Use of the cDNA microarray technology in the safety assessment of GM food plants

This report focuses on new analytical approaches that might give more insight into possible changes in a genetically modified plant. Primarily the focus is on the new DNA microarray technique but also proteomics and metabolomics are discussed.The report describes the new techniques and evaluates the potentials and applications of the techniques as a tool in safety assessment of genetically modified plants. The background for this evaluation of new techniques is that some concerns have been raised about the targeted approach used for evaluating the health risk of GM-plants. Today, an important part of the safety evaluation of novel GMO-derived plant products is an elaborate comparative compositional analysis, including analyses of key nutrients and anti-nutrients, of the newly developed plant variety and of the `traditional? counterpart that is already on the market. Although this has been considered as an adequate procedure for evaluating the safety of GM plants, new analytical approaches may be useful in this safety assessment procedure and therefore need be evaluated.