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Could
antibiotic resistance genes get into people? This possibility has been
extensively tested using much, much higher concentrations of DNA containing
an antibiotic resistance gene than would be ingested in food. The results
of a number of studies were negative. That is, an antibiotic gene never
been detected incorporated into a test organism’s DNA. Even transfer to gut
bacteria has not been detected, largely because bacteria rarely take up
DNA. And when they do, if it isn’t their own, they mark it and destroy it.
Antibiotic-resistance genes were often used in the early days of molecular
modification. More recent methods do not require introduction of an
antibiotic resistance gene.
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