Food and feed safety assessment of RNAi plants and products.

Abstract

Abstract This paper evaluates the potential hazards of food and feed derived from RNAi plants including: adverse changes of plant metabolism; mechanisms and potential for non-target gene silencing in humans and livestock, including gut microbiome; bioinformatics tools for predictionof off-target sequences of interfering RNA; the possible non-specific effects of dsRNA and siRNA in mammals; and the comparison of data requirements for safety assessment of food and feed from RNAi plants and from plants expressing recombinant proteins. It also discusses exposure and RNAi-specific risk assessment.