Genetic Modified Organism (GMO) and Food

Security

PROF. DR. ZAMRI BIN ZAINAL

Pusat Pengajian Biosains dan Bioteknologi

Fakulti Sains dan Teknologi
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Major Challenges For 21st Century Agriculture

• Increase Crop Yield To Provide More Food

• Reduce Inputs Required For Growing Crops (e.g., water, fertilizer) -
- A Sustainable Agriculture
• Reduce Environmental Impacts of Intensive Agriculture (e.g.,
pesticides)
• Optimize Crops For Human Health and Nutrition
• Use Crops as Factories For Specialized Industrial and
Pharmaceutical Applications (e.g., vaccines)
• Facilitate the Conversion From a Petroleum-Based Energy System
to a Dedicated Plant-Based Renewable Energy System (e.g.,
cellulose to ethanol)
• Help Reduce CO Emissions and Mitigate Effects of Climate
2 from coal to biomass)
Change (e.g., switch

Plant Genome Projects and Identifying Novel New Traits

Can Help Meet This Challenge!!!!!
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 Require a New Green
Revolution...... The
Genomics Era Will Be the
Dramatic improvements in yield has been obtained
Driver
during the last half of 20th century as a result of
conventional plant breeding, chemical fertilisers and
pesticides
But … World Food
Production is leveling
off

Yield/Ha Global production

45000 700000000
700
45000
40000
40000 600000000
600
35000
35000
30000
Rice 500000000
500 Rice
30000
400000000
400
25000
25000 Series1
Series1
20000
20000 300000000
300 Series2
Series2
15000
15000
10000 Wheat 200000000
200 Wheat
10000
5000 100000000
100
5000
0 0
0
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43
1960
1 4 71970
10 13 1980 1990 2000
16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43
1960
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43
1970 1980 1990 2000
How can we ensure the future food
supply?
Such a rapid growing population has tremendously increased the
challenge for food security.

Obviously, it is impossible for traditional agriculture to ensure the

food security, while plant biotechnology offers considerable
potential to realize this goal.

Over the last 20 years, great benefits have been brought to

sustainable agriculture by commercial cultivation of genetically
modified (GM) crops.

Further development of new GM crops will with no doubt

contribute to meeting the requirements for food by the increasing
population.
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General definition:

A GMO or transgenic crop is a plant that has a novel

combination of genetic material obtained through the
use of modern biotechnology
 What is GMO crop

GMO crop can contain a gene(s) that has been artificially

inserted instead of the plant acquiring it through pollination.

The resulting plant is said to be "genetically modified"

although in reality all crops have been "genetically modified"
from their original wild state by domestication, selection, and
controlled breeding over long periods of time.
How are GM crops made?

GM crops are made through a process known as

genetic engineering.

Two primary methods currently exist for

introducing transgenes into plant genomes.
 THE TECHNOLOGIES: TRANSGENESIS
DNA DELIVERY

CHARACTERISE
PLANT TRANSGENIC
REGENERATION AND PLANTS confirmation of
CHARACTERISATION gene function

extend range of
variation: new
genes/extra copies
particle
down-regulation
bombardment
or up-regulation

single or multiple
Allows the introduction of traits (i.e. gene
genes) from any species. Not limited traits
by the requirement for cross-
fertilization as in plant breeding.
Agrobacterium-based You just need to find the genes for
the traits you are interested in.
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 Insect Resistance

Currently about 25% of the world's food crops

are lost every year through insect attack.

enough food to feed over one billion people

Insect Resistance
This maize has been genetically modified to produce a protein
from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) which kills the corn
borer insect; it is thus known as 'Bt maize'.

The insect is killed when it eats the crop, so only insects that
feed on the maize are affected.
 Insect Resistance
It can take up to six sprays to kill corn borers conventionally.

GM maize protects itself against the corn borer and only one
application of insecticide is usually needed to control other
pests.
In the developed world, there is clear evidence that the use of
GM crops has resulted in significant benefits. First generation
of GM crop include:

Higher crop yields

Reduced farm costs
Increased farm profit
Improvement in health and the environment
 “second-generation”

GM crops that will have more direct benefits to consumers

 Capable of enhancing
nutritional values of crops
 Promises opportunities to
develop novel therapeutics
and vaccines
 New biopolymers
 Fuel (Bioethanol)
 Vitamin A deficiency

Results in impaired vision, blindness, susceptibility to

infections, death

100-200 million children severely affected, 25% of

children under 5yr in high risk regions

250-500,000 children go blind per year, of whom

approx two thirds die

Most severe in SE Asia and Africa

 There are two vitamin A sources

Direct from Animal Foods as Vitamin A (retinol)

Meat, liver, eggs, dairy
Pro-vitamin A from plants converted in body to Vit A
In all greens; some fruit & vegetables Carotenoids
 Group of pigments found in all plants
some are essential for photosynthesis
some are pro-vitamin A compounds
β-carotene is the most important pro-vitamin A
Golden Rice: the basic concept
Two transgenes added to boost the endogenous
carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in rice grain

promoter Daffodil Psy promoter CrtI

GGDP
Psy
Phytoene

zeta-carotene CrtI

lycopene

a-carotene β-Carotene

Lutein Zeaxanthin
 GOLDEN RICE – NUTRITIONAL
ENHANCEMENT BY TRANSFORMATION
• -carotene is concentrated in the rice
aleurone and removed by polishing

• Transformation has been used to transfer

genes for -carotene synthesis resulting in
accumulation of up to 2 µg/g -carotene in
the starchy endosperm
Golden Rice 2 : up to 37mg/g total carotenoid
: over 20-fold improvement

GR2
GR1

Control
Molecular Farming (Pharming):
Another application of GM crops

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TRANSGENIC RESEARCH AT UKM
 Genetic Manipulation of Fruit ripening
Ripening of fleshy fruits involves major changes in physiology and
biochemistry

Colour
Texture
Taste, Flavour & Aroma
Nutritional value
The Fruit Ripening Process

Ethylene is a natural plant hormone associated with the

growth, development, ripening and aging of many plants.

This phytohormone is said to promote ripening in a variety

of fruits including bananas, pineapples, tomatoes,
mangoes, melons, and papayas.
 Controlling the Ripening Process

Regulation of Ethylene Production

The amount of ethylene produced can be controlled

primarily by “switching off” or decreasing the production of
ethylene in the fruit and there are several ways to do this.
Suppression of ACC oxidase gene expression. ACC
oxidase is the enzyme which catalyzes the oxidation
of ACC to ethylene, the last step in the ethylene
biosynthetic pathway.

Through anti-sense technology, down regulation of

the ACC oxidase gene results in the suppression of
ethylene production, thereby delaying fruit ripening.
Ethylene Production In Transgenic RNAiACO Tomato
Fruits
Transgenic Tomato
30D 20D 0D
RNAi
20
Wild
Type
15

nl C2H4 / gfw / hr
10

0
0 4 8 12 Days
16 20 24 28 32
 Genetic Transformation of Rice cv. (MR219) harboring
abiotic resistant genes

Plant Defense in Response

to Abiotic Stress
 Rice Transformation and Regeneration

Selection of
Callus putative
induction on transformant Regeneration of
Cocultivation of s on Pre-regeneration putative
induction
embryogenic selection transformants
medium
callus with medium
agrobacterium
Transformation of abp57 gene

(a) (b) ( c)

Figure 1. Transformants at (a) rooting stage (b) acclimatisation and (c) transgenic glass house.
Drought stress on transgenic rice

indica cv. MR219 Abp57-2 indica cv. MR219 Abp57-44

Figure 3. Enhanced drought tolerance transgenic rice overexpressing Abp57 at seedlings stage.
Three fully expanded leaves seedlings grown on soil were subjected to drought-stress condition
by removing water supply and plants survivability were observed after a period of soil drying.
Most of the leaves of transgenic rice (Abp57-2) remain green after seven to ten days while
wildtype leaves show browning.
Secondary Metabolite Engineering
Some popular misconceptions about GMO

 GM foodstuffs may harm human health

 GM crops may damage the environment
 The inadequacy of current regulations and legislation -
better labelling
 GM technologies: The principle objections
 The unnatural status of GM technologies
 GM crops represent the next step in the industrialisation of
agriculture
 Ethical concerns
GM crops may damage the environment

Herbicide Resistance

Resistance has been experienced in modern agriculture for some time. Farmers
deal with this by changing the agro-chemicals they use and growing crops in
rotation, which reduces the likelihood of insect pests, diseases and weeds building
resistance.

Theoretically the same option should be available with GM crops.

 GM foodstuffs may harm human health

Crops improved through biotechnology have undergone more safety and environmental
testing than any crop varieties in history, and have been produced and consumed by
humans and animals in millions of tons around the world for years.

They have been proven as safe as the scientific method permits, by every valid method
known to science and medicine.

There is, to date, not a single solitary confirmed case of human or animal illness or
disease associated with a biotech crop
GM crops may damage the environment

Resistance to Bt toxin

Increased use of insect resistant crops will lead to some insects becoming more
resistant to Bt toxin.

One way of preventing insect resistance is to maintain non-GM refuges near the GM
crop.

Worked well in the US for Bt maize and Bt cotton.

The unnatural status of GM technology

 Non-organic, therefore unnatural!

 GM represents a new development to conventional
breeding practices, crossing the species boundary
 GM crops represent the next step in the industrialisation of
agriculture

 A few multi-nationals are likely to control the entire food chain

 Benefits for developed (rather than developing) countries
 Costs associated with GM technologies make them prohibitively
expensive to developing countries
To enable science to improve the lives of the
poorest in the world, policy-makers in developing
countries should resist being swayed by the
politicized debate in Europe, a continent where
food insecurity and malnutrition are not widely
present.