GM soya bean can boost blood's omega3 levels, cut heart attack risk

United States, November 3: All set to make a grand entry in the ‘foods-for-the-healthy-heart’ category, the first genetically modified (GM) soya bean has successfully passed in first phase of trials, the research at the University of South Dakota confirmed.

Mimicking the effects of oily fish such as salmon, trout and fresh tuna, the GM soya bean oil can raise blood concentrations of long-chain omega3 acids. Packed with preventive qualities, omega3 fatty acids protect the body against cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. It also boosts the growth of brain cells in the young.

Leading the novel project, Monsanto, an American biotechnology company, has harvested 600 tonnes of the GM soya beans from trial plots in the U.S.

Passed on initial scales, some of the harvested artifact has been passed on to food companies to develop products. If successful, the yield will make its way into foods like spreads, yogurts, cereal bars and salad dressings.

The first phase trials enrolled 33 volunteers. A daily intake of GM soya boosted the omage3 concentration in blood by a significant 5 percent, translated to a 50 percent drop in risk of suffering a heart attack.

"We saw these effects in our subjects after just a few weeks. I can imagine that, if you got this into the food supply and people were eating it year after year, you do have an opportunity to raise omega3 levels in the blood," study’s lead researcher, William Harris, Professor of Medicine at the University of South Dakota averred.

The company expects the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the consumption of the same by 2011, following which the product will hit U.S. markets in 2012.

Likewise, if approved by the European Food Safety Authority and the FSA’s novel foods committee, the GM soya bean will make its way into European markets too.

The results of the first phase of trials of the GM soya feature in the current issue of the journal ‘Lipids’.