Genetically modified food is being rebranded as a smart, health-enhancing solution to our planet’s impending resource crisis. But is it safe? MH investigates.
Why are carrots orange? That’s not the set-up of a Michael McIntyre gag – it’s a serious question. And the answer sums up the forces at play in the production of modern, genetically modified foods: science, fashion and, above all, politics.
Our ancestors knew carrots, but not as we do. Theirs were short and stubby, like a radish, and came in yellow, white, purple or red. But not orange. In the 17th century, the Dutch were the world’s leading vegetable technologists, and the carrot was just one of the staples they decided to “improve”. Through selective breeding, they made it sweeter and less woody and, over time, it became the recognisable root vegetable that sprouts in gardens and fields worldwide today. Its hue is where the politics comes in: according to lore, the Dutch breeders bred their carrots to honour their ruler, William of Orange, upholder of the Protestant faith and, from 1689, king of England, too.
Selective breeding is genetic modification: it is the engineering of DNA, the code within cells. You see its results in the supermarket vegetable aisle and in household pets. It’s what makes a dachshund look so different from a Great Dane, even though they are of the same species. This is evolution, accelerated and directed in the way that we humans want it to go – in the case of dogs, to make something playful and charming out of wolves. The thoroughbred racehorse is the product of more than three centuries of DNA tweaking, by pairing the best male with the best female. Despite his own family’s enthusiasm for this particular form of genetic modification, Prince Charles has objected to humans “playing God” with nature. But, as the scientist Richard Dawkins countered, “We’ve been playing God for centuries!”
Intelligent Design
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2018 من Men's Health UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2018 من Men's Health UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Every Question You Ever Had About Really Eating Well
Nutrition is a maddening business. Foods are in one day, compost the next; vitamins that cured ills last week are promptly debunked. We all want to eat better, but who has the time to sift fact from fad? Rest easy because this is your easily digestible, bite-sized guide to doing precisely that
The False Prophets Of Wellness
Muscle, fat loss, wisdom… Whatever you seek, there is now an entrepreneurial guru armed with hashtags who claims to have the answer. But is it gospel?
The Brexit Diet
Whether you voted Leave or Remain, the EU has transformed the way we eat – and crashing out threatens to deal a mighty blow to both our palates and our nutritional health. MH spoke to the experts worried that the true impact of Brexit will leave a very bad taste in our mouths.
Stamina? It's As Easy As Pie
Don’t flake on post-workout pastry. Pie and mash is your new performance enhancer
The Trip Treatment
Once the poison of the counterculture, psychedelic drugs are gaining credibility as a powerful, viable mental health tool that could transform the way we understand ourselves. Are you ready to turn on, tune in and dose up?
The Gastropub Nutrition Plan
New research suggests you don’t need to cut back on flavour either to satisfy your cravings or to cook off kilos. Better pass that piccalilli
Your Detox Doner Card
The vilified sat fat in your kebab is actually the antidote to offset booze’s impact on your liver. How convenient
Reach For The Stars
He has crossed the Atlantic, from Peckham to Hollywood, carrying multiple blockbusters on his newly broad shoulders. But while John Boyega’s star is in the ascendant, his feet remain firmly on the ground – thanks to a few fundamental life lessons learned along the way. Take note and look up.
One Word Answer #43
As tedious as they might have seemed at the time, most of the lessons our parents taught us as kids were worthy of adherence. Sit up straight at the table; look people in the eye when you thank them; try not to spit at strangers – even as an adult, these are values to live by.
Son Of A Gun
For most men, joining the family business is the easier option. Not so for Scott Eastwood, a man whose father might just be the most iconic Hollywood hard man ever. But while he is, in many ways, a chip off the old block, the firebrand’s son has his own life well figured out
