Generically Modified Organisms and Allergies - 706 Words

â€Å"The immune system didn’t evolve for allergy. Why in a hundred billion years of evolution would we evolve a response for allergy?†(Joel Weinstock). Throughout the years, food allergies have been on a dramatic increase in the United States. Allergic reactions are caused by antibodies in the immune system which are also known as immunoglobulins. There are five types of immunoglobulins that are produced to fight antigens, such as, bacteria, toxins, viruses, animal dander, fungus, and cancer cells . Each immunoglobulin fights a different antigen and is found in different parts of the human body. Immunoglobulins help the immune system when an allergen has entered the human body, each of these antibody releases a chemical called histamine, which is produced by the immune system to protect the human body. Histamine is one of the main reasons why allergy symptoms are triggered. Food allergens can cause severe or mild reactions due to an unusual mistake the immune system ca n make. The immune system usually mistakens a particular substance to be physically harming the human body and in the act to try and protect itself, it releases histamine. There are many reasons why food allergies occur, such as processed foods, genetically engineered proteins in foods, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms can all cause serious food allergies. It all began in 1996 when Genetically Modified Organisms were introduced to our foods. Genetically Modified Organisms are organisms that have beenShow MoreRelatedThe Perils of Genetically Modified Food Essay examples1234 Words   |  5 Pagesorder to produce something that will be better or healthier than its original design. One example of such â€Å"messing† with nature is genetically modified foods. Genetically modified foods also referred to as GMOs is a term used to describe crop plants designed for human or animal consumption using molecular biology techniques. These crops have been modified in a laboratory by molecular biologists in order to improve some desired characteristics such as enriched nutritional content or better resistance