques to optimize the use of microbes. The ease with which microbes can modify their genetic makeup to make food production more efficient is the primary reason for discussion of this topic. Modifications to the genetic makeup of microorganisms are usually performed to produce a new protein or other food product, to enhance/enhance the production of an existing protein/ingredient, or to adapt the characteristics of an existing protein to a new application. Multiple techniques are used to make genetic changes in a microorganism and later this technique was started to be known as genetic engineering-based techniques. Later it was also defined as Genetically Engineered Microorganisms (GEMs).
There are many other techniques for changing the genetic makeup of microorganisms and they are based on genetic engineering and there are also existing methods based on other techniques.
And especially based on GEMs, GEMs are widely used in biochemistry, molecular biology, medicine and food production and the main reasons for such use are that they are environmentally friendly, animal friendly and cost effective. And in today's topic, most of the facts about the use in food production have been given below.
The production of food materials using microorganisms is called fermentation, which is the general process by which a microorganism converts an energy source into other substances. Regardless of whether the microorganism is genetically engineered, the fermentation of these organisms provides an energy source and other nutrients that are converted into the food of interest. Also depending on the feedstock produced and the modifications made to the GEM, the microorganism can either secrete the material into the fermentation medium or lyse the GEM to release the material.
When talking about common methods for changing the genetic makeup of microorganisms used in food production, four methods can be used to genetically modify microorganisms. They are Non-targeted mutagenesis, Genetic engineering, Protein engineering and Gene and genome editing.
When talking about common methods for changing the genetic makeup of microorganisms used in food production, four methods can be used to genetically modify microorganisms. They are Non-targeted mutagenesis, Genetic engineering/bioengineering/genome editing, Protein engineering and Gene and genome editing.
Non-targeted Until the advent of today's modern biotechnology, microorganisms were genetically modified for decades by chemical or UV-induced selection pressure or random mutation based on random DNA changes. But I believe that today's modern biotechnological techniques have reason to replace more precise methods of introducing genetic modifications. However, random mutagenesis followed by repeated testing has been the basis for the development of several robust, well characterized and safe microbial production platforms for the expression of new traits by genetic engineering.
When it comes to genetic engineering techniques, the basic mechanism for creating GEMs for food production today is the insertion of genes into a selected, robust and safe microorganism that imparts enhanced or novel functionality to that organism, including through recombinant DNA or related techniques. by in vitro nucleic acid techniques. What happens here is the selection or development of a strong, effective host microorganism. A suitable expression host is then selected, and molecular techniques are used to insert or delete one or more DNA sequence(s) into the genome of the microorganism that confers an existing or novel function to that organism. The resulting production of an enzyme or other functional protein intended to be harvested (eg, α-amylase, lipase, protease). Also included with DNA sequences that enable the expression of new or improved functions are sequences that encode elements that help control the expression of functional genes in microorganisms. The source DNA expressed by genetically engineered microorganisms may be native to the same organism or exogenous from another organism. When DNA is obtained exogenously from a closely related microorganism that can exchange natural DNA. This process is also called 'self-cloning' by some regulatory frameworks. But before all this happened, DNA was first isolated from one microorganism, then amplified and transferred to another microorganism, and today, the use of synthetic DNA created through other molecular biology techniques produces many variants of enzyme proteins that can be tested in targeted applications. Genetically engineered microbes allow rapid development.
Regarding Protein engineering as the third method, Protein engineering is often applied to optimize functionality of enzymes. And this can be aimed at increasing catalytic activity but is often used to tailor enzymes to work more effectively under application conditions that may include temperature, pH, or salt concentration outside the enzyme's optimal range. Starting from an endogenous, wild-type enzyme, effective protein engineering often involves the generation of multiple variants by genetic engineering of the production organism or, alternatively, gene editing.
Considering gene and genome editing as the last method, CRISPR is the most common technique used for gene editing. Gene editing proteins come in three varieties: zinc fingers, TALENs, and CRISPR-Cas. This powerful CRISPR-Cas system is used to recognize a specific DNA code in any living cell by creating a guide RNA sequence that represents a genetic defect or unwanted trait and removing one or more base pairs from that DNA code. Replacement nucleic acids can be inserted into the specific site where a target sequence has been disrupted to repair the DNA. Instead of tapping into two endogenous gene functions. The biotechnological application of microorganisms was first introduced in 2012.
When considering labeling a GEM-produced food as "GMO", the GEM-produced food is not considered "GMO" for the purpose of GMO labeling through one or more of the following conditions:
ü Foodstuffs or foods “produced” with GEMs are not required to be labeled as “GMO”.
ü Foods that contain no trace elements or DNA are not required to be labeled as "GMO."
ü Foods produced with certain genetic modification techniques do not need to be labeled as “GMO” if the genetic modification occurs in nature or can be obtained through traditional breeding.
ü Foods produced with GEM-derived processing aids/incidental additives are not required to be labeled as "GMO". In some jurisdictions, this does not require detectable rDNA in the final food.
In addition to other GMO labeling considerations, it is important to emphasize that under these regulatory frameworks, GMO labeling is generally not required if a food item produced with a GEM meets only one of the conditions described above. In practice, many GEM-produced foods meet more than one of these conditions and therefore there are several reasons why they do not require GMO labeling. Interestingly, foods produced through non-targeted mutation techniques are not labeled as GMO under any of these regulations, but are genetically modified and often result in a large phenotypic change. It is important to note that most regulatory frameworks define the criteria by which a food must be labeled as containing GMOs, but not which foods are considered non-GMO. Although there is good regulatory standing for assuming that foods that do not require labeling as "contains GMOs" are necessarily considered "non-GMO," this lack of clear guidance has led to the creation of voluntary non-GMOs in several markets.
Let us now consider the safety evaluation and authorization of GEMs and GEM-derived foodstuffs. Accordingly, when considering the authorization of GEM manufactured foodstuffs, food manufacturers must meet the regulatory requirements of each country before placing a new foodstuff on the market. Generally, the regulatory frameworks established by different countries have similar expectations for novel food ingredients, although the specifics of the regulations differ. For example, while the processes established by the United States and the European Union have many contradictions, the definition of a novel food substance is largely consistent with the basic principles of safety evaluation. Accordingly, both the regulatory frameworks established in the United States and the European Union consider most foods produced with GEM as novel foods. This classification applies both when the food item was not previously on the market and when the food item was previously on the market but for that purpose. Manufacturing by GEM represents a new manufacturing process. In some cases, the introduction of GEMs into the food production process may not result in significant changes in the composition or structure of a foodstuff, and therefore cannot be defined as novel under these frameworks.
As for the safety assessment of manufactured foodstuffs, under most regulatory frameworks, the authorization of GEM-produced foodstuffs is a single process focused on the final foodstuffs. All aspects of the raw material are considered, including all parts of the manufacturing process, and from the perspective of safety assessment, the review is also focused on the final food item. This includes the inherent safety of the GEM product organism, the degree to which the product organism carries over to the finished raw material, and any other potential effect the product organism may have on the finished raw material.
The processes established in the European Union and the United States for the safety assessment of GEM manufactured foodstuffs are representative of those established in many other countries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the United States, the safety assessment is performed by the company in accordance with GRAS requirements, followed by an alternative review by the FDA.
In addition, manufacturers of GEM-produced food enzymes and other food products are required to provide detailed information about the GEM, including the parent organism, inserted sequence, method of genetic modification, and other information. All applications for food enzymes and novel foods are required to provide information on the manufacturing process and specifications for the finished food product.
Irrespective of foodstuff classification, the key aspect of evaluating GEMs used to produce foodstuff or food enzymes is the safety assessment of the product strain and its pathogenicity and toxicity potential. 'Pathogenic' refers to the ability of a microorganism to cause an infection.
Ultimately, foods incorporating materials produced with GEM are becoming an integral part of the food supply. As a result, regulatory agencies are evolving to assess these foods more efficiently. While there is general alignment among major regulatory agencies on how to assess safety, their positions on GMO labeling are less consistent and confusing to consumers, especially in the context of independent, non-regulatory agencies that have created their own definitions of GMOs. Consumer knowledge on the technical topic of GMOs in general is limited and is likely to be even more limited in the case of GEMs. Therefore, the topic of GEM-produced foodstuffs has the potential to increase consumer confusion over GMO labels. GEMs have many benefits in food production from cost and resource perspectives, and as consumers integrate sustainability into their food choices, this can create a mismatch between the objective of GMO labeling and consumers' intentions to make more sustainable food choices. As GEMs become more important for sustainable food practices with increasing globalization of the food supply, safety evaluation of these foodstuffs by regulatory agencies worldwide is imperative to avoid unnecessary trade barriers.
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