SCIENCE,

TECHNOLOGY
AND SOCIETY
MIDTERM_WEEK 11
 PA G E S 8 7 – 1 3 5

BIODIVERSITY AND
GENETICALLY
MODIFIED
ORGANISMS
 LEARNING
OUTCOMES
• Determine the interrelatedness of society, the
environment and health;
• Explain the process of genetic engineering; and
• Discuss the ethics, implication and potential future
impacts of Genetically Modified Organism.
 What is biodiversity?

• Biodiversity is also known as biological diversity which is

a term given to variety of life or living things on earth and
natural patterns of its forms.
 BIODIVERSITY
• The number and variety of plants, animals and other
organisms that exist in an ecosystem is known as
biodiversity.
• It is a measure of the variety of organisms present in
different ecosystems.
• The richness of biodiversity depends on the climatic
conditions and area of the region.
• Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution.
 BIODIVERSITY
• This diversity is often understood in terms of variety of
plants, animals, and microorganisms.
• 1.75 million species are identified, mostly small creatures
such as insects., though estimates range from three to 100
million.
• The loss of biodiversity threatens food supplies,
opportunities for recreation and tourism, and sources of
wood, medicines and energy.
3 TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY
3 TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY

• This refers to variation among groups of

organisms in terrestrial and aquatic
environments.
• Ecological diversity can also take into
account the vibration in the complexity of
a biological community including the
number of different niches, the number of
tropic levels and other ecological process.
3 TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY
• The genetic diversity refers to the
diversity within species, each individual
species possesses genes which are the
source of its own unique features in
human beings, animals and plants.
• This pertains to variation in genes
obtained by an organism.
• It also covers distinct populations of a
single species.
3 TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY

• Species diversity is defined as the number

of species in abundance of each species
that live in a particular location.
• The number of species that live in a certain
location is called species richness.
• This denotes about the variety of species
within a community.
G E N E T I C A L LY M O D I F I E D
ORGANISM
• Based on evolutionary theory, the
concept of survival of the fittest
implies that living organisms have a
natural spectrum of characteristics
such as size, mass or length.
• The characteristics of an organism
and its successors can be modified
today by modern technology, giving
rise to what are called genetically
modified organism.
 G E N E T I C A L LY M O D I F I E D
ORGANISM
• This are living organism whose genetic material has been
artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic
engineering.
• This creates combinations of plants, animals, bacteria and
virus genes that do not occur in nature or through
traditional cross- breathing method.
 G E N E T I C A L LY M O D I F I E D
ORGANISM
• A GMO is a plant, animal, microorganism, or other organism whose
genetic make up have been modified using recombinant DNA method
(also called gene splicing), gene modification or transgenic technology.
• It is the result of a laboratory process where genes from DNA of one
species are extracted and artificially inserted into the genes of unrelated
plant or animal, also called Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic
Modification (GM).
• Genetic modification aims to address issues with regard to food
security, agriculture, drug production and nutrition
G E N E T I C A L LY M O D I F I E D
ORGANISM
 G E N E T I C A L LY M O D I F I E D
ORGANISM
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2014) has been
taking an active role concerning GM food, predominantly for
two (2) aims;
1. Benefit of public health from the potential of
biotechnology.
2. Possible undesirable effect on human health of the
consumption of GM food with the purpose of protecting
public health.
Ethical and Social
Concerns in the
Philippines
• GE foods remove consumer choice – “Because of the
widespread contamination caused by GE crops and the fact that
many GE crops are not kept separate in the food system,
consumers in the Philippines have been denied the right to
choose not to eat genetically engineered food.” (Dunning, 2008)
This is particularly serious since GE foods are not labeled or
even regulated here in the Philippines.
• Biopiracy – To achieve the desired traits, chemical companies
often use genes acquired from plants, animals, and bacteria
found in poorer countries where most of the world’s
biodiversity is to be found. The profits and benefits from using
these genes generally accrue to rich agribusiness companies
based in northern countries. In effect, these genes are being
stolen from the poor to feed corporate profits. (Dunning, 2008)
Transnational companies then try to enforce their ownership of
these genes through international patent law.
• Loss of Farmers Rights. – Because genetically engineered
seeds are patented, the seed company can maintain strict
control over how the seeds are used. US farmers who grow GE
crops sign agreements that specify how the crop is farmed and
promise not to save any seed. If farmers are found to save seed,
they are sued by the chemical companies. In this way, small
farmers lose their basic rights to save seed, which has been the
basis of food security since farming began. The GE crop
companies now control the seed trade worldwide, and US
farmers are already reporting that non-GE seeds are becoming
very hard to find.
• Genetic engineering is unnatural – Because genetic
engineering crosses species boundaries and interferes in
nature to create new living organisms that would never
naturally occur, many people hold moral and spiritual
objections to the genetic engineering of living things.
 The artificial organisms that result may be designed
to offer a particular ‘benefit’ to the grower (such as
resistance to a pesticide) but will almost always have
other secondary effects that cannot be predicted.
Because genetically engineered crops are alive, they
can escape and reproduce in the open environment,
making it virtually impossible to recall a genetically
engineered crop, especially when something
unexpectedly goes wrong.
 Some of the problems already
associated with genetically
engineered crops include:
• The production of unexpected toxins and allergens – “Because
genetic engineering is a very imprecise technology, the insertion of
foreign genes can stimulate the production of unexpected proteins,
which may prove toxic or allergenic”
• Effects on the Environment. “Genetically engineered crops represent
new and potentially invasive forms of life.”
• Contamination of seeds and crops. While many consumers and
farmers worldwide are choosing to avoid GE food and crops, people are
still increasingly finding even non-GE stocks contaminated. This is due
to cross-pollination where contaminated pollen is carried by wind or as
seeds spread out in the environment or are mixed up during handling.
 KINDLY REVIEW FOR 15 MINUTES
BEFORE WE PROCEED TO YOUR LONG
QUIZ.
THE COVERAGE OF YOUR LONG QUIZ
IS FROM WEEK 7 TO WEEK 11