Final Report on GM Food,BIO 103

8/2/2019 Final Report on GM Food,BIO 103.

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Genetically Modified Food

For the partial fulfillment of the course

BIO 103Sec: 2

SEMESTER: Spring, 2012

PRESENTED TO:

Dr. S.M. Mostafa Kamal KhanASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

DEPT. OF BIOCHEMISTRY & MICROBIOLOGY


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Group Members:

1. M. Basitul Islam

061 718

030

2. Nafees Imtiaz 102 0009 030

3. Ishtiaque Rajib 103 0088 530

4. Shah Mohitul Hossain 103 0069 530

Index

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Topic Page no.Title page 1

Group members 2

Index 3

Introduction 4

Definition 4

Methods 5

Reason for genetically modifying 6

Advantages of GM food 6

Disadvantages of GM food 9Environmental Hazards 9

Human Health Hazards 9

Economic Concerns 10

General Risks of GM food 10

References 11


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Introduction:

Genetically-modified foods (GM foods) have made a big splash in the news lately.

Genetically Modified foods (GM foods) were first put on the market in 1996. Typically,

genetically modified foods are transgenic plant products: soybean, corn, canola, rice, and

cotton seed oil. Animal products have also been developed, although as of July 2010 none

are currently on the market. In 2006 a pig was engineered to produce omega-3 fatty acids

through the expression of a roundworm gene. Historically man has selectively bred food

plants to produce bigger and better crops. This was achieved by deliberately cross-

pollinating plants with desirable features.

Genetic modification (GM) takes selective breeding a step further. Scientists are

learning how to identify genes and recognize which genes control the development of

which characteristics. They are now able to breed offspring by transplanting the desirable

genes from one plant to another.

Definition:

Genetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms

(GMOs). Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their

DNA by genetic engineering techniques. These techniques are much more precise than

mutagenesis (mutation breeding) where an organism is exposed to radiation or chemicals to

create a non-specific but stable change. Other techniques by which humans modify food

organisms include selective breeding; plant breeding, and animal breeding, and somaclonalvariation. Individual characteristics of plants such as height, flower color and leaf shape are

determined by "genes" which are present in every cell that makes up a plant. In nature the

genes of two parent plants mix up during pollination to produce offspring containing some

genes from each parent.

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Methods:

Genetic modification involves the insertion or

deletion of genes. In the process of cogenesis, genes are

artificially transferred between organisms that could be

conventionally bred. In the process of transgenesis, genes

from a different species are inserted, which is a form of

horizontal gene transfer. In nature this can occur when

exogenous DNA penetrates the cell membrane for any

reason. To do this artificially may require transferringgenes as part of an attenuated virus genome or physically

inserting the extra DNA into the nucleus of the intended Fig 1: Inserting new genes

host using a micro syringe, or as a coating on gold nanoparticles

fired from a gene gun. However, other methods exploit natural forms of gene transfer, such

as the ability ofAgro bacterium to transfer genetic material to plants, and the ability of lent

viruses to transfer genes to animal cells.

The method to introduce new genes into plants requires several important factors

such as specific promoter, cordon usage of the gene and how to deactivate the gene. The

specific promoter must pertain to area that he wants the gene to express. For instance, if he

wants the gene to express only in the rice instead of the leaf then he would only use an

endosperm specific promoter. The reason is because he only want our transgenic genes to

express only in the rice and not the leaves. The cordon usage of the gene must also be more

optimized for the rice since there are several different cordons for each of the 20 amino

acid. The transgenic genes should also be able to be denatured by heat in order for human

consumption.

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Reason for genetically modifying:

By genetically modifying plants in the laboratory it is possible to have stricter

control over the genes. In nature all the genetic material from the parent plants is mixed.

With GM the desirable genes can be separated from the undesirable genes.

It is also quicker and cheaper to breed by GM as the desired offspring can be

produced in one generation. In nature recessive genes often "skip" several generations. It is

also possible by GM to cross species that would not breed together naturally.

.

Advantages of GM foods:

The world population has topped 6 billion people and is predicted to double in the

next 50 years. Ensuring an adequate food supply for this booming population is going to be

a major challenge in the years to come. GM foods promise to meet this need in a number of

ways:

Pest resistance Crop losses from insect pests can

be staggering, resulting in devastating financialloss for farmers and starvation in developing

countries. Farmers typically use many tons of

chemical pesticides annually. Consumers do not

wish to eat food that has been treated with

pesticides because of potential health hazards,

and run-off of agricultural wastes from excessive Fig 2: Modified Watermelon.

use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the water supply and cause harm to the

environment. Growing GM foods such as but corn can help eliminate the

application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market.

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Herbicide tolerance for some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by

physical means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of

different herbicides (weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and

expensive process. Crop plants genetically-engineered to be resistant to one very

powerful herbicide could help prevent environmental damage by reducing the

amount of herbicides needed. For example, Monsanto has created a strain of

soybeans genetically modified to be not affected by their herbicide product

Roundup.

Disease resistances- there are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant

diseases. Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered

resistance to these diseases.

Cold tolerance unexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene

from cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato.

With this antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures that

normally would kill unmodified seedlings.

Drought tolerance/salinity tolerance. As the world population grows and more land

is utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops

in locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation. Creating plants that can

withstand long periods of drought or high salt content in soil and groundwater will

help people to grow crops in formerly inhospitable places.

Nutrition- Malnutrition is common in third world countries where impoverished

peoples rely on a single crop such as rice for the main staple of their diet. However,

rice does not contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent

malnutrition. If rice could be genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins

and minerals, nutrient deficiencies could be alleviated. For example, blindness due

to vitamin A deficiency is a common problem in third world

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countries. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Institute for

Plant Sciences have created a strain of "golden" rice containing an unusually high

content of beta-carotene (vitamin A).

Pharmaceutical- Medicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and sometimes

require special storage conditions not readily available in third world countries.

Researchers are working to develop edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes.

These vaccines will be much easier to ship, store and administer than traditional

inject able vaccines.

Phytoremediation- Not all GM plants are grown as crops. Soil and groundwater

pollution continues to be a problem in all parts of the world. Plants such as poplar

trees have been genetically engineered to clean up heavy metal pollution from

contaminated soil

Better quality food crops

Higher nutritional yields in crops

Inexpensive and nutritious food, like carrots with more antioxidants

Foods with a greater shelf life, like tomatoes that taste better and last longer

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Disadvantages of GM foods:

Environmental activists, religious organizations, public interest groups, professionalassociations and other scientists and government officials have all raised concerns about

GM foods, and criticized agribusiness for pursuing profit without concern for potential

hazards. Most concerns about GM foods fall into three categories: environmental hazards,

human health risks, and economic concerns.

a) Environmental hazards:

Nature showing that pollen from corn caused high mortality rates in monarch

butterfly caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but

the fear is that if pollen from corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in

neighboring fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish.

Reduced effectiveness of pesticides just as some populations of mosquitoes

developed resistance to the now-banned pesticide DDT; many people are concerned

that insects will become resistant to or other crops that have been genetically-

modified to produce their own pesticides.

Gene transfer to non-target species another concern is that crop plants engineered

for herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the

herbicide resistance genes from the crops into the weeds. These "super weeds"

would then be herbicide tolerant as well. Other introduced genes may cross over

into non-modified crops planted next to GM crops.

b) Human health risks:

Allergenicity may have developed life-threatening allergies to peanuts and other

foods. There is a possibility that introducing a gene into a plant may create a new

allergen or cause an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals.

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c) Economic concerns:

Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process, and of course agri-

biotech companies wish to ensure a profitable return on their investment. Yet

consumer advocates are worried that patenting these new plant varieties will raise

the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will not be

able to afford seeds for GM crops, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and

the poor.

Patent enforcement may also be difficult, as the contention of the farmers that they

involuntarily grew Monsanto-engineered strains when their crops were cross-

pollinated shows. One way to combat possible patent infringement is to introduce a

"suicide gene" into GM plants. Farmers would need to buy a fresh supply of seeds

each year. However, this would be financially disastrous for farmers in third world

countries who cannot afford to buy seed each year and traditionally set aside a

portion of their harvest to plant in the next growing season.

Many believe that GM food has not been a success and that we should devote our

efforts and money into another solution.

d) General risks of GM food:

New allergens could be inadvertently created, known allergens could be transferred

from traditional foods into GM foods.

Cross-breeding, other risks include the potential for cross-breeding between GM

crops and surrounding vegetation, including weeds. This could result in weeds that

are resistant to herbicides.

Pesticide resistant insects can be genetically modified and some crops to

permanently produce the natural biopesticideBacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin could

encourage the evolution of Bt-resistant insects

Growing GM crops on a large scale may also have implications for biodiversity, the

balance of wildlife and the environment.

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Plants bioengineered to produce pharmaceuticals (such as medicines) may

contaminate food crops.

References:

1. . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food

2. www.landesbioscience.com/

3. www.gm.org/

4. www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/.../genetically_modified_foods?..

.

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Documents

Final Report on GM Food,BIO 103