SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

D life more and more

UNIT IV: TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT:ISSUES AND
IMPLICATION
MODULE 9

LESSON LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
A. comprehend the ideas and principles surrounding science, technology and society;
B. Demonstrate the steps of scientific method in practical activities and researches;
C. Be involved in upholding our society from the advancements of science and technology.

GMOS IN THE PHILIPPINE CONTEXT

Introduction of GMOs in our country created issues and controversies similar to other countries
with GMOs. there are, of course, proponents and opponents of these issues.

1990
- The GMO concern started with the creation of the National committee on biosafety of the
Philippines (NCBP) through Executive Order no. 430 of 1990
1998
- The NCBP develop the guideline on the planned release of genetically manipulated organisms
(GMOs) and potentially harmful exotic species
2002
- The Department of Agriculture released Administrative Order No.8, the guideline for the
importation and release into the environment of GM plants and plant products
- The entry of GMO importation started
- The Philippines was marked to be the first country in Asia to approved commercial cultivation of
GMOs when GM corn planting was approved
- From December 2002 to present, there are 70 GMO applications approved by the DA for the
release to the environment, 62 GMOs of which are approved for food feed and processing and the
remaining 8 were approved for propagation
2001
- The Philippines was classified by International service for acquisition of agri-biotech applications
as one of the fourteen biotech-mega countries which grow 50,000 hectares or more of GMO crops
annually
- Juan Flavier authored a bill on the mandatory labeling of food and food products with GMOs but
the senate did not pass the bill
2006
- The Philippines became part of Cartagena protocol on biosafety
- EO No. 514 was issued to address the biosafety requirements of the Cartagena Protocol and the
establishment of the National Biosafety Framework (NBF)
2010
- The Organic Agriculture Act was issued, encouraging organic agriculture than GMO-related
agriculture
- Prior to this act, Negros Occidental and Oriental which agreed to support organic agriculture and
there was establishment of the Negros Organic Island through a memorandum of Agreement
between the two provinces through provincial ordinance
- Similar to this case, Davao city ordinance helps he prevention of field testing of GM Bt eggplant
in the UP Mindanao Campus
2012
- Representative, Teddy Casino, together with other congressmen, filed a bill pushing for the
mandatory labeling of GM food and food products
- To date, there no Philippine biosafety law, only biosafety regulations formed under NBF

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

- A study on the biosafety regulations of the Philippines concluded that the existing regulation is
weak, which can be fixed through legislation such as a Republic Act

December 2015
- The Supreme Court ordered to put an end to the field testing of GMO Bt eggplant and declared
Administrative Order No. 8, series of 2002 of the Department of Agriculture as null and void

March 7, 2016
1. Five government agencies:
1. Department of Agriculture ( DA )
2. Department of Environment and Natural resources (DENR)
3. Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
4. Department of Health (DOH)
5. Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
Passed a joint Circular No. 1 series of 2016 on rules and regulations for the research and
development, handling and use, transboundary movement, release in the environment, and management
of genetically modified plants and plant products derived from the use of modern technology. This joint
department circular paves way to issuance of new permits for planting and importing GM crops in the
country

GENE THERAPY

- Is a technique that uses genetic material for the long term treatment of genetic disorders
- This may involve delivering a copy of a healthy or therapeutic gene, repairing a faulty gene,
and /or altering the degree to which a gene is turned “on” and “off”
- The insertion into an individual’s cells and tissues to treat a disease, and hereditary diseases
in which a detective mutant allele is replaced with a functional one
IMPORTANCE
1. Gene therapy is a novel treatment which utilizes genes or short oligonucleotide sequences as
therapeutic molecules, instead of conventional drug compounds.
2. Gene therapy could eventually target the correction of genetic defects, eliminate cancerous cells,
prevent cardiovascular diseases, block neurological diseases, even eliminate infectious pathogens.
TYPES OF GENE THERAPY
1. Somatic Gene Therapy
- The somatic cells of a patient are targeted for foreign transfer. In this case, the effects caused
by the foreign gene is restricted to the individual patient only

2. Germ Line Gene therapy

- The functional genes, which are to be investigated into the genomes, are inserted in the germ
cells. Targeting of germ cells makes the therapy heritable.
GENE THERAPY STRATEGIES
1. Gene Augmentation Therapy
- Addition of functional alleles to treat inherited disorder caused by genetic deficiency of a
gene product
2. Targeted killing of Specific Cells
- Involves utilizing genes encoding toxic compounds, or prodrugs to kill the
transferred/transformed cells. This is popular in cancer gene therapies

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

3. Targeted Inhibition of Gene Expression

- This is to block the expression of any diseased gene or a new gene expressing a protein which
is harmful for a cell. This is a particularly suitable for treating infectious disease and some
cancers
4. Targeted Gene Mutation Correction
- Use to correct a defective gene to restore its function which can be done at genetic level by
homologous recombination or at mRNA by using therapeutic ribozymes or therapeutic RNA
editing
APPROACHES OF GENE THERAPY
1. Replacing a mutated gene that causes disease with a healthy copy of the gene.
2. Inactivating or “knocking out” a mutated gene that is functioning improperly.
3. Introducing a new gene into the body to help fight a disease.

ETHICAL ISSUES SURROUNDING GENE THERAPY

1. Because gene therapy involves making changes to the body’s set of basic instructions, it raises
many unique ethical concerns. The ethical questions surrounding gene therapy include:
a. How can “good” and “bad” uses of gene therapy be distinguished?
b. Who decides which traits are normal and which constitute a disability or disorder?
c. Will the high costs of gene therapy make it available to the wealthy?
d. Could the widespread use of gene therapy make society less accepting of people who are
different?
e. Should people be allowed to use gene therapy to enhance basic human traits such as height,
intelligence, or athletic ability?
2. Given the technology involved, it is obvious that this treatment will be expensive. It will be just
the rich who would be able to afford its benefits. This gives rise to increasing disparity between
the rich and the poor. The rich will become richer and the poor become poorer.
3. Genes are regions of DNA that code for proteins and failure to produce normal levels of
functional protein due to a defective gene can result in disorders.
B.CLONING
2. It is the process of creating an exact copy of a biological unit ( e.g. a DNA sequence, cell, or
organism from which it was derived, especially by way of biotechnological methods.
3. Could either be natural or artificial. The copied material, which has the same genetic makeup as
the original, is referred to as a clone.

IMPORTANCE OF CLONING

1. Advances in Medicine
a. important in making stem cells – maintain and repair the body throughout an individual’s
life, as these processes are naturally occurring they can be manipulated to repair damaged
or diseased organs and tissues

b. cloning stem from an individual with a disease lets scientists and researchers understand
the disease and develop a treatment for it

c. by using cloning, a person is able to find out if he or she has inherited a gene on a
chromosome from an affected parent by a procedure called genetic engineering

2. Producing livestock faster

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

a. instead of cloning livestock for consumption, livestock is cloned to make breeding stock.
This is a more time effective way to breed livestock. However, only cells from a high
quality carcass can be cloned to give to an animal that is able to pass its superior genes to
its offspring.

3. Improving crops
a. cloning can make plants resistant to herbicides, pest damage, infections and diseases
improving the quality of the crops we eat.

b. cloned plants such as wheat, rice, maize, soybean, potato and others have already been
produced and ready to be introduced into agriculture

4. Use by police
a. police also used cloning in investigations for identification, called genetic fingerprinting.
This process is done by extracting DNA from body fluid such as blood or saliva and
cutting the DNA with restriction enzymes.

THE LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES OR IMPLICATIONS

1. Religious belief and control

- cloning goes against the basic belief of certain religions that only God has created life and its
various forms in nature. Humans cannot act as “God”

2. Relationship and individuality

- it creates a new human, yet strips him off his individuality. A man, along with his clone can
never be dignified as a single identity. The uniqueness attributed to humans for God might be
at stake. The replication of an individual is a major blow to his most distinct feature-his
identity.

3. Failure Rate
- physicians and doctors have a moral obligation to ensure and translate the safety of any
medical procedure to his/her patients. As of now, no one can guarantee that the child born
due to cloning would be a healthy one.

4. Altering gene pool

- if cloning becomes widespread, the genetic diversity of humans will go down. This would
result in the decrease in immunity of humans against diseases. Thus making humans
susceptible to epidemics and unknown diseases.

5. Illegal cloning and clones

- a cloned child having multiple doors might complicate parental right as well as inheritance
and marital eligibility issues. Another view suggests that there is a possibility of clones being
developed without the concerned individual’s consent. This will definitely create legal issues
not to mention violation of medical as well as moral ethics.

C.HYBRIDIZATION
- refers to the process of producing offspring by mating two parents of different varieties or
species.
- used synonymously with crossbreeding, which is defined as the process or the act of
producing offspring particularly mating two purebred individuals but come from different
breeds or varieties
- important especially in agriculture herein it is applied to come up with hybrid crop that is
both hardy and disease-resistant
- in animals, ligers and mules are example of a hybrid

IMPORTANCE

1. ants of the same species cross easily and produce fertile progeny
2. important in agriculture like crossing genetically different individuals to create new genotypes
3. two species can hybridize, and a few individual hybrids can give rise to a third species that is
distinct from the two parents and can coexist with it.

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

4. may influence evolution in a variety of ways. If hybrids are less fit, the geographicaly range of
ecologically divergent population may be limited, and prezygotic reproductive isolation may be
reinforced. If some hybrid genotypes are fitter than one or both parents, at least in some
environments, then hybridization could make a positive contribution
5. two species combine to form the best of the organism eliminating the unwanted qualities of
boththe parent species

EXAMPLES OF HYBRIDIZATION IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS

1. Hybrid Lilies
- they are classified as Asiatic hybrids and Oriental hybrids. Oriental hybrid lilies have
large 6 to 8 inches, fragrant, pink, red, purole or white flowers.The flowers of the Asiatic
hybrids are smaller and usually have no fragrance.The flowers come in bright shades of
yellow, gold, rose,pink, white and orange. The Asiatic lilies naturally flower from late
spring to early summer.Hybrid lilies can easily be grown as potted plants when grown in
the right medium with proper light and watering.

2. Sweet Corn
- The vast majority of U.S. corn grown are hybrid varieties.The characteristics of these
varieties have made it easier for home garderners to grow and there are sweeter than the
past crops.
3. Pomato
- is a hybrid variety of potato and tomato. It is a small tomato-like fruit, with white flesh,
edible either raw or cooked. Pomato produces tomatoes on the top and potatoes
underground.

4. Rabbage
- Also known Brassicoraphanus
- A crossed between cabbage and raddish, and was developed successfully to self-propgate by
a Soviet agronomist named Georgi Dmitrievich Karpenchenko in the 1910s and ‘20s
- It has fallen out fashion, though, because the hybrid wasn’t quite as well-integrated as
consumers would like.
- The majority of these animals do not occur naturally in the wild and have been bred by
humans which has stirred much controversy and criticism. For most of theses animals, while
successfully crossed, the offspring tend to be infertile, meaning their continuation as a hybrid
is solely determined by human intervention.

5. Liger
- Is a hybrid cross between a mole lion ( panther leo ) and a tigress ( Panthera tigris ).Thus, it
has parents with the same genus but of different species. It is distinct from the similar hybrid
tiglion. It is the largest of all extant felines.

6. Grolar Bear
- A grizzly-polar hybrid ( also pizzly bear,prizzly bear, or grolar bear) is a rare ursid hybrid
that has occurred both in captivity and in the wild.
- In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the DNA for a
strange-looking bear that been shot near Sachs Harbour, northwest Territories on Banks
island in the Canadian Arctic motherless beings and could open the way to the creation of
beings that are effectively owned

7. Mule
- Is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and Donkeys are different
species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F! hybrids between these two
species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny ( the offpring of a male horse and a female
donkey). All male mules and most female mules are infertile.
8. Beefalo
- Are a fertile hybrid offpring of domestic cattle, Bos Taurus, and the American Bison
(generally called buffalo in the US). The breed was created to combine the characteristics of
both animals with a view towards beef production

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OR ISSUES

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

“We believe,too that we are God’s partner in work of creation, both as innovators and as
protectors, and that this partnership obliges us to be guided by ethical principles.”

Arguments against hybridization

“… the creation of an animal-human being represents a natural border that has been
the most grave of violations.”
( Bishop Elio Sgreccia, president of Pontificial Academy for life, May 2007 )

 It blurs the distinction between human beings and other animals

 It violates human dignity
 It’s the start of a slippery slope that could lead to creating animal/human creatures capable of
independent life
 It’s wrong to create beings ( embryos ) that are solely at the disposable of scientists.It says that it
is acceptable to create motherless beings and could open the way to the creation of beings that
are effectively owned by whoever controls the medium in which the embryos develops.

D.STEM CELL
- is a cell with the unique ability to develop into specialized cell types in the body. In the future
they may be used to replace cells and tissues that have been damaged or lost due to disease.
- They can divide over and over again to produce new cells

ADVANTAGES:

1. Adult stem cells have low rejection rates.

2. Can be transform into pluripotent stem cells.
3. The current treatment options for stem cells are numerous.
4. . Because stem cells have regenerative properties, the potential is unlimited.
5. Embryonic treatments can be developed through stem cell research.
6. Abundant somatic cells of donor can be used.
7. Very useful for drug development and developmental issues.

DISADVANTAGES
1. Embryonic stem cells can have high rejection rates.
2. Stem cell treatments are an unproven commodity.
3. Stem cell research is a cost process.
4. We do not know if there are long term side effects to worry about.
5. Adults have very few stem cells.
6. Current embryonic stem cell harvesting requires the death of an embryo.
7. Embryonic stem cells body recognises the cells as different and will reject them without the use
of drugs.
8. All stem cells may produce cancer cells instead of healthy cells.
9. ( adult )Currently there is no technology available to generate large quantities of stem cells in
culture.
10. (Adult ) Cannot be grown for long periods of time in culture
11. Viruses are currently used to introduce embryonic genes and has been shown to cause cancers in
mouse studies.

E.TISSUE CULTURE
- is the practice of growing tissues or cells in an artificial medium which is separate from
organism and done by using a liquid, semi-solid, solid growth medium, such as broth or
agar which can provide nutrition to the cells or tissues once they are removed from an
organisms’ body.
- Can be done to both plants and animals
- Is recognized as the growth of cells or tissues are taken from donor organism and
provided with nutrients and energy for the cells’ survival

IMPORTANCE

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

1. Important technique for the production of disease free and high quality plants with a short period
of time
2. It allows the production of a large number of plants having identical features to the parents
3. Adult plants can be produced within a short period of time
4. Many plantlets can also be preserved or conserved by this technique which is applicable for those
species which have difficulty in reproduction and facing extinction.
ADVANTAGES

1. Produce more copies of same plant with desired characters like big fruits, colorful flowers,
disease resistance etc. This allows us to produce a variety of plants through shorter period of
time.
2. Helps us produce plants which do not depend on seasonal changes of that area for particular
yield. This makes it possible to produce seasonal crops all year-round.
3. As seedlings are made available, planting is possible all through the year
4. All the plants developed by tissue culture are uniform at size, shape and their yield. They are
exact clones which resemble each other.
5. Time taken to obtain mature crop is very less.
6. Crops are almost pest and disease resistant since they are not exposed to the environmental stress
7. is useful which produce seeds insufficient amounts, or when plants are sterile and they do not
produce viable seeds or when seeds cannot be stored.

DISADVANTAGES

1. Extremely expensive since it requires specialized laboratories and equipment.

2. Same genetic material makes them all equally vulnerable to environmental factors, infections
and pests since there is no genetic variation.
3. As all the plants are genetically similar there is a reduction in genetic diversity.
4. Certain crops may not be easily grown in vitro.
5. There are no new traits or new genes introduced since all are clones of parent generation.
6. Tissue culture is not successful with all the plants species usually because of the growth medium
and some plants produce secondary metabolites that might kill the plants.
7. If precautions are not highly taken the whole stock may be contaminated and infected
8. There may e error in the identity of the organisms after culture.
9. The procedure needs special attention and diligently done observation.

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH TISSUE CULTURE

1. Since tissues and cells are taken from a donor organism, one concern is that these may cause pain
to the organism especially if we are dealing with animal donors and suffer from disfigurement and death
if not properly handled.

1. With regards to tissue sourcing is the consent of the donor. Prior consent from a donor must first
be sought and this is possible for humans but not for other animals since they cannot speak for
themselves.
2. Animal cruelty may also be possible
3. In some cases, tissues may be taken from humans without them knowing that their tissue samples
had been used for research without their prior knowledge
4. Another deals with how life is created, more within the parameters surrounding cloning and
asexual reproduction. Tissue culture research and technology look for ways to create organs,
tissue, and possibly even life itself entirely within a lab which in some aspect is still considered as
controversial.

CECILIA K. POGONGAN