Bio-technology

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOS)
 A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism (plant, animal, bacteria or virus) whose genetic
makeup has been modified for a particular purpose, in the laboratory using scientific methods like
recombinant DNA technology.
 They are also known as transgenic organisms (if the gene from one organism has been transferred to a
different organism of different species).
 For example, a plant can be modified to carry an additional gene found in another living thing (such as a
bacteria) to protect itself against insect pests.
 Example of GMOs are- Bt cotton, Bt brinjal, Bt Corn, Flavr Savr tomato, GloFish, AquaAvantage salmon etc.

# Benefits of GMO Crops
 Environmental benefits: Farmers can use less pesticide on insect-resistant GM plants. This means fewer chemicals that can damage the environment are washed into the soil.
 Health benefits: Genetically engineered foods are reported to be high in nutrients and contain more minerals and vitamins than those found in traditionally grown foods. Farmers need to use less pesticide on insect resistant plants, which results in healthier food.
 GM crops are better protected by, and are not so susceptible to diseases, insects and herbicides, allowing higher yield.
 Pest resistant GM crops reduces the need to ‘blanket’ spray an entire crop, which impacts the entire insect population. GM pest resistant crops effectively target only pest insects that eat the crop.
 It costs less to produce crops due to lower susceptibility to viruses and insects. . Costs are potentially saved through a reduced need for pesticides and/or herbicides.

# Risks/Limitations of GM crops
→ Environmental hazards:
 Farmers may use weed killers indiscriminately on herbicide resistant crops if they know their crops are less susceptible to these chemicals.
 Insect resistant or herbicide tolerant crops can potentially cause the development of harmful pest resistance plants, or so-called “superweeds”. The toxic effects of insect resistant plants could potentially also kill beneficial insects such as bees.
 Competition with natural species- Faster growth of GMOs can enable them to have a competitive advantage over the native organisms. This may allow them to become invasive, to spread into new habitats, and cause ecological and economic damage.
 One risk of particular concern relating to GMOs is the risk of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT is the acquisition of foreign genes (via transformation, transduction, and conjugation) by organisms in a variety of environmental situations. The antibiotic resistance genes used as markers in transgenic crops may be horizontally transferred to pathogenic disease causing bacteria, thereby making it resistant to that antibiotic.
Thus, the consumption of these genetically engineered foods can cause the development of diseases which are immune to antibiotics.
→ Increase in Anti-nutrients: Anti-nutrients are substances that interfere with the utilization of nutrients. The insertion of a new gene may lead to an increase in the existing levels of anti-nutrients. For example, glyphosate resistant Roundup Ready soybean has been shown to increase anti-nutrients.
→ Allergenicity: GM foods have the potential to cause allergic reactions in general; this risk is comparable to the risks associated with traditionally grown foods. However, the proteins produced by any newly introduced genes have the potential to cause an additional allergic response. To prevent such allergenicity, the transfer of genes from commonly allergenic foods is discouraged unless it can be proven that the protein produced by the introduced gene will not be allergenic.
→ Economic Concerns: Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process. Patenting these new plant varieties will raise the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will not beable to afford seeds for GM crops.