Mikel Andre Mendoza

GEC 108 E303

Science, Technology, and Society

“ The Risk of GMO: Truth or Bluff”

Since the dawn of time, humans have been striving for their survival. They are gifted with the highest
intellect among all animals on the planet. They used this intellect to survive and innovate useful things that benefit
them. Throughout the years, the human population grows and society advanced. Due to the fast-growing population,
one main problem that arises is the crisis on food production. The production of food supply especially on livestock
products can't accommodate the growing demand of the consumers. The traditional process that has been practiced
takes too long and the yield is uncertain. Fortunately, due to the various studies regarding the issue and to the
advancement of technology, a solution emerges and it is Genetic Modification. By altering, manipulating, or
modifying an organism's DNA, Genetic Composition improves the production rate and even the quality of the yield.
It promotes advancement in food production thus it is likely to be beneficial to farmers but unfortunately some
people are hesitant towards it because of it’s presumed “risk”. Now, the question that we must investigate, “is GMO
especially on livestock good or bad?”

According to Ross, R. (2019) on Live Science.com, Genetic modification is the process of altering the
genetic makeup of an organism. In continuation, the terms "modified" and "engineered" are often used
interchangeably in the context of labeling genetically modified, or "GMO," foods. It is a technique to change the
characteristics of a plant, animal or micro-organism by transferring a piece of DNA from one organism to a different
organism. This is done through targeted removal of the desired genes from the DNA of one organism and adding
them to the other organism.

Based on an article from Live Science.com, Genetic modification originated back in the ancient times,
when humans influenced genetics by selectively breeding an organism. When repeated over several generations, this
process leads to dramatic changes in the species. Another article from Rangel, G. (2015) explained it more further,
”While our ancestors had no concept of genetics, they were still able to influence the DNA of other organisms by a
process called “selective breeding” or “artificial selection.” These terms, coined by Charles Darwin, describe the
process of choosing the organisms with the most desired traits and mating them with the intention of combining and
propagating these traits through their offspring. Repeated use of this practice over many generations can result in
dramatic genetic changes to a species. While artificial selection is not what we typically consider GMO technology
today, it is still the precursor to the modern processes and the earliest example of our species influencing genetics.”

The organism that was first artificially selected is a dog. Around 32,000 years ago, while our ancestors
were still hunters and gatherers, wild wolves in East Asia joined groups of humans as scavengers. They were
domesticated and then artificially selected to increase docility, leading to dogs that are closely related to what are
currently known as Chinese native dogs. Over millennia, various traits such as size, hair length, color and body
shape were artificially selected for, altering the genetics of these domesticated descendants of wolves so much that
we now have breeds such as Chihuahuas and corgis that barely resemble wolves at all! Since this time, artificial
selection has been applied to many different species and has helped us develop all sorts of animals from prize-
winning racehorses to muscular beef cattle.

In 1973, Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen worked together to engineer the first successful genetically
engineered (GE) organism. The two scientists developed a method to very specifically cut out a gene from one
organism and paste it into another. Using this method, they transferred a gene that encodes antibiotic resistance from
one strain of bacteria into another, bestowing antibiotic resistance upon the recipient. One year later, Rudolf
Jaenisch and Beatrice Mintz utilized a similar procedure in animals, introducing foreign DNA into mouse embryos.
(Rangel, 2015)

Since GMO had boomed, many food products that have been modified were slowly inroduced in the
market. Most of those are plant products such as corn, soybeans, potatoes, and etc. but GM does not stop only in
crops and plants. Animal products from livestocks were also modified in order to maximize its potential and yield.
GM livestock include pigs, cows (for meat and milk). Poultries and fishes are also modified.

According to Oxford dictionary, livestock are farm animals regarded as an asset. It is the source of some
commodities such as meat, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to those that are
bred for consumption, while other times it refers only to farmed ruminants, such as cattle and goats.

Livestock are modified with the intention of improving economically important traits such as growth-rate,
quality of meat, milk composition, disease resistance and survival. Animals have been engineered to grow faster, be
healthier and resist diseases.

In an article from Nature.com written by Wheeler, M. (2013), the production of transgenic (Genetically
Modified) livestock has the opportunity to significantly improve human health, enhance nutrition, protect the
environment, increase animal welfare, and decrease livestock disease. The production of transgenics provides
methods to rapidly introduce ‘new' or modified genes and DNA sequences into livestock without crossbreeding or
hybridizing. It is a more precise technique, but not fundamentally different from genetic selection or crossbreeding
in its result.

Development of transgenic farm animals will allow more flexibility in direct genetic manipulation of
livestock. Gene transfer is a relatively rapid way of altering the genome of domestic livestock. The use of these tools
will have a great impact toward improving the efficiency of livestock production and animal agriculture in a timely
and more cost-effective manner. With ever-increasing world population and changing climate conditions, such
effective means of increasing food production are needed.

Although this new technology offers a vast amount of opportunity, immediately after the development of
Genetic Modification, the media, government officials, and scientists began to worry about the potential
ramifications on human health and Earth’s ecosystems. In using any new technology, there are problems that occur
and there are risks to be considered. From the technical side, these problems can be: (1) unregulated expression of
genes resulting in over- or underproduction of gene products; (2) too high a copy number resulting in overexpression
of products; (3) possible side effects, e.g., GH transgenic swine had arthritis, altered skeletal growth, cardiomegaly,
dermatitis, gastric ulcers, and renal disease; (4) insertional mutations (inserting a fragment of DNA into an important
gene) that result in some essential biological processes being altered; (5) mosaicism (only a portion of the cells
incorporate the gene being transferred) in the founders, which results in transmission of the transgene to only some
of the offspring; and (6) transgene integration on the ‘Y' chromosome, which results in only males carrying the
transgene. Many, if not all, of these problems are related to the transgene itself, integration site, copy number, and
transgene expression. These issues can be addressed, at least in part, through construct design and testing. From the
animal side, the welfare, biology, and health of the resulting transgenic animal must be of paramount concern.

The genetic engineering of livestock is a difficult task, and great care must be taken before such effort
begins. Serious consideration is critical because of the time, cost, welfare, ethics, risks, and benefits involved in
these kinds of projects. However, farmers, consumers, and scientists all want safe food, which means that animal
care, animal health, animal welfare, public concern, ethics, and societal benefit and vigilance cannot be ignored.
(Wheeler, 2013)

According to Rangel, G. (2015), there have been many controversies regarding GE technology, with the
majority relating to GE food. While some critics object to the use of this technology based on religious or
philosophical bases, most critics object on the basis of environmental or health concerns.

In Genetic modification especially when it comes to animal welfare many ethical issues have been
introduced. According to Ormandy, E., et. al (2011), The generation of a new genetically engineered line of animals
often involves the sacrifice of some animals and surgical procedures (for example, vasectomy, surgical embryo
transfer) on others. These procedures are not unique to genetically engineered animals, but they are typically
required for their production.

During the creation of new genetically engineered animals (particularly mammalian species) oocyte and
blastocyst donor females may be induced to superovulate via intraperitoneal or subcutaneous injection of hormones;
genetically engineered embryos may be surgically implanted to female recipients; males may be surgically
vasectomized under general anesthesia and then used to induce pseudopregnancy in female embryo recipients; and
all offspring need to be genotyped, which is typically performed by taking tissue samples, sometimes using tail
biopsies or ear notching.

On the contrary, GMO offers advantages in different fields. In the article of Wheeler (2013), he presented
different pros on the animal production using GMO. These are the following:

Enhanced Nutrition

Human health is directly affected by the necessity for a sustainable and secure supply of healthful food.
Genetic modification of livestock holds the promise to improve public health via enhanced nutrition. For thousands
of years, farmers have improved livestock in order to provide for nutritious, wholesome, and cost-effective animal
products.

Transgenesis allows improvement of nutrients in animal products, including their quantity, the quality of
the whole food, and specific nutritional composition. Transgenic technology could provide a means of transferring
or increasing nutritionally beneficial traits. For example, enhancing the omega-3 fatty acid in fish consumed by
humans may contribute to a decreased occurrence of coronary heart disease. In fact, transgenic pigs that contain
elevated levels of omega-3 fatty acids have been produced. Furthermore, transfer of a transgene that elevates the
levels of omega-3 fatty acids into pigs may enhance the nutritional quality of pork. The production of lower fat,
more nutritious animal products produced by transgenesis could enable improvements in public health.

Reduced Environmental Impact

Over the last few years, livestock production has been under attack as being harmful to the environment.
However, the production of transgenic livestock has the potential to dramatically reduce the environmental footprint
of animal agriculture. Increasing efficiency and productivity through transgenesis could decrease the use of limited
land and water resources while protecting the soil and ground water. One excellent example of this is the swine (the
Enviro-PigTM) produced by genetic engineering. Pigs do not fully utilize dietary phosphorus. Dietary
supplementation results in increased production costs, and incomplete utilization results in phosphorus levels in
waste products that can cause pollution problems. Golovan et al. (2001) reported the production of transgenic pigs
expressing salivary phytase as early as 7 d of age. The salivary phytase provided essentially complete digestion of
dietary phytate phosphorus in addition to reducing phosphorus output by up to 75%. The use of phytase transgenic
pigs in commercial pork production could result in decreased environmental phosphorus pollution from livestock
operations.

Improved production efficiencies of milk and meat would decrease the amount of manure, slow the direct
competition for human food, decrease the amount of water required for the animals and the production facilities, and
decrease the land necessary for livestock operations.

Enhancing Milk

Advances in transgenic technology provide the opportunity either to change the composition of milk or to
produce entirely novel proteins in milk. The improvement of livestock growth or survivability through the
modification of milk composition involves production of transgenic animals that: (1) produce a greater quantity of
milk; (2) produce milk of higher nutrient content; or (3) produce milk that contains a beneficial ‘nutriceutical'
protein. The major nutrients in milk are protein, fat, and lactose. By elevating any of these components, we can
impact the growth and health of the developing offspring. Cattle, sheep, and goats used for meat production can
benefit from increased milk yield or composition. In tropical climates, heat-tolerant livestock breeds such as Bos
indicus cattle are essential for the expansion of agricultural production. However, Bos indicus cattle breeds do not
produce copious quantities of milk. Improvement in milk yield by as little as 2-4 liters per day may have a profound
effect on weaning weights in cattle such as the Nelore or Guzerat breeds in Brazil. Similar comparisons can be made
with improving weaning weights in meat-type breeds like the Texel sheep and Boer goat. This application of
transgenic technology could lead to improved growth and survival of offspring. The overexpression of beneficial
proteins in milk through the use of transgenic animals may improve growth, development, health, and survivability
of the developing offspring. Some factors that have been suggested to have important biological functions in the
neonate that are obtained through milk include IGF-I, EGF, TGF-β, and lactoferrin.

Enhancing Growth Rates and Carcass Composition

The production of transgenic livestock has been instrumental in providing new insights into the
mechanisms of gene action implicated in the control of growth, (Ebert et al. 1988, Vize et al. 1988, Murray et al.
1989, Pursel et al. 1989, Ebert et al. 1990, Rexroad et al. 1991, Pursel et al. 1997). It is possible to manipulate
growth factors, growth factor receptors, and growth modulators through the use of transgenic technology. Results
from one study have shown that an increase in porcine growth hormone (GH) leads to enhancement of growth and
feed efficiency in pigs (Vize et al. 1988). In the case of fish, there is a need for more efficient and rapid production,
without diminishing the wild stocks, to provide a protein source for the increasing world population. The production
of GH transgenic fish has led to dramatic (30-40%) increases in growth rates in catfish through the introduction of
salmon GH into these animals (Dunham & Devlin 1999). Introduction of salmon GH constructs has resulted in a 5-
11 fold increase in weight after 1 year of growth (Devlin et al. 1995, Devlin et al. 1994, Dunham & Devlin 1999).
This illustrates the point that increased growth rate and ultimately increased protein production per animal can be
achieved via transgenic methodology.

Another aspect of manipulating carcass composition is that of altering the fat or cholesterol composition of the
carcass. By altering the metabolism or uptake of cholesterol and/or fatty acids, the content of fat and cholesterol of
meats, eggs, and cheeses could be lowered. There is also the possibility of introducing beneficial fats such as the
omega-3 fatty acids from fish or other animals into our livestock (Lai et al. 2006). In addition, receptors such as the
low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor gene and hormones like leptin are potential targets that would decrease fat
and cholesterol in animal products.

Enhanced Animal Welfare through Improved Disease Resistance

Genetic modification of livestock will enhance animal welfare by producing healthier animals. Animal
welfare is a high priority for anyone involved in the production of livestock. The application of transgenic
methodology should provide opportunities to genetically engineer livestock with superior disease resistance.

One application of this technology is to treat mastitis, an inflammation of the mammary gland, typically
caused by infectious pathogen(s). Mastitis causes decreased milk production. Transgenic dairy cows that secrete
lysostaphin into their milk have higher resistance to mastitis due to the protection provided by lysostaphin, which
kills the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, in a dose-dependent manner (Donovan et al. 2005). Lysostaphin is an
antimicrobial peptide that protects the mammary gland against this major mastitis-causing pathogen.
 Recent progress has produced prion-free (Richt et al. 2007) and suppressed prion livestock (Golding et al.
2006). Prions are the causative agents in bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or ‘mad cow disease' in cattle
and in Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) in humans. This is only a partial list of organisms or genetic diseases that
decrease production efficiency and may also be targets for manipulation via transgenic methodologies.

The potential of GMO may it be on plant products or animal products are endless. From the facts that we
collected we can see that GMO has its pro’s and con’s. This information leads us back to the claim about GMO.
Eventhough GMO on livestock provides advantages and its risks is not absolutely proven, we must still be aware of
it. While researchers can develop many potentially useful products using biotechnology or genetic engineering, the
promise for the consumer and society will not be realized unless we develop strategies, guidelines, and regulations
to get animals and their products, which have been produced by biotechnology, safely and efficiently into the
marketplace. In general GMO as of today does not pose a major risk to its consumer and is therefore safe unless new
studies regarding its danger arises.

Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_animal

Ormandy, E. H., Dale, J., & Griffin, G. (2011). Genetic engineering of animals: ethical issues, including welfare
concerns. The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne, 52(5), 544–550.

Rangel, G. (2015). From Corgis to Corn: A Brief Look at the Long History of GMO Technology. Science in the
News. Retrieved from http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/from-corgis-to-corn-a-brief-look-at-the-long-history-
of-gmo-technology/#

Ross, R. (2019). What Is Genetic Modification?. Live Science. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/64662-
genetic-modification.html
Wheeler, M. (2013. Transgenic Animals in Agriculture. Nature Education. Retrieved from
https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/transgenic-animals-in-agriculture-105646080/