Transgenic Lox - Not Kosher!

The ABCs of Biotech for Christians - Twelfth in a series - K is for Kosher

Many Jews today follow dietary laws that God commanded some 3600 or more years ago. In Leviticus 11 and again in Deuteronomy 14 the Lord explains that animals that chew their cud and have split hooves are good to eat, and lists the creatures that should be avoided. A kid should not be boiled in its mother’s milk, and this rule was later extended to forbid that meat could be consumed or even combined with dairy products. Animal slaughter and preparation were prescribed in set ways. Certain birds were not permitted. Only fish with fins and scales were allowable. Some insects were OK, like locusts.

These rules have at times been viewed metaphorically by rabbis, theologians and others, for example, the godly man does not have concourse with the entire creation but only with its clean aspects. As Gentiles were brought into God’s kingdom through Christ, the rules were set aside except that Christians should not eat animals that were strangled or that had their blood. (Acts 5:20)

In general it is accepted that God limited his people’s diet to healthful foods that were least likely to promote disease due to bacteria from the forbidden creatures and insects due to their loathsome habits. As well, it is easier to corral or capture herbivores than animals with incisor and canine teeth that can shred you.

A pig is an omnivore that eats both plants and animals, as humans do, and is not particular about his diet — even eats dead animals, insect, his own feces, though by today's farm standards pork is generally regarded as safe if properly cooked.

For the kosher rule, the difficulty today is that porcine (pig) material may be found in unexpected settings. This article describes a method for detecting porcine ingredients that proved they were in a chicken nugget. Or, what about your meatballs? But those examples only show that meats do get mixed up in production and cooking or frying, not that the cow had any pig genes. We’re not talking GM; biotech simply invented the test to verify there was porcine material in the food.

This article describes the detection of both porcine and bovine DNA in pharmaceutical gelatin capsules which are used to encase medicines. Taking ones medicine may not be kosher.

It can be very difficult to be kosher in ones intake, so there are councils whose work is to maintain the standards, and some police the biotech world. “Kosher and/or halal (Muslim) certification is a good example with which to study how sacred notions and beliefs influence the secular, commercial world of biotechnology.”

The religious Jew has studied whether genetically modified foods may be considered as kosher. We Christians have wondered that as well. Is it OK with God to change the genetic structure of a creature that He made? Is it OK to eat GM foods? Will we suffer unintended consequences? Most Americans eat GM foods, including Jews for whom they must be approved by the Orthodox Union.

Are there transgenic critters among those that chew the cud and have split hooves— that is— do the kosher ones have genes from other animals? I read about some but in the articles it was noted that these GM creatures will not enter the food supply— unless by accident. They were modified to make the cow healthier or to produce materials for human health, such as antibodies to fight the ebola virus. And in any case the added gene was not from a non-kosher source.

But are there any formerly kosher creatures in the food supply that have been modified by genes from non-kosher ones? Aha! Yes.

Some salmon, also known as lox when brined, often served with bagels in Jewish circles, are transgenic. The AquAdvantage salmon “produce extra growth hormone, allowing them to grow to market size in 18 months, rather than the usual 3 years.”

From where do the genes derive to promote the fast growth of the AquAdvantage salmon? From the Ocean pout, which is not a kosher fish. This is not your Father’s salmon.

Jackfruit, lend me your genes

The ABCs of Biotech for Christians - Eleventh in a series - J is for Jackfruit

Biotech has disappointed some people by engineering changes in crops, animals and vegetation, but it has impressed us with insights about food that guide us to eat intelligently. We are what we eat!

The jackfruit grows in the tropical zone and is commonly found in the land and markets of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, parts of Africa, Brazil, the Philippines, and other areas of year-round humid, warm climate. According to the California Rare Fruit website some Jackfruit trees are in southern Florida but they are for sightseeing rather a food source. Some fruit may be found in ethnic markets in the US.

You can learn a lot about jackfruit and recipes for it on YouTube videos or websites. From a wrinkle treatment to promoting hair growth to fortifying your immune system to healing ulcers, it is an incredible food.

And it has the distinction of being the largest tree-borne fruit in the world. One can weigh as much as 100 pounds and grow to 36 inches in length and 20 inches in diameter! You could order one on Amazon for about $90, expensive no doubt because of its weight and shipping. So, most who eat it live in parts of the world that have many poor people, and it is God’s gift to them with 10 or 12 pods providing one-half day of food.

jackfruit

Jackfruit is among the foods that offer prebiotic help for “gut” health. An article on ScienceDirect.com describes a biotech goal of taking the prebiotic elements from certain foods to introduce them into others through genetic modification to give them the prebiotic “edge”:

Prebiotics are non-digestible complex carbohydrates that are fermented in the colon, yielding energy and short chain fatty acids, and selectively promote the growth of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillae in the gastro-intestinal tract. Fructans and inulin are the best-characterized plant prebiotics…
Transgenic maize, potato and sugarcane with high fructan, with no adverse effects on plant development, have been bred, which suggests that it is feasible to introduce fructan biosynthesis pathways in crops to produce health-imparting prebiotics.
Developing prebiotic-rich and super nutritious crops will alleviate the widespread malnutrition and promote human health…

This excerpt explains to us that biotechnology is working on genetically engineering certain crops with the genes of prebiotic plants so that they too can provide prebiotic benefits. The jackfruit is one potential source of prebiotic carbohydrates.

Maize, potato and sugarcane are foods or sugar eaten in quantity by obese and overweight people, who have been discovered to have a different gut microbiotic profile than lean people. So, by modifying those crops to have a prebiotic profile, one with complex carbs that are not digested but rather promote good bacteria in the gut, overeaters will enjoy better health.

But maybe some foods are not meant to be prebiotic. ?

Angel fish
Public Domain, Link

...and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind ... the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind ...the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. -Genesis 1

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Flesh and Bone and The Protestant Conscience is an e-book on Amazon.com. It is 99¢ and in the Amazon lending library as well. It is also available here in PDF format. The book description follows.

Would you let your conscience be your guide?

Does God care if the skin and bone of the dead are passed along to the living for medical uses? Is organ donation OK with God? Should you sign a Living Will?

Did you know that dead organ donors are often anesthetized before their organs are removed? Do you know the current definition of death? The conscience cannot function without facts.

As we ponder the ethics of in vitro fertilization, stem cell research and man-made chimeras, our thoughts trail off. How then should we live? (Ez 33:10)

How should a Christian think about euthanasia by starvation when doctors and the state attorney general all agree it is time to withhold feeding from a brain injured patient? Some things are family matters, but someday it may be our family.

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