Genetic engineering (GE for short) is about scientists altering the
'recipes' for making life, the genes which you find in all living things.
Doing this is very clever and seems to be very useful. Back in the 1990s, many
'Greens' campaigned against genetic engineering and still do. They predicted
disaster but that hasn't happened. Nobody has died from eating genetically modified
(GM) food. They were also worried about the private GE companies' patents (ownership of
the récipes) "genes" for making these new life forms. So is genetic
engineering okay?
It's
up to you to make up your own mind about GE.
1. WHAT IS
GENETIC ENGINEERING?
Pol A, Raimon D,
Tiziano B,
Daniel C
A-
What is Genetic engineering?
B- Genetic engineering is about scientists altering the
'recipes' for making life, the genes which you find in all living things.
A- The genes? What are genes?
B-
Genes are long bits of AND which code the instructions to build bodies in
certain ways. Scientists know how to 'snip' genes out of one place
and 'stick' them into another.
A- So why do we do it? Does it help people?
B- Well, scientists say they can make plants grow bigger
or faster to make more for people to eat.
A-
Doing this is very clever and seems to be very useful.
B- Well, the trouble is that we don't know if it is good
for people yet, it may harm them and lots of people want to make Money out of
it...
C- Back in the 1990s, many 'Greens' campaigned against
genetic engineering and still do. They predicted disaster but that hasn't
happened. Nobody has died from eating GMOs
D-
They were also worried about the private Genetic Engineering companies'
ownership of the recipes, genes for making these new life forms.
A-
So is genetic engineering okay?
B- Well, it's up to you to make up your own mind about
GE.
ALL TOGETHER:
Yes, it is up to us to decide.
We are what
we eat after all
2. WHY DO WE NEED
TO ‘IMPROVE’ PLANTS?
Genetic modification allows scientists to help farmers by adapting plants
to certain specific conditions and improving yields. For example, GM maize is
better able to resist the European corn borer, a pest that can cause serious
damage to maize crops and which increasingly affects European fields and cannot
be addressed with conventional means.
GM technology can also help farmers respond to climate change by developing
crops that can resist floods or drought.
GM can also improve consumers’ health, for example by producing better
cooking oils that don’t include trans fats and/or have higher levels of
beneficial Omega-3 oils.
Hernestina
3. GM WORLDWIDE / GM-FREE:
a. GMOs -
Global Planting per year since 1996
b. Estimate
of future numbers of GM crops worldwide
c. Which GM
crops are grown around the world?
d. GM corn
grown in Spain
GMO-FREE CROPS IN SPAIN
GMO-FREE AREAS
IN THE EU September 2012
Maria
4. WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE THE MOST COMMON?
Most of the GM crops grown commercially today have
improved traits for herbicide tolerance (over 70%), insect-resistance,
or both.
Other GM traits aim at disease resistance, drought
tolerance, health or nutrition benefits, longer shelf life or more efficient
industrial use.
Raimon
5. WHICH
COUNTRIES ARE THE LEADERS IN GM CROP CULTIVATION?
The
world’s leading producers of GM crops are the United States, Argentina, Brazil,
Canada, India and China. In the european union, In 2006, GM crops only took place
in Spain on an area of nearly 60,000 hectares. In Portugal, Germany, France and
the Czech Republic, transgenic crops
were primarily grown for small-scale field trials.
Paula D.
GLOBAL STATUS
OF COMMERCIALIZED GM CROPS IN 2012
6. WHY ARE FARMERS PLANTING MORE GM CROPS
WORLDWIDE?
Agriculture faces serious challenges in the years
ahead, from a rapidly growing global population that will put increasing strain
on the world’s food supply, to climate change and its effect on water
availability and arable land, to concerns about the environment and
biodiversity.
Farmers use GM to modify the characteristics
of the crops to be more efficiently. Plants are more resistant and
they produce more quantities in a shorter time.
Nizar
7. PLANTING STATISTICS FOR EU (European)
COUNTRIES.
These are the planting statistics for some European
countries that planted GM crops on a total of 91,438 ha in 2010. We can see
that Spain was the one which more GM crops planted, specifically of maize.
Andrea
8. WHICH GMOS CAN BE CULTIVATED IN THE EU
(Europe)?
As of March 2011, just two GM crops have been approved for cultivation in
Europe.
The more widely grown of the two, MON810, is a type of maize that helps
fight off pests, such as the European corn borer. The other is a potato for
industrial use called Amflora, approved in 2010. Its waxy starch content is
useful for making paper, for example. Several member states have issued
(legally questionable) bans on cultivation of one or both of these crops
approved at EU level.
Claudia
9. WHICH GMOS CAN
BE IMPORTED INTO THE EU?
As of May 2011, a total of 36 GM crops were approved for imports and
processing and/or for food and feed in Europe. More than half of those crops were
types of GM maize. Other crops
included soybeans, rapeseed,
sugarbeet and cotton.
Òscar
10. HOW ARE GMOS REGULATED IN EUROPE?
The Eropean Union have the most stringent GMO regulations in the world.
Sometimes they restrict the use or sale of GMO in the territory if they have
justifiable reasons to consider a risk to human health or the environment.This
involves providing freedom of choice to the farmers and consumers. All food or
feed which contains greater quantity of the corresponding must be labelled. If
this is unapproved by the EU they are obliged to return to the place that its
provide.
Berta
11. THE GLOBAL PICTURE: we face increasing demand
for the world’s finite resources, population growth, actual and projected 1960
- 2050
Albert
12. WHY DO GM CROPS HAVE PATENTS?
Patents are necessary to ensure that the owners are
paid for their products and for all the investments they put into developing
these products.
The GE companies have been driven by their desire to
make big profits for their shareholders. They have been very secretive about
what they are doing and, of course, protect everything they do by patenting. If
they own the seeds and techniques for making them, they call the shots. It is
no coincidence that the makers of herbicide-tolerant crop seeds are also the
manufacturers of the herbicides. They cleverly make sure that farmers who buy
their seed must also use their brand of herbicide to kill all the weeds. The
companies are, first and foremost and like all companies, out to make money,
not save the planet or feed the poor. They can help, of course, and some do, but that's not their main aim.
Cristina
13. ARE GM CROPS SAFE FOR HUMAN HEALTH AND THE
ENVIRONMENT?
Some people think YES, because according with the results of two
projects of the UE, there is no scientific evidence associated to GM with
higher risks for the environment or for food and feed safety than conventional
plants and organisms.
But opposers think and claim that we don't know the
impact on human health. Studies on rats have shown lower birth weights,
birth problems and higher death rates in animals fed on GMO foods. Pregnant
women on GMO foods have shown higher amounts of a specific toxin.
4 Potential
Health Risks of Eating GMO Foods
·
Allergies
·
Antibiotic Resistance
·
Pesticide Exposure
·
Unpredictability and the Unknown
Elisabet
14. PROS and CONS of
GE.
a. in agriculture
Pros
|
Cons
|
-Farmers can spray in order to kill weeds without killing the crops.
|
-Furthermore the weeds might develop their spray resistance and greater
herbicide resistance has to be created.
-The virus-resistance might also create new viruses that never existed
before.
-Eating certain transgenic foods has occasionally led to the development
of allergies.
|
Golden
rice is bio-fortified with beta-carotene to help combat Vitamin A deficiency.
b. in animals
Pros
|
Cons
|
-Animals grow faster when they are genetically modified.
-Animals
require less food when they are modified.
-Animals develop new traits because
of chemicals.
-Modifying animals with the shot can prevent the animals from
developing viruses and infections.
|
-Some people consider it animal abuse.
-It can possably harm the animals.
-Animals are not completely organic.
-It can possibly change genetic traits for the offspring.
-People can get sick from eating the products.
|
c. in humans
Pros
|
Cons
|
-There are many potential advantages to being able to alter the cells in
our bodies genetically.
-GE technology is also used to create animals whose organs can then be
injected into human beings
-Thus if a human is in danger of having heart failure, a pig's heart can
be injected into them to save their life.
|
-Manipulation and Malicious intent
-Genetic Diversity: Evolution is all about
adaptability.
-The Moral Issue: Scientists could be in charge of
planning the course of human existence, for good or evil.
|
Karine
15. PROCESS: How is it done? How does it work?
Genetic engineering involves extracting DNA from one
organism and combining it with that of another organism, which gives new
hereditary traits to the organism receiving the donor's DNA.
PROCESS:
1. Identification of the gene interest.
2. Isolation of the gene of interest.
3. Amplifying the gene to produce many copies.
4. Associating the gene with an appropriate promoter
and poly A sequence and insertion into plasmids.
5. Multiplying the plasmid in bacteria and recovering
the cloned construct for injection.
6. Transference of the construct into the recipient
tissue, usually fertilized eggs.
7. Integration of gene into recipient genome.
8. Expression of gene in recipient genome.
9. And inheritance of gene through further
generations.
Cristian and Jin
16. HISTORY OF GENETIC ENGINEERING (GE)
Genetic inheritance was first discovered by Gregor Mendel in 1865 following
experiments crossing peas. Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word
"gene" in 1909 to describe the fundamental physical and functional
units of heredity. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick suggested what is
now accepted as the first correct double-helix model of DNA structure. But the
genetic engineering as the direct transfer of DNA from one organism to another
was first accomplished by Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen in 1973. Various
genetic discoveries have been essential in the development of genetic
engineering. Since 1976 the technology has been commercialised, with companies
producing and selling genetically modified food and medicine, for example, in
1978 the human insuline gen was cloned. In 1984 the first transgenic plants
were created. In1994 the first genetic modified vegetable was comercialized in
California, a tomatoe. In 1997 the first mammal was cloned, a sheep called
Dolly. In 1998 Doctor Richard Seed announced her intention to clone human
babies. In 2001 was known precisely the assembled and complete human genome
sequence.
Dolly, the first cloned mammal
The DNA double-helix structure.
Daniel
17. WHAT FOOD ARE GM?
18. HOW DOES GE COMPARE TO TRADITIONAL BREEDING?
Genetic engineering isn't just an extension of
conventional breeding; it works primarily through insertion of genetic
material. The genetic engineering is more targeted and faster, bypassing the
multiple generations needed by the traditional breeding. Conventional
techniques are effective, so they will be used, but genetic modification allows
a wider range of useful features to be incorporated into a specific crop.
Nowadays, several products have been commercialized
using GE techniques.
Inés
19. GE APPLICATIONS:
a. In medicine
In medicine genetic engineering has been used: insulin, hormones, vaccines
and more other drugs.
Mice are the most common genetically engineered animal model. They have
been used to study cancer, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis,
substance abuse, anxiety, aging and Parkinson disease.
b. In research
Genetic engineering is an important tool for natural
scientists. Genes and other genetic information are transformed into bacteria
for storage and modification, creating genetically modified bacteria in the
process.
Organisms are genetically engineered to discover the
functions of certain genes.
Genetic engineering is an important tool for natural
scientists. Genes and other genetic information are transformed into bacteria
for storage and modification, creating genetically modified bacteria in the
process.
Organisms are genetically engineered to discover the
functions of certain genes.
Edgar
20. WHAT IS CLONING? and HOW
IS IT DONE?
Cloning describes the processes used to create an exact
genetic replica of another cell, tissue or organism. The copied material, which
has the same genetic makeup as the original, is referred to as a clone. In 1996, Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the "Roslin Institute" in Edinburgh, Scotland, cloned the
first and most famous Scottish sheep named "Dolly".
There are three different types of cloning:
- Gene cloning,
which creates copies of genes or segments of DNA
- Reproductive cloning,
which creates copies of whole animals
- Therapeutic cloning,
which creates embryonic stem cells. Researchers hope
to use these cells to grow healthy tissue to replace injured or diseased
tissues in the human body.
HOW IS CLONING DONE?
You may have first heard of cloning when Dolly the Sheep showed up on the
scene in 1997. Cloning technologies have been around for much longer than
Dolly, though.
There are a couple of ways to do this:
·
artificial
embryo twinning and
·
somatic cell
nuclear transfer.
Judith
How Dolly was born
In 1996, Ian Wilmut
succeeded in awakening the hidden information of the nucleus of such a cell
from its slumber.
Wilmut’s experiment involved three adult female sheep.
He first took an udder cell from sheep A, a six-year-old of the Finn-Dorset
breed. He then fused the genetic information in its nucleus with an egg cell
from sheep B, from which the nucleus had been removed. Tiny electric shocks
were used to stimulate this new “combination” egg cell to divide. Finally, the
resultant embryo was implanted into the womb of sheep C, where it developed
just like any other sheep embryo.
150 days later, Dolly became the first sheep to be
born without a father. Mice have now also been cloned from an adult. Cattle
have since been cloned as well.
Dolly was the first genetically identical copy of an adult.
Cloning is
not a human invention.
When we plant potato tubers of the previous year, the
potatoes we later harvest are just as nutritious and tasty. This is because there
was no new combination of hereditary information, with one plant being
pollinated with the DNA of another. They are in fact clones of the previous
year’s plant.
Strawberries are also propagated from runners which
are actually clones of the parent plant, bearing fruit with the same color and
taste.
Concerning
people
We know that identical twins are real clones. The
fertilized egg splits in two, and each of these two “daughter” cells develops
separately. They are individual people with an absolutely identical set of
genes. Because of this they have the same innate gifts and talents, as well as
the same predisposition to particular illnesses. They have the same color hair
and eyes, the same shoe size and the same features. But, in spite of this, they
are two different people: each of them experiences the world in a unique way,
and each is uniquely molded by his or her individual experiences and choices. Both have their own
personality.
21. ETHICS of GE
With genetic manipulation, there will be an imbalance
in nature. For example, if we were to genetically manipulate humans so that
they are resistant to diseases, it could offset nature. Diseases are meant to
control the population, so that the human race does not grow too much and use
up all of earth’s resources.
Genetic engineering, is not natural, we have no idea
of the harm that could come to us in the future. Once we start, who decides
when enough it enough? It is interfering with nature.
In Plants:
·
The "foreign" genes could
spread throughout the environment causing unpredicted changes which will be
unstoppable once they have begun.
·
Entirely new diseases may develop in
crops or wild plants.
In Animals:
·
The genetic engineering of new types
of insects, fish, birds and animals has the potential of upsetting natural
ecosystems. They can displace natural species and upset the balance of other
species through behavior patterns that are a result of their genetic
transformation.
In Humans:
·
Genetically engineered material can
enter the body through food or bacteria or viruses.
Sergi
22. WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE AGAINST GE?
Many people believe that GMOs
should not be released into the environment since there is not an adequate
scientific understanding of their impact on the environment and human health.
They also oppose all patents on plants, animals and humans, as well as patents
on their genes. Life is not an industrial commodity.
What are the risks posed by
the use of genetic engineering (GE) in agriculture?
The answers
fall mostly into two categories:
·
Risks to
human health, and
·
Environmental
impacts.
THE REJECTION
OF GMOS INCREASES IN EUROPE
23. WHAT ORGANIZATIONS ARE THERE IN SPAIN AGAINST GMOs?
In Spain many organizations of farmers, consumers,
environmentalists and others have joined mobilizations to reaffirm its
rejection of GMOs and express concern for the cultivation of genetically
modified in our country in terrible conditions for the environment and the rest
of agriculture.
Active Spanish Organisations and institutions on GMO
·
Amigos de la Tierra
·
COAG
·
Confederación Española de Consumidores y Usuarios
(CECU)
·
Ecologistas
en acción
·
Campaña
Zonas Libres de Transgenicos EHNE
·
Ecoportal.net, el directorio ecológico y natural
·
Greenpeace- Decir NO a la Ingeniería Genética
·
Plataforma
Transgenics Fora!
·
Plataforma
Gelega Antitransxénicos
·
Sóm Lo
Que Sembrem
24. WHAT ARE GENES?
Every plant and animal is made of cells, each of
which has a nucleus. Inside every nucleus there are strings of DNA. Short
sequences of DNA are called genes. These genes operate in complex networks that
are finely regulated to enable the processes of living organisms to happen in
the right place and at the right time.
25. WHAT
CAN GENETIC ENGINEERING DO?
Genetically modified organism, GMOs, (which are mostly plants) are mostly transgenic
which means they contain genes pinched from something else like bacteria,
viruses, other plants or even animals. By snipping a gene which does something
useful from one organism and splicing it into another, say a crop plant,
scientists can get the plant to grow bigger or faster or make more for people
to eat. Or the plant could be made to be more nutritious with more protein or
minerals or vitamins. Some crop plants can be made to grow in salty water or
very little water - good for very dry countries. Others could be engineered to resist
disease. Some could even make stuff called vaccines which could protect kids
against nasty illnesses like polio or measles.
And there's more! Plants have been engineered which use up nitrogen
fertilisers more effectively. This not only means that farmers need less
expensive fertiliser but also helps slow climate change. Why? Because nitrogen
fertilisers produce a lot of nitrous oxide gas which is 300 times more damaging
than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Around 6 percent of warming is due to
this gas.
Some plants, legumes like peas and beans, can 'fix' the nitrogen they need
directly from the air. If all plants could do that, there'd be no need for
nitrogen fertilisers at all, so no nitrous oxide pollution.
Mayber
26. WHAT'S WRONG
WITH GENETIC ENGINEERING?
While the potential benefits of genetic engineering
are considerable so are the risks. For example, the introduction of genes that
may cause cancer in a common infectious organism, like virus influence, can be very
dangerous. Another
problem is that, despite the controls, it is possible some unforeseen
defect as a result of the genetic manipulation. In most nations, experiments with DNA are in strict control.
Michelle
27. WHAT'S MONSANTO?
Monsanto Company is a publicly traded American multinacional
chemical, and agricultural biotechnology corporation headquartered in Creve
Coeur, Missouri. Founded in 1901 by John Francis Queeny.
It is a leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed and of the
herbicide glyphosate, which it markets under the Roundup Brand.
Monsanto, is dedicated to providing farmers the broadest choice of products
and services that will help them produce more, conserve more and lead improved
lives. They offer:
- the
highest-yielding conventional seeds on the market
- advanced traits
and technologies that enable more nutritious and durable crops
- the safest
and most effective crop protection solutions.
But in fact, Monsanto company is not looking to
benefit us. They are only digging in our wallets by patenting their GMO crops.
The more
productive the farmers are, the more genetically engineered crop seeds the
world has, and the more money Monsanto can make.
Óscar
28. TRANSGENIC ANIMALS:
Haven't growers been grafting
trees, breeding animals, and hybridizing seeds for years?
Genetic engineering is
completely different from traditional breeding and carries unique risks. In
traditional breeding it is possible to mate a pig with another pig to get a new
variety, but is not possible to mate a pig with a potato or a mouse. Even when
species that may seem to be closely related do succeed in breeding, the
offspring are usually infertile, a horse, for example, can mate with a donkey,
but the offspring (a mule) is sterile.
With genetic engineering, scientists can breach species barriers set up by
nature. For example, they have spliced fish genes into tomatoes. The results
are plants (or animals) with traits that would be virtually impossible to
obtain with natural processes, such as crossbreeding or grafting.
The benefits of these animals to human welfare can
be grouped into areas: agriculture, Medicine and Industry.
A transgenic animal is an organism whose genetic
material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.
BENEFITS IN
AGRICULTURE:
-
It helps to create animals with
desired traits that farmers want, so they can increase yields.
-
It achieves control the development
of the animals.
-
Nowadays, scientists are trying to
produce disease-resistant animals.
BENEFITS IN
MEDICINE:
-
Transplant organs may soon come from
transgenic animals.
-
Nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals
may soon be obtained from the milk of transgenic animals.
-
It helps in human gene therapy.
BENEFITS IN
INDUSTRY:
-
Transgenic animals can help with the
material fabrication and safety tests of chemicals.
Inés
29. CONCLUSION
The production gain and the reduced production cost have
been proven many times through practical application. The implications of GM
foods in economic improvement are quite impressive and encouraging. The concerns
regarding the safety of these GM foods however are inconclusive in studies. So
the benefits of these GMOs seem to be a welcome change to a struggling economy
and defiantly deserve a chance to prove their worth. On the other hand the
possible harmful effects are enough to unsettle ones nerves. But are as of now
just that, possible but unproven.
30. GREAT
SENTENCES ABOUT GMO TO BE REMEMBERED.
