The GMO Debate Flashcards
1
This hopefully sheds more light on the issue and provides some what of succinct scientific evidence as to pros and cons of this debate as i found in the scientific literature.
2 - Feeding the world
Half a century ago in 1960, the worlds population was estimated to be around 3 billion. This figure has more than doubled in 2013
Food production using traditional methods begin to fall as population increases.
Crop varieties developed by genetic engineering were first introduced for commercial production in 1996.
We reach a point of diminishing returns as factors such as gestation periods, weather and pest and disease control become more of a factor.
3
Explain table
4 - What are Genetically Modified Organisms?
By altering the genetic material of organisms through recombinant DNA technology or genetic engineering, genetically modified food products translate into lower food prices, better resistance to pest and bacteria and perhaps most importantly vastly improved nutritional values
These advantages present the best way to tackling the issues of failing foods crops, the challenges of growing food in an ever changing global climate and finally the simple problems of feeding an ever-growing world population
Genetic modification differ from Mendellian breeding ad offers advantages of being, faster, provides more
control and is more precise
precise
can introduce genes into an organism that would not
How is this done?
The components that make up DNA are the same in all organisms. The sequence of these components is the “ recipe” for the proteins synthesized by different organisms. Proteins are responsible for the characteristics exhibited by life forms.
By taking the DNA sequence that codes for a protein responsible for a desirable characteristic and putting it into the DNA (Genome) of another organism; the desired characteristic will be expressed. The new sequence will begin to make the intended protein.
1st Commercial sale of genetically modified foods began in 1994, when Calgene first marketed its Flavr Savr delayed ripening tomato
How is this possible?
The components that make up DNA are the same in all organisms. The sequence DNA codes for the proteins synthesized by different organisms. Proteins are responsible for the
characteristics exhibited by life forms.
Two featherless chickens peck around in some grass May 22, 2002 at the Hebrew University in Rehovot. Israeli scientists at the Agriculture department of the university have genetically engineered bare-skinned chickens as part of a research project to develop succulent, low fat poultry that is environmentally friendly. The naked chicken, as the bird has been dubbed, would also save poultry farmers large amounts of money on ventilation to prevent their chickens from overheating.
This somewhat “mutant” cattle breed is officially known as the Belgian Blue, and its origins date back to the early 1800s when Belgian scientists and farmers decided to breed native cattle with Shorthorn and possibly Charolais cattle varieties to create a stronger and more beefy crossbreed. Over time, cattle breeders would select the strongest and largest animals of each variety and breed them together to create allegedly superior offspring.
The myostatin gene is responsible for telling the body when to stop producing muscle, and in Belgian Blues, its failure allows exceptional growth above and beyond the norm.
Global and area planted by biotechnology varieties by country
The United States is the world leader in the production of GMOs. It accounts for almost 66 percent of all GMOs planted globally. As of 2004, 85 percent of the soybeans grown on U.S. soil have been genetically modified. Other GMOs cultivated in the United States include corn, cotton, soybeans and canola.
GM crops currently on the Market in the United States
Salmon. Massachusetts based Aqua Bounty Farms has genetically engineered salmon to
grow twice as fast as conventional salmon. Environmentalists say the transgenic salmon could escape from fish farm pens and interbreed with wild salmon, threatening the species. The company is seeking approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market the salmon, which it hopes to do by 2008.
More than sixty genetically modified crops have been approved for US food and feed supplies:
Potato - modified to produce a beetle killing toxin
Yellow squash – modified to contain to viral genes that resistant the most common viral diseases
Develop foods that contain vaccines and antibodies that offer valuable protection against diseases such as cholera, hepatitis, and malaria
Canola – modified to resist one type of herbicide or pesticide
Regulation of genetically modified organisms
The Act, however, does not require pre-market clearance of food and thus, many genetically modified plants do not require formal pre-market review by the FDA as they are food
Regulation of genetically modified organisms…..in the European Union (EU
The European Union (EU) may have the most stringent GMO regulations in the world.[1] All GMOs, along with irradiated food, are considered “new food” and are subject to extensive, case-by-case, science-based food evaluation by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
As of August 2012, the European Union had authorised 48 GMOs. Most of these were for animal feed imports or for feed and food processing.[2] There is also a safeguard clause that Member States may invoke to temporarily restrict or prohibit the use and/or sale of a GMO within their territory if they have justifiable reasons to consider that the approved GMO constitutes a risk to human health or the environment.
What is all the fuss about?
Safety
Potential human health impacts, including allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects
**A defining premise of this school of thought is that allergic symptoms are always triggered by a protein.
Potential environmental impacts, including: unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on other organisms (e.g., soil microbes), and loss of flora and fauna biodiversity
Domination of world food production by a few companies Increasing dependence on industrialized nations by developing countries
Biopiracy, or foreign exploitation of natural resources.
The Case Of Kuru Disease
Kuru is a very rare disease. It is caused by an infectious protein (prion) found in contaminated human brain tissue. Kuru is found among people from New Guinea who practiced a form of cannibalism in which they ate the brains of dead people as part of a funeral ritual.
This practice stopped in 1960, but cases of kuru were reported for many years afterward because the disease has a long incubation period. Kuru causes brain and nervous system changes similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Similar diseases appear in cows as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also called mad cow disease. The main risk factor for kuru is eating human brain tissue, which can contain the infectious particles.
Although the Fore’s cannibalism was outlawed by Australian authorities in the late 1950s, cases of kuru contined to appear among members of the tribe. This led John Collinge, head of UCL’s Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, to travel to Papua New Guinea to investigate. Between 1996 and 2004, Collinge and his team collected information about the life histories of Fore tribesmen and women, and during that time, they identified 11 new cases of kuru. Writing in The Lancet, Collinge concluded that “the minimum estimated incubation periods ranged from 34 to 41 years… [but] incubation periods of infection with human prions can exceed 50 years,” and last week he reiterated the possibility of a vCJD epidemic:
From kuru to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Mad cow disease
Symptoms of kuru include: Arm and leg pain/Coordination problems that become severe ///Difficulty walking (cerebellar ataxia) /Headache Swallowing difficulty Tremors and muscle jerks (myoclonus)
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and the case against gmo
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease captured public attention in the 1990s when some people in the United Kingdom developed a form of the disease — variant CJD (vCJD) — after eating meat from diseased cattle. However, “classic” Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has not been linked to contaminated beef.
When diseases cross the species barrier incubation periods increase.
Possible effects of gmo on genotoxic
Enteric bacteria [define] of human beings consists of about 400 species most of which have not been properly research and cultivated routinely. Their effects on the human gastrointestinal tract vary vesting in different place in the digestive system. They reside under very hostile conditions in the gastrointestinal tract where pH ranges between 1.0-2.5. Under such hostile conditions the metabolic activities associated with microflora can make them difficult to cultivate and study.
Although the individual activities of the diverse microflora maybe be difficult to study and estimate, there is a general understanding of their actions. For example Enteric bacteria is known modify both endogenous and xenobiotic.. For example, bile and its derivatives can be deconjugated or dehydroxylated to secondary bile acids. These interactions between microflora and xenobiotic may exert an influence on the formation of genotoxic substances in the intestinal tract. The presence of new and known xenobiotics influenced by the use of gene transfer in GMO may lead to increases in genotoxic substances.
