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Tessa Kammer

Professor Bocchino

Writing 2

26 November 2019

Recipe for Disaster: GMO Food

The academic scholarly article of “Food Safety: Importance of Composition for

Assessing Genetically Modified Cassava (Manihot Esculenta Crantz)​,​” written by Van Rijssen et

al​., ​uses descriptive data and scientific jargon to depict the developmental characteristics of

GMO products and their make-up1.​ The writing conventions of the scholarly peer-reviewed

article are extremely dense​, ​have a purely academic tone​,​ and is heavily evidence-based​.

Transforming the academic genre of a chemistry research paper into a non-academic cook-book

recipe requires a change in genre conventions​.​ Cook-book recipes are known for their

eye-catching colors, organizational structure, and a varied general audience​.​ In order to translate

the two genres, from research to recipe, the structure and organization have to change​.​ However,

the language and audience have to remain academic to capture the theme of the scholarly article​.

The argument of food safety with GMO versus non-GMO food broadcasts through the

evidence​. ​These elements are the “uniting forces”2 of the scholarly article, making it different

1
​Van Rijssen et al, "Food Safety: Importance of Composition for Assessing Genetically Modified Cassava
(Manihot Esculenta Crantz)," ​Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry​ 61, no. 35 (2013): 8333-8339,
https://doi.org/10.1021/jf401153x
2
Ann Johns, “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and
Diversity,” ​Reader Journal,​ 51-61
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from other works​.​ The genre conventions of evidence and jargon depict the unique features of

the scholarly, science-based, article​.​ The “cyanogenic glycoside cataboliz[ation] to

α-hydroxynitriles”3 describes the genetically modifying process but it is difficult for a general

audience to understand​.​ The importance of accuracy outweighs the need for surface level

comprehension​. ​Emphasizing the “high levels of cyanogenic glycoside toxicants”4 shows how

elitist chemistry academic writing is within their discourse community​.​ Overall, the main

components of the scholarly peer-reviewed article have to do with the contents themselves​,​ the

chemistry jargon, and the evidence type​.

Translating into a non-academic source requires a change in the genre conventions​.​ The

final translation will mirror a cook-book recipe format​.​ Projecting the universal genre

conventions of recipes includes their unique organization of columns and structure of title,

“ingredients,”5 “preparation,”6 and “directions​.​”7 The distinctive arrangement juxtaposes that of

the peer-reviewed chemistry article, organized by their topic of discussion in paragraph form​.

The jargon in recipes is not food-specific​,​ instead it is commutative because of the general

audience​.​ The audience, unlike that of an academic article, does not have a restrictive discourse

community but an open community​.​ Cook-book recipes have to be universally inclusive so that

anyone can follow the easy step-by-step instructions, unlike the academic explanation of

3
​Rijssen et al., “Food Safety,” ​8334
4
Rijssen et al., “Food Safety,” ​8334
5
Meredith Coe, “Leftover Turkey Croquettes,” ​Taste of Home​, 1 Jan. 2018,
www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/leftover-turkey-croquettes/
6
Chris Salicrup, “Paprika-Spiced Chicken With Lemon Yogurt And Crispy Potatoes Recipe by Tasty,”
Tasty.co​, Tasty, 1 Feb. 2018, tasty.co/recipe/paprika-spiced-chicken-with-lemon-yogurt-and-crispy-potatoes
7
Sunny Jin,“You Won't Be Able to Get Enough of the Bourbon-Molasses Glaze on These Pork Chops,”
Country Living,​ Country Living, 31 Oct. 2019,
www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/a29626870/pork-chops-with-bourbon-molasses-glaze-recipe/
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genetically modified food​.​ In addition to the context and layout of the genre, appearance

provides a vital role in distinguishing the recipe genre​.​ Bright colors used in pictures and bolded

text provide striking visuals, enhancing the appearance of the genre​.​ Structure, organization, and

presentation all build on each other to form the recognizable cook-book recipe genre​.

The shift from a peer-reviewed scholarly article to a cook-book recipe changes a majority

of genre conventions, including those components of organization and structure​.​ ​The original

set-up goes from paragraph format into column arrangement, with pictures taking up most of the

upper or right side of the page8.​ Essential features labeled as; title, ingredients, and directions,

replace the paragraph summaries​.​ Adding color throughout the piece, in the picture and section

headings, creates a visual component necessary for recipes​.​ ​However, the academic discourse

community language has to remain in the transition to adequately describe the process of GMO

products; without the scientific jargon, the academic article would get lost within the recipe

style​.​ Not all academic conventions can change; the recipe will lose the crucial factors in

explaining genetically modified food​.​ The importance of accurately describing the procedure of

genetically modified foods comes with the specific word-choice and description​. ​The rules of

jargon can be bent to successfully capture the thematic idea of GMO products and their ‘recipe

for disaster​.​’ Overall appearance changes once the general format shifts with the organization

and structural composition; however, the context of the piece stayed relatively similar because of

8
​Tyler Kord, “Help! I Want to Introduce a New Recipe to Thanksgiving Without Disrupting Precious
Family Traditions,” Bon Appétit (Bon Appétit, November 20, 2019),
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/how-to-introduce-new-recipes-on-thanksgiving
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the importance of describing the GMO process, as stated by Rijssen with jargon and professional

tone​.

The concerns of formatting the recipe genre resolved once using the resources of online

cook-book recipe examples, mimicking the technique of column spacing, main-header inclusion,

and emphasis on color​. ​The critical factors of presence and appearance are what make-up the

recipe genre​.​ On the other hand, the scientific jargon and quantitative evidence are what reflect

the academic science article, relying on content and context instead of display​.​ Highlighting the

“sense of audience and purpose”9 formulate a cohesive piece of work; mixing the two

components of appearance and content creates the perfect balance in translating the two genres,

between the academic and non-academic formats​.

9
Sandra Giles, “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?,” ​Reader
Journal​, 31-44
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Bibliography

Coe, Meredith. “Leftover Turkey Croquettes.” ​Taste of Home​, 1 Jan. 2018.

www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/leftover-turkey-croquettes/​ .

Giles, Sandra. “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?”

Reader

Journal​. 31-44.

Jin, Sunny. “You Won't Be Able to Get Enough of the Bourbon-Molasses Glaze on These Pork

Chops.” ​Country Living​, Country Living. 31 Oct. 2019.

www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/a29626870/pork-chops-with-bourbon-molasses-glaz

e-recipe/​ .

Johns, Ann. “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and

Diversity.” ​Reader Journal​. 51-61.

Kord, Tyler. “Help! I Want to Introduce a New Recipe to Thanksgiving Without Disrupting

Precious Family Traditions.” Bon Appétit (Bon Appétit, November 20, 2019).

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/how-to-introduce-new-recipes-on-thanksgiving​ .

Salicrup, Chris. “Paprika-Spiced Chicken With Lemon Yogurt And Crispy Potatoes Recipe by

Tasty.” ​Tasty.co,​ Tasty. 1 Feb. 2018,

tasty.co/recipe/paprika-spiced-chicken-with-lemon-yogurt-and-crispy-potatoes .

Van Rijssen, Fredrika W Jansen, E Jane Morris, and Jacobus N Eloff. "Food Safety: Importance

of Composition for Assessing Genetically Modified Cassava (Manihot Esculenta

Crantz)." ​Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry​ 61, no. 35 (2013): 8333-8339.
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RECIPE

Recipe for Disaster: GMO 

Foods 
Ingredients 
● whole leaves 4073 mg/kg dry weight 
● Cyanogenic Glycosides (2R, C, O, and CN) 
● Cyanohydrins (2R, C, OH, and CN) 
● Ketone (2R, C, = O + HCN) 

Preparation 
1. Bind: ​ Schematic pathways of biosynthesis and 
catabolism of cassava cyanogenic glycosides. 
2. Catalyze 1: ​Cyanogenic glycosides are catabolized to 
α-hydroxynitriles (cyanohydrins) and sugars by 
β-glycosidases followed by dissociation at a pH above 6 
into HCN and a ketone or aldehyde 
3. Catalyze 2:​ ​catalyzed by α-hydroxynitrilelyase, resulting in the release of HCN 
4. Metabolize: ​CG toxicants are enzymatically metabolized to produce HCN 
5. Processing of Cassava: ​ Processing of the cassava crop into various forms of products may or 
may not sufficiently reduce the levels of toxicants.  
6. Wait to cool, then serve! 
 
Ready in: ​1 Harvest Season 
Serves: ​Billions of people 
Calories​: Average  

Tips 
Cassava, the main form of genetically modified food, is processed into a wide variety of different 
food and feed products around the world!