Investigation of genetically modified additives in meat and meat products in Mosul city

Consumer demands for meat and meat products have increased over the last years; Therefore, meat yields were improved using biotechnology. Gene modification techniques have been applied for these purposes using transgenic plants. The goal of this study is to investigate the presence of genetically modified additives in meat and meat products sold in local markets in Mosul city; DNA extraction of meat samples was screened for the presence of common regulatory genes represented by Cauliflower mosaic virus (P-35S) promoter and the Agrobacterium nopaline synthase (T-nos) terminator as well as the specific target Roundup Ready soybean gene (RR) using polymerase chain reaction assay to amplify sequences of these elements. The results displayed the existence of Roundup-ready soybean gene in processed meat products sold in Mosul city market 73%, especially in beef and poultry luncheon compared to sausage and mortadella, with high prevalence in imported poultry meat 41.67% in comparison to other types of meat. The results also revealed that 58.33% of poultry luncheon and 50% of beef mortadella were positive for the presence of the 35S promoter gene, while only 3 (%4.69%) of processed meat samples showed positive results for the presence of the nos terminator gene. Phylogenetic analysis revealed genetic diversity compared to the global genes of transgenic plants recorded in the Genebank. According to the results, the application of a monitoring system to detect genetically modified additives in meat products is recommended to protect consumer health.