Hello, my name is Claudia, I am a scientist and
I work in EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority.
I'm here today to talk to you about the work we do
on genetically modified organisms, and why we do this work.
Let's start from the beginning of the story.
What is a genetically modified organism?
It is an organism in which the genetic material
has been altered or changed in a way that does not occur naturally.
And by naturally, we mean, for example in the case of GM plant
when we combine a father plant with a mother plant to obtain a new plant.
Scientists are developing many different types
of GM plants to achieve different objectives.
For example, they have developed plants which are called
‘drought-resistant’, meaning that they can
survive well also when water availability is quite limited.
Other types of plants are called ‘insect-resistant’,
and this is the example we will be using today to explain a few things.
Here you see two drawings – we have the non-GM maize plant
and we have the GM maize plant.
What's the difference between the two?
On the non-GM maize plant we have insects that can feed on it – on its leaves
– whereas these are absent here because this plant is resistant
and the insects cannot feed on its leaves.
Now what is the job of EFSA?
The job of EFSA is to assess whether this plant
is as safe as this one – the non-GM counterpart.
Now the question is how does EFSA do this assessment?
Using a comparative approach, which is basically a comparison between
the GM plant and its conventional counterpart.
We do that by asking a whole series of questions.
For example, is this plant as nutritious as the non-GM counterpart
for animal and humans when used in food and feed?
Another question: does this plant cause any allergic reaction
in humans or animals when used, in comparison to the non-GM counterpart?
Or is this plant toxic for animals or humans in comparison to their
non-GM counterpart when used?
In addition to that, we also ask a whole series of questions
to assess whether this plant causes any harm to the environment when cultivated.
After we collect all this amount of scientific information,
we use it to compile a document which in EFSA we call a scientific opinion,
and this scientific opinion is then delivered to policymakers.
This document contains all the information
and the evaluation of the safety of the GM plant.
In such respect, EFSA is not in favour nor against GMOs
because it does purely a scientific work,
and its opinion is used then by policymakers who are
the ones ultimately responsible for the decision-making process
and can authorise or not a GM plant on the European market.
Thank you.