5.3.1. GMM detection

The first Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) to be used for health or industrial purposes were modifies strains Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae producing insulin. Since this period numerous recombinant microorganisms have been implemented. They are used in industrial bioreactors under confinement conditions and such processes do not generally require carrying out a GMO detection technology.

The outcome of such a specific need appeared with the introduction in the mid-nineties of genetically modified (GM) animals and plants in the natural environment.

GM crops mainly have opened an important debate, particularly in Western Europe, for safety assessment of food and for potential modification of the environment. Food warranted free from GMO has been proposed to reassure the consumers. However, not only raw materials can be used for food preparation but also numerous ingredients from plant origin, which can be present in small amounts in the final product. It is for example the case with lecithin extracted from Soya beans. Lecithin is used as an additive in a lot of industrial recipes in chocolates of chocolate flavored preparations. The target to be analyzed is not the purified lecithin itself (which is identical to the lecithin from the non-GM Soya beans) but some modified DNA sequences or the coded by them recombinant protein(s). The latter can be only presented as traces, thus very sensitive methods for their detection are necessary.