Photo Credit: Keith Ramsey

A new research study published in PLOS ONE found that complete genes may be able to pass from food into the human blood stream. It was previously thought that the circulatory system was insulated from the digestive tract, and that long chains of DNA ingested in food were unable to enter the blood stream. This is the first publication clearly demonstrating the presence of meal-derived DNA fragments long enough to carry complete genes in the blood stream. These findings are particularly concerning in the face of the increasing frequency of genetically modified (GM) crop technology. GM genes are used in plant propagation, with the assumption that the foreign DNA will be isolated in our digestive tract. Unfortunately, this study shows that we may be more exposed to GM genes than previously thought.