Is papaya a genetically modified fruit? What are the genetically modified fruits?

It is understood that papaya is one of the genetically modified foods that consumers are really exposed to at present, and the vast majority of papaya on the market are genetically modified varieties.

Experts from the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University said that ringspot virus is a devastating disaster to papaya, and almost all of them need transgenic technology to fight against this virus and make papaya resistant. Therefore, if papaya is not genetically modified, there is basically no harvest. Because transgenic papaya is widely planted all over the world, it doesn't matter whether it is labeled or not.

Experts suggest that the management of genetically modified foods should be regulated by amending the Food Safety Law. We can consider using the mechanism of food safety risk assessment committee to assess the risk of genetically modified food. Once it is concluded that some genetically modified foods are unsafe, corresponding measures should be taken immediately to ensure that the genetically modified foods stop production and operation, and inform consumers to stop eating.

Popularization of transgenic knowledge

At present, cherry tomatoes, colored peppers, pumpkins and cucumbers on the market are not genetically modified foods

There is a list of genetically modified foods circulating on the Internet, including "cherry tomatoes, big colored peppers, pumpkins and cucumbers", which experts do not agree with.

Wang Zhixing, a researcher at the Institute of Biology, China Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that small tomatoes, also known as cherry tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, have existed since ancient times, but they were originally used as ornamental because of their small size, inconvenient picking and low yield. Later, they were found to be convenient to eat and gradually became popular after improving their taste. Small size is a natural genetic difference, not the result of genetic modification.

WU GANG, an associate researcher at the Institute of Oilseeds, China Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that the cherry tomatoes are closer to the wild state before artificial domestication, but the wild chestnuts, walnuts, apples, etc. are also far smaller than the conventional cultivated varieties. Humans domesticate wild plants in order to increase yield, mainly by increasing fruits. However, with the diversification of people's food requirements, many miniaturized fruits and vegetables have appeared, such as early spring ruby watermelon. These miniaturized varieties are all derived from germplasm resources with ancestral original genes, and have nothing to do with genetic modification.

WU GANG said that pumpkin and cucumber are not genetically modified foods, but only immature pumpkins and cucumbers. If we continue to plant in the field, pumpkin and cucumber will eventually grow into ordinary pumpkin and old cucumber.

WU GANG said that large colored peppers contain different types of anthocyanins, showing richer colors. The variation of anthocyanins is very common in plants, such as flowers with different colors in the same variety, and radishes also include carrots, green radishes and white radishes. "China has approved the commercial cultivation of antiviral sweet peppers, but compared with conventional sweet peppers, genetically modified sweet peppers have no obvious advantages, so they are naturally eliminated by the market."

WU GANG said that in some varieties, the color produced by mutation even replaced the wild color and became the mainstream of cultivated varieties. For example, the original carrots were mostly purple, and now the most common orange carrots were selected by Dutch breeders according to the color of the Dutch flag. Therefore, the color of fruits and vegetables currently on the market has nothing to do with genetic modification.

Wang Zhixing explained that cotton, pepper, corn, rice and so on have different colors, which is a natural genetic difference, not the result of transgenic. For example, colored cotton has existed since ancient times, but it was rarely planted in the past because of its short fiber and poor strength. Now, farmers have begun to plant it because it has attracted some consumers because it is not dyed. Colored peppers also exist naturally, but they have not been planted in large areas in the past and are rarely seen by ordinary consumers.

WU GANG said that these fruits and vegetables are very easy to do by conventional breeding methods, but it is not economical to use transgenic methods. "Conventional breeding mainly obtains new varieties with new characters through breeding. One of the most important tasks here is' selection'. Naturally occurring genetic variations often occur randomly. " WU GANG explained, "No matter the size or color, it can be found in natural mutants in nature. What breeders do is just to find these mutants and aggregate them with other good traits to become varieties. "