Research Proposal

 Introduction

Just from personal experiences, it seems as though there is a great amount of confusion about Genetically Modified Foods, especially in terms of public health. Much of what I’ve heard about food allergies, especially in the case of gluten sensitivities, is that with everything we Americans have “done” to our food sources such as wheat is making them more indigestible. In this project will be taking a look at the truth about GMOs and wheat breading and its effects on health. Specifically, it will be identifying some pros and cons to genetically engineered products and their effects and involvement in, or lack thereof, the development of food allergies or gluten sensitivities.

Review of Literature

An article titled “Should You Worry About GMOs?” put out in a 2013 issue of the Tufts University Health &Nutrition Letter. It starts with an overview of regulations and history of GMOs and progresses to addressing common concerns about consuming as being unjustified. In an article published by The National Wheat Improvement Committee called “Wheat Improvement: The Truth Unveiled,” the organization provides some background for the development and demand of wheat as well as describing the different types of wheat breeding. It goes on to refute some common myths about wheat and ends by stating all the positives about wheat and the breeding process. In a 2015 issue of Environmental Nutrition, Denise Webb published a brief article titled “10 Whole Grain Myths Busted” that answers common misconceptions about eating whole grains, and provides descriptions of the health benefits for eating whole grains. An article titled “Biological Impact of Feeding Rats with a Genetically Modified-Based Diet” published in the same year in the Turkish Journal of Biology, written by Hanaa Oraby and colleagues provides an assessment of the biosafety of genetically modified products based on a toxicity study of albino rats to determine the negative outcome of eating a GM diet. In a 2009 issue of Food Reviews International written by Radomir Lásztity and Tibor Abonyi titled “Prediction of Wheat Quality—Past, Present, Future. A Review” provides an overview of methods of predictions of wheat quality since the discovery of gluten in the 18^th century. Dean D. Metcalfe wrote an article titled “Introduction: What Are the Issues in Addressing the Allergenic Potential of Genetically Modified Foods?” for a 2003 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives that reviews some of the bigger arguments and questions raised about the potential harmfulness of GMOs, and in particular the ability of GMOs to potentially cause allergic hypersensitivity. Javier Gil-Humanes and his associates reviewed the development of a bread made with wheat flour that contains a very low gluten protein content in “Reduced-Gliadin Wheat Bread: An Alternative to the Gluten-Free Diet for Consumers Suffering Gluten-Related Pathologies,” an article in a 2014 issue of PLOS One. The article maintains that near gliadin-free bread may lead to a huge improvement in quality of living for anyone suffering from gluten intolerance.  In another article for the same issue, titled “The Shutdown of Celiac Disease-Related Gliadin Epitopes in Bread Wheat by RNAi Provides Flours with Increased Stability and Better Tolerance to Over-Mixing,” The same authors reported the processing of gliadin-reduced bread, and the potential for mixing the wheat with other grains and cereals to enhance the diet of those suffering gluten intolerance. C.R. Wilk-Nielsen and his associates describe a series of studies on the dietary DNA of Atlantic Salmon to investigate the uptake of dietary DNA from soybean and maize, the study was done to determine the effect on metabolism and health, both in humans and animals. The studies were published under the title “Quantification of Dietary DNA in Tissues of Atlantic Salmon ( Salmo salar L.) Fed Genetically Modified Feed Ingredients” in a 2011 issue of Aquaculture Nutrition. And finally, in an article “Do Genetically Modified Foods Cause Gluten Allergies published in March of 2015 on the website for the Genetic Literacy Project, Layla Katiraee explains some of the history behind the debate between genetically modified foods and gluten intolerance or sensitivity. She explains the differences between a gluten sensitivity and an allergy, and finishes by stating that her opinion there is no connection between GMOs and Gluten sensitivities. 

Plan to Collect Information

My sources thus far have come from online websites or articles from the Academic Search Premier database. Much of the work I need to do is to more thoroughly review the twenty sources I have already gathered. I do intend to continue searching for sources through other databases like JSTOR for more peer-reviewed articles that may be more current or more American based than some of the sources I already have. I am also hoping to find some useful visuals to add to my project.

Project Timeline

This week I will be focusing on finishing the review of all my current sources. In the following week, I intend to be spending some time searching other databases for further articles as well as other potentially useful websites. I plan on having all my sources, current and future, fully summarized, reviewed and organized in terms of usefulness for forming my argument. By May 26^th I can begin outlining which of my sources to use in my project and begin to develop my argument for the paper. This should set me up nicely to spend a good portion of time on crafting my reasoning and support for my argument, before moving onto a polished draft for June 15^th.

Works Cited

Gil-Humanes, Javier, et al. “Reduced-Gliadin Wheat Bread: An Alternative to the Gluten-Free Diet for Consumers Suffering Gluten-Related Pathologies” PLOS One 9.3 (2014): 1-9. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2015.

- - -. “The Shutdown of Celiac Disease-Related Gliadin Epitopes in Bread Wheat by RNAi Provides Flours with Increased Stability and Better Tolerance to Over-Mixing” PLOS One 9.3 (2014): 1-11. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2015.

Katiraee, Layla. “Do Genetically Modified Foods Cause Gluten Allergies?” Genetic Literacy Project.  Genetic Literacy Project, 28 March 2014. Web. 20 April 2015.

Lásztity, Radomir, Tibor Abonyi. “Prediction of Wheat Quality—Past, Present, Future. A Review.” Food  Reviews International 25.2 (2009): 126-141. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2015.

Metcalfe, Dean D. “Introduction: What Are the Issues in Addressing the Allergenic Potential of

Genetically Modified Foods?” Environmental Health Perspectives 111.8 (2003): 1110-1113. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2015.

Oraby, Hanaa, et al. “Biological Impact of Feeding Rats with a Genetically Modified-Based Diet.”

Turkish Journal of Biology 39.2 (2015): 265-275. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2015.

“Should You Worry About GMOs?” Tufts University Health &Nutrition Letter 31.9 (2013): 4-5.  Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2015.

The National Wheat Improvement Committee. “Wheat Improvement: The Truth Unveiled.”(2013): 1-5. Web. 20 April 2015.

Webb, Densie. “10 Whole Grain Myths Busted.” Environmental Nutrition 38.2 (2015): 6-6. Academic  Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2015.

Wilk-Nielsen, C.R., et al. “Quantification of Dietary DNA in Tissues of Atlantic Salmon ( Salmo salar L.) Fed Genetically Modified Feed Ingredients.” Aquaculture Nutrition 17.2 (2011): e668-e674. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 April 2015.