Assessing the survival of transgenic plant DNA in the human gastrointestinal tract

• Published in: Nature biotechnology Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 204 - 209
• Main Authors: Netherwood, Trudy, Martín-Orúe, Susana M, O'Donnell, Anthony G, Gockling, Sally, Graham, Julia, Mathers, John C, Gilbert, Harry J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.02.2004; Nature; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: administration & dosage; Agriculture; analysis; Base Sequence; Bioinformatics; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology; Biomedicine; Biotechnology; chemistry; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA Damage; DNA, Plant; DNA, Plant - administration & dosage; DNA, Plant - analysis; DNA, Plant - chemistry; DNA, Plant - metabolism; Environment and pollution; food safety; Food, Genetically Modified; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastrointestinal tract; genetic transformation; Genetically engineered organisms behavior (microorganisms, plants, animals); genetically modified foods; herbicide resistance; Humans; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; intestinal microorganisms; Intestine, Small; Intestine, Small - metabolism; Intestine, Small - surgery; Life Sciences; metabolism; microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Plants, Genetically Modified; Plants, Genetically Modified - chemistry; Plants, Genetically Modified - microbiology; Powell, Jerome; Sequence Analysis, DNA; soybeans; surgery; Transgenes; Transgenic plants; Degradation; Human; Digestive system; DNA; Gut; Microflora; Transgenic plant; Genetic transfer
• ISSN: 1087-0156; 1546-1696
• DOI: 10.1038/nbt934

The inclusion of genetically modified (GM) plants in the human diet has raised concerns about the possible transfer of transgenes from GM plants to intestinal microflora and enterocytes. The persistence in the human gut of DNA from dietary GM plants is unknown. Here we study the survival of the transgene epsps from GM soya in the small intestine of human ileostomists (i.e., individuals in which the terminal ileum is resected and digesta are diverted from the body via a stoma to a colostomy bag). The amount of transgene that survived passage through the small bowel varied among individuals, with a maximum of 3.7% recovered at the stoma of one individual. The transgene did not survive passage through the intact gastrointestinal tract of human subjects fed GM soya. Three of seven ileostomists showed evidence of low-frequency gene transfer from GM soya to the microflora of the small bowel before their involvement in these experiments. As this low level of epsps in the intestinal microflora did not increase after consumption of the meal containing GM soya, we conclude that gene transfer did not occur during the feeding experiment.