GROUP 4

We will know about...

 Definition
 History
 Current status quo
 Process (example of GMOs)
 Users
 Potential Benefits
 Potential Risks
 Concerns with GMO
What are GMOs?
GMO From Dictionary.com
genetically modified organism: an
organism or
microorganism whose genetic material
has been altered by mean of genetic
engineering.
Genetic engineering, also
called genetic modification, is the
direct manipulation of an
organism's genome using
biotechnology.
 What is GM/GE/Biotechnology ?
 Any of several techniques used to add,
delete or amend genetic information in a
plant, animal or microbe

 Used to make pharmaceuticals (insulin,

dornase alpha, etc.), crops (Bt corn, disease
resistant papaya, etc.) and industrial
compounds (specialty oils, etc.)
FPI Survey
 Are GM foods in US supermarkets?
 Do ordinary tomatoes contain genes?
 Would a tomato with a fish gene taste “fishy”?
 If you ate a GM fruit, might it alter your genes?
 Can animal genes be inserted into a plant?
 Give an example of GM food on the market
FPI Survey (% correct)
 Are GM foods in US supermarkets? 48%
 Do ordinary tomatoes contain genes? 40%
 Would a tomato with a fish gene taste “fishy”?
42%
 If you ate a GM fruit, might it alter your genes?
45%
 Can animal genes be inserted into a plant? 30%
 Give an example of GM food on the market
79% said GM tomatoes were on the market
History of genetic engineering
 rDNA began in 1973, with GE bacteria
 First commercial product- insulin- in 1982
 First food- cheese – 1988 (UK), 1990 (US)
 First food crop, FlavrSavr™ tomatoes, in
1994
 So far, there have been no documented
cases of harm from GMOs.
Traditional Breeding

~25,000 genes ~45,000 genes

 technology is not essential,

 limited by species boundaries,
 all genes/traits are mixed.
Introgression
…incorporation of genes of
one genome into the
genome of another
cultivar,
 standard breeding
techniques are laborious (if
possible at all),

 genomics and related

sciences greatly
accelerates standard
breeding techniques.
Transgenic Plants

 based on DNA technology,

 single genes/traits can be transferred,
 species boundaries are not limiting.
 Significant Numbers
(from OECD and ISAAA databases)

• Number of field trials of GMOs > 10,000

• Number of countries growing GM crops 17*

* home to > half the world’s population

• Global acreage (2004) 200M

• Number of GM plant species tested 41

• Number of significant adverse incidents 0

Methods of Genetic Modification
 Recombinant DNA (rDNA)
-------------------------------------
 Mutagenesis
 Somaclonal variation
 Embryo rescue
 Crossing or selection within a population
 Introduction
 Succession/invasion.
Changes in Genetically Modified Food:

 DNA content:
 highly variable, depends on species
 GM additional DNA,
 approx. 1 gene added to 25,000 genes.
 Or, approx. 0.000 000 7% new DNA.
 Protein:
 highly variable, depends on food.
 GM protein, approx. 0.00004 % of total
protein is novel.
 How are GMOs generated?

...uses tools of
molecular genetics,
- i.e. applied
bacteria and
virus genetics.

insert into plant

…via biolistics - or - Agrobacterium tumefaceins

Biolistics
 Kalanchoe Stem
w/ infection.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Natural soil bacterium

that infects plants,
hosts: 160 Genera,
families: > 60,
effect; poor growth, low
yield.
Who uses Biotech products ?
 Concumers
 Patients
 Farmers
Potential Benefits and Risks

Sprayed 32
Sprayed
times once.

From a billboard in Nebraska, Courtesy of Syngenta

Documented benefits of biotech crops
 Farmers
 Increased yields (especially in developing
countries)
 Decreased chemical input costs
 Cleaner fields, less dockage
 Less fuel used
 Less tillage
 Fewer adverse health effects (esp. China).
Documented benefits of biotech crops
 Consumers
 Safer food (less mycotoxin in maize, esp Africa/Asia)
 Safer food (greater regulatory scrutiny)
 Less pesticide
 Environmental benefits.
Documented benefits of biotech crops
 Environment
 Less pesticide burden
 Safer pesticides
 Improved soil from less tillage
 Less fuel usage
 Increased biodiversity

 Sources: NCFAP, Plant Biotechnology, June 2002; November

2004
 Canola Council of Canada, An agronomic and economic
assessment of transgenic canola, 2001
 Munkvold, G.P., Hellmich, R.L., and Rice, L.G. 1999.
Comparison of fumonisin concentrations in kernels of transgenic
Bt maize hybrids and non-transgenic hybrids. Plant Dis. 83:130-
138.
Desirable Agronomic Traits
(traditional or modern)

 Increased yields, more nutritious, quality, etc.,

 More resistant to pestilence, weeds, water and
nutrient deprivations,

 Ability to withstand marginal growth conditions,

 and thrive in new environmental ranges,

 Profit.
So, What’s the fuss?
 GE is unnatural, ‘crossing the species
barrier’
 GE food contains bacterial genes
 GE plants spread uncontrollably
 GE is unethical
 GE is ‘risky’
 GE is controlled by corporate interests
 GE crops are unregulated; no prior scrutiny
Potential Risks
 Risk of invasion.
 Direct nontarget Effects

 Indirect nontarget Effects.

 New Viral Diseases.

 Variability and Unexpected Results.

 Potential Risks
(risk of invasion)
 50,000 invaders in USA
the old fashioned ways,
 self-sustaining cultivars,
○ low anticipated risk,

 hybridization with (native)

neighbors,
○ transgene introgression,
○ introgression of domestic
cultivar genes with natives
has occurred, resulting in
negative impacts on native
species,
 time lags.
Direct
(nontarget)

 Risk to non-target species,

 pollinators,
 passers-by,

 soil ecosystems,
 decomposition rates,
 carbon cycle,
 nitrogen cycle.
 Indirect
(nontarget)

 kill weeds = kill species

that live “on” or eat the
weeds,

 bioaccumulation,
 nontarget species eat
plants, store toxins,
 those species are eaten,
amassing the toxin,
 on up the food chain.
Bee on Red Clover.
New Viral Diseases

 virus resistant plants

promote virulent strains,
 mutations,
 recombination,

 heteroencapsulation,
 virus move genes from one
organism to another,
 not presently a risk, but a
potential risk.
Variability and Unexpected Results

 time scale,

 numbers,

 environmental and cultivar

differences,

 application, culture and

consistency.
Other Issues
 Economic hegemony of GMP seed producing
countries, companies,
 Cultural shifts in farming due to the introduction
of GMOs,
 Potential allergies to genetically modified crops,

 The preservation of natural genetic crop-lines,

 The lack of an adequate risk assessment
methodology to quantify unintended ecological
consequences.
Concerns with GMOs
 Scientific  Non-scientific
 Environment  Ethical
 Health safety  Socio-economic
 Political
○ Covert Trade
○ Covert
Technological
 Biotechnology in General
Scenario 1 Scenario 2

Works great
Bad Environmental Consequences
Increase Carrying Capacity for Humans

Human Population Growth

Negative impacts on,
Negative impacts on,
• select species,
• crops,
• select species,
• ecosystems,
• crops,
• etc.
• ecosystems,
• etc.