Synthetic biology is the new GMO - engineered food ingredients arriving this year

Thursday, September 08, 2016 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: synthetic biology, GMOs, engineered ingredients

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(NaturalNews) With genetically modified organisms (GMOs) quickly approaching a point of saturation in the conventional food supply, the genetic butchers responsible for unleashing things like Roundup Ready soybeans are getting ready to unveil the next phase of their predatory agricultural conquest -- synthetic biology.

A Switzerland-based biotechnology company known as Evolva is set to introduce an artificial vanilla product later this year made from the nefarious technology, the first of many so-called "SynBio" products expected to hit the market in the coming months and years. The technology involves using computers to generate fake DNA, which is then injected into GM yeast for the purpose of creating synthetic additives.

In partnership with International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF), Evolva plans to eventually introduce a full line of SynBio products made from completely synthetic organisms. Unlike existing GMOs, which contain genes from other species but still resemble actual organisms found in nature, SynBio products are completely engineered from the ground up.

"Unlike the older science of splicing genes from different species together, synthetic biology is seeking to create whole new organisms that do not exist on earth," wrote Daniel Taylor for Old-Thinker News about the technology.

Computer-generated biology threatens to destroy all life

The masterminds behind SynBio technology claim that it is completely natural, and they plan to label it as such on food packaging. In fact, the companies behind the technology are going to great lengths to distance themselves from the GMO designation, and regulatory bodies seem to be co-opting this deception against consumers.

In truth, there is nothing at all natural about SynBio, and nobody even knows how the technology will affect actual living ecosystems, let alone the human population. Like GMOs, not a single long-term safety study has ever been conducted on the complex technology, nor has the federal government established any risk assessment guidelines.

"Synthetic biology could have serious impacts on the health of people and ecosystems, on our planet's biodiversity and for communities on the front lines of corporations' plans to deploy new technologies and novel organisms for profit," explains Friends of the Earth (FOE), a public health and environmental advocacy group.

Even more worrying is the self-replicating aspect of synthetic biology. With the ability to manufacture entirely new species using computers, genetic scientists will now have the power to unleash synthetic creations into the world that have the ability to reproduce without human intervention.

Once released into the wild, there is no way to ever remove SynBio products from existence. This has the potential, of course, to trigger an entirely new class of invasive species or environmental pollutant that can never be undone, a chilling prospect that puts into perspective the massive threat that this technology poses to life on planet Earth.

"Synthetic biology is an extreme form of genetic engineering, in which scientists write entirely new genetic code on a computer, 'print' it out and then insert it into organisms to serve specific functions," adds FOE in a fact sheet about SynBio vanillin, the first ever SynBio creation which is expected to be released later this year.

Synthetic biology cannot be allowed

Genetic drift is already a problem with existing GMOs, the traits of which are commonly spread through pollen. Once released, in other words, GMOs have the capacity to persist and spread indefinitely, something that is also true of SynBio.

Taken to its ultimate end, SynBio threatens to completely unravel life as we know it, potentially reprogramming entire species permanently without restraint. The implications of this have not been carefully assessed by regulatory authorities, and yet the technology is on the fast-track for approval.

To learn more about SynBio and to fight its release, be sure to check out NoSynBio.org.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.oldthinkernews.com

http://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com

http://www.foe.org

http://www.nosynbio.org

http://science.naturalnews.com