Transcript GMO
GMO Genetically Modified Organism • http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/02/business/ener gy-environment/a-gray-area-in-regulation-ofgenetically-modified-crops.html?_r=0 • http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/sciencenews/11028617/GM-fruit-flies-could-be-releasedinto-the-wild.html • http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/18/5523262/insec t-evolves-to-eat-poisonous-corn GMO Genetically Modified Organism Genetic material altered in a way that doesn't occur in nature • Biological and medical research • Pharmaceutical drugs • Experimental medicine • Agriculture o Increased needs of food o Improve quality GM Foods • Create plants with exact traits • Isolate a gene responsible for drought tolerance and insert into different plant • Genes from non-plant organisms have been introduced into plants o Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacteria produces crystal protein toxic to caterpillars o Bt gene inserted into corn to produce the crystal protein Bacillus thuringeinsis • • • • • Bacteria Bt discovered in 1901 by Japanese microbiologist Crystal protein that binds to gut of certain insects Bt spray developed in 1938 in France Bt-modified crops first used in 1996 o Corn, cotton, and potato Advantages • Insect and disease resistance • Reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides o Bt corn controls corn earworm and rootworm without pesticides o Bt cotton controls bollworm Advantages Herbicide resistance • Crops immune to Round-up o Round-up Ready trademark • One application of Round-up to control weeds o Significant increase in Round-up o Traces found in the environment (US Geological Survey) Advantages Environmental tolerance • Cold o An antifreeze gene from cold water fish • Tobacco and potato • Drought • Saline Advantages Nutrition • Increase nutritional value o “Golden” rice with increased beta carotene Golden Rice • 250 million people suffer from vitamin A deficiency • Rice is a staple food in many poor countries o Contains no vitamin A • Agrobacterium used to carry beta-carotene manufacturing enzymes from daffodil and “inoculated” rice cells • Insert the new “beta-carotene” gene into rice Edible Vaccines • Cholera is a bacterial disease that causes deadly diarrhea o Countries without clean water • A vaccine “gene” identified • Vaccine “gene” is inserted into potatoes o Survives cooking o Potatoes easy to grow and ship to poor countries Healthier Food • Increase starch in potatoes o High starch potatoes absorb less oil when fried • Sugar beets to produce fructan instead of sucrose o Fructan still sweet but not digested Disadvantages Environmental Hazards • Unintended harm o Bt corn pollen affecting monarch butterflies • Gene transfer to non-target species o Herbicide-resistance genes transferring to weeds • Superweeds Disadvantages Human Health Risks • Allergenicity o Create new lethal allergies • Unknown, long-term effects Disadvantages Economic Concerns • Patented varieties expensive • Small farmers and Third World agriculture impacted • Accidental patent infringement o Watch the movie, “Food, Inc” GMO Inherently Unsafe • Process is unpredictable • Mutations occur at the gene insertion site • Study proved herbicide resistant gene in soybeans (Bt) transferred to human gut bacteria o Continued functioning • Long after consumption, GM proteins still present in organism (human) Digestive Tract Effects • FlavrSavr tomatoes created stomach lesions in rats • GM potatoes (Bt) caused abnormal cell growth in mice intestines • Several studies led to liver damage from GM foods • GM soy and potatoes affected pancreas and kidney function in mice Safety Aspects • 2008 report by Royal Society of Medicine o No ill human effects linked to GMO • 2009 report by Nutrition Reviews o Do not differ in nutrition o No detectable toxic effects o Changes have occurred at cellular level due to GMO • 2005 review in Allergy journal o No biotech proteins have been documented to cause allergic reactions http://theantimedia.org/victory-maine/ http://www.biofortified.org/genera/ http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/ http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=290 9#.UxXlFONdV8E • http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/glyphosate02.html • • • • • http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5058.html • http://enhs.umn.edu/current/5103/gm/harmful.html • http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/mehmet-ozmd/genetically-modified-foods-good-or-bad • http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/ove rview.php • http://www.academia.edu/542384/A_Review_on_I mpacts_of_Genetically_Modified_Food_on_Human _Health