The most common transgenic crops in use: • Herbicide resistant plants (Roundup Ready) Weeds are killed but crop plants survive. (In U.S., about 80% of soybeans were GMO in 2003) • Insect resistant plants (BT) Express a bacterial protein that is toxic to insects (In U.S., about 40% of maize
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The most common transgenic crops in use: Herbicide resistant plants (Roundup Ready)
The most common transgenic crops in use: Herbicide resistant plants (Roundup Ready) Weeds are killed but crop plants survive. (In U.S., about 80% of soybeans were GMO in 2003) Insect resistant plants (BT) Express a bacterial protein that is toxic to insects - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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The most common transgenic crops in use:
• Herbicide resistant plants (Roundup Ready)
Weeds are killed but crop plants survive.
(In U.S., about 80% of soybeans were GMO in 2003)
• Insect resistant plants (BT)
Express a bacterial protein that is toxic to insects
(In U.S., about 40% of maize and
75% of cotton were GMO in 2003)
Insect resistance engineered via BT…
Bacillus thuringiensis---A spore-forming bacterium, covered with a crystalline protein.
Crystals break down in alkaline conditions inside an insect midgut-and form pores in insect membranes
European corn borer inside a corn stalk
21 years
29 years
27 years
Vitamin A (trans-retinol) deficiency:
In Southeast Asia, approximately 5 million children develop xeropthalmia (impaired vision) each year.
0.25 mil eventually go blind
correlated with diarrhea, respiratory diseases, measles
According to UNICEF, Vitamin A supplements could prevent 1- to 2-million childhood deaths per year
From Ye, et al., (2000) Science, 287:303
control
Some other uses for transgenic plants…….
•Production of edible vaccines
•Wine without the hangover?---reduction of bioamines to lessen chance of headaches associated with wine drinking
•Caffeine-free coffee? Specifically shutdown caffeine production in the plant
Potential uses for transgenic animals• Aquaculture
Increased growth via hormone gene insertion
From the July, 2004 issue of Scientific American
Gene Doping“Gene therapy for restoring muscle lost to age or disease is poised to enter the clinic, but elite athletes are eyeing it to enhance performance Can it be long before gene doping changes the nature of sport? “
Belgian blue cattle – with a “double-muscle” mutation that produces an altered form of myostatin
Taken from http://www.whybiotech.com/ , an industry sponsored website
Biotech Holds “Enormous Promise” for Developing World, says U.N.
Activists dumped 4 tons of soybeans on Downing St. at the home of British Prime Minister Tony Blair after he said bioengineered food was safe to eat
Opposition to agricultural biotechnology…
Two kinds of objections to GMOsTwo kinds of objections to GMOs
1. ExtrinsicThe potential harms of The potential harms of GMOs outweigh the GMOs outweigh the potential benefitspotential benefits. . GMOs are too risky.GMOs are too risky.
2. IntrinsicGMOs are GMOs are
unnatural and ought not unnatural and ought not to be pursued, even if the to be pursued, even if the benefits outweigh the benefits outweigh the harms. harms. Playing God.Playing God.
(slide from Gary Comstock)
Issues in Plant Biotechnology
• ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
• FOOD SAFETY
• ETHICAL ISSUES
• GOVERNMENT/BUSINESS ISSUES
• Increased high-input monocultures• Does this technology encourage increased chemical
use?• Effects on non-target organisms and wildlife • Development of “Superbugs” & “Superweeds”• Release of transgenic plants (or animals) into the wild• Added pressure and ability to farm marginal lands• Will cause an overall loss of genetic diversity• Spread of antibiotic resistance genes
Environmental ConcernsEnvironmental Concerns
Ethics of Food IssuesFood Issues– Do people have a right to know what
they are eating?• Can consumers demand labels on
everything containing GM ingredients?• Allergy issues? • Can foods with animal genes inserted into
them still be considered strictly vegetables and eaten as such? (Moral and religious concerns)
• Is it okay to express human genes in plants for medical use? For consumption?
ARE GMO PLANTS SAFE?
Philippines Saudi ArabiaJapan RussiaSouth Korea MexicoIndonesia New Zealand Israel TaiwanCzech Republic Norway 15 countries of the European Union
In the U.S. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has ruled that a food should be labeled as a product of biotechnology only if changed in some significant way. There is no mandatory labeling required. GMO foods fit the criteria of
“SUBSTANTIAL EQUIVALENCE”
Mandatory laws require labeling of GMO products in:
LABELING CONCERNS
•Several counties in California will vote in November whether to allow or ban growth of any GMO crops
•Increased dependence on chemical and seed companies• Use of land in developing countries for testing ad genetic “theft” from developing countries
• Is the U.S. trying to force GMOs on a hungry world? Or is Europe practicing a “new colonialism”?
United States vs. EU
GOVERNMENT/BUSINESS ISSUES
Food Aid Denied to Starving PopulationNovember 5, 2002 By Lisa Schlein
Geneva - “The government of Zambia has asked the United Nations World Food Program to remove thousands of tons of genetically modified food that had been donated to the country. The demand follows a decision last week by the government to refuse donations of so-called GM food. The World Food Program says the Zambian government has told the agency to empty its warehouses and take all food which has been genetically modified out of the country”.
(According to ActionAid, southern Africa's worst maize shortage in living memory meant that by March 2003, over 14 million people in Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe faced serious food shortages)
U.S. Consumer Views
1. Knowledge of GMOs remains low
2. Opposition has softened in past few years
3. Consumers look to FDA for safety assessment
4. GM plants are more accepted than GM animals
5. GM use for medical/safety is more accepted
based on (9/15/03) Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology Survey