Chapter 8

 Biological diversity or biodiversity is
the variety of life, and refers

collectively to variation at all levels of
biological organization.
The term BIODIVERSITY refers to the
full abundance or variety of life –
plant, animal and microbial.
This variety of life occurs at all levels
of ecological organization, but
biodiversity generally refers to
genetic, species and ecosystem
diversity.
 This is the diversity of life upon
which the health of the
environment depends. Genetic,
species and ecosystem diversity
are convenient terms but because
the universe is a continuum,
some practical difficulties exist in
precisely defining each of them.
 Biodiversity is the foundation
of human health. By securing
the life-sustaining goods and
services which biodiversity
provides to us, the
conservation and sustainable
use of biodiversity can provide
significant benefits for human
health.
Biodiversity supports food
security, dietary health,
livelihood sustainability
Genetic diversity in food systems
provides the foundation of crop
development and food security, and
promotes resistance and resilience to
environmental stresses including pests
and diseases of crops and livestock.
Diets based on a diversity of food
species promote health, and can help to
protect against disease by addressing
the problem of micronutrient and
vitamin deficiencies.
Biodiversity provides
important resources for
medical research
Studies of wildlife anatomy,
physiology and biochemistry can
lead to important developments in
human medicine.
• Biodiversity provides important
resources for traditional and
modern medicine
Biodiversity loss can impact on
community traditions and livelihoods
centered on traditional medicinal
practices that utilize wild animals and
plants, particularly for indigenous and
local communities. Millions of people
depend upon traditional medicines for
their primary health care.
•Biodiversity plays a role in
the regulation and control
of infectious diseases
Biodiversity loss and
ecosystem change can increase
the risk of emergence or spread
of infectious diseases in animals,
plants and humans, including
economically important livestock
diseases, zoonotic outbreaks and
global pandemics.
• Biodiversity has social, cultural
and spiritual importance within
communities
Ecosystem change can result in
disconnection of populations from
open spaces or the wider
countryside, with negative
implications for physical and mental
well-being and loss of “sense of
place”.
Habitat loss
- Humans rely on technology to
modify their environment and
make it habitable. Other species
cannot do this. Elimination of their
habitat—whether it is a forest,
coral reef, grassland, or flowing
river—will kill the individuals in the
species.
Overharvesting
- Overhunting, overfishing and
over-harvesting contribute greatly
to the loss of biodiversity, killing off
numerous species over the past
several hundred years.
Invasive species
- Exotic species are species that have been
intentionally or unintentionally introduced by
humans into an ecosystem in which they did not
evolve.
- These exotic species often undergo dramatic
population increases in their new habitat and reset
the ecological conditions in the new environment,
threatening the species that exist there. When this
happens, the exotic species also becomes an
invasive species. Invasive species can threaten
other species through competition for resources,
predation, or disease.
Climate change
- Climate change, and
specifically the anthropogenic
warming trend presently
underway, is recognized as a
major extinction threat,
particularly when combined with
other threats such as habitat loss.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
- Biotechnology is a set of techniques

that involves the use of biological processes
and living organisms for industry, agricultural
or other activities. Its purpose is to modify
the natural and biological processes of living
organisms without necessarily altering the
genes or genetic construct of the living
organisms.
- It has four major industrial processes based on
biological systems, namely cell and tissue culture,
fermentation, enzyme technology, and genetic
engineering – also referred to as modern
technology.
- Genetically modified organisms or GMOs is the
common term used for genetically engineered
organisms.
- Most of the foods today were created through
traditional breeding methods. But changing plants
and animals through traditional breeding can take
a long time, and it is difficult to make very specific
changes.
Intended Uses of GMOs
 Biomedical - Used as specific
models for many different human
diseases
Farm/Food Animals - Engineering of
animals used for food
 Agriculture - Genetic engineering
provides a quicker and more precise
way to achieve the same goal in one
generation.
Genetic engineering is a process that
involves:
• Identifying the genetic information
– or “gene” – that gives an organism
(plant, animal or microorganism) a
desired trait.
• Copying the information from the
organism that has the trait
• Inserting that information into the
DNA of another organism
Some Genetically Modified Organisms
developed in the Philippines
 Longer-lasting papayas - Institute of Plant

Breeding in UPLB developed delayed-
ripening papaya that is resistant to ring-spot
virus (PRSV).
Protein enriched copra meal (PECM) as
feed protein for tilapia, milkfish and
shrimp aquaculture.
Tomato Leaf Curve Virus (ToLCV)-
resistant Variety
The Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) of the
University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB)
has developed tomato breeding line resistant
to tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV) in the hope of
reviving tomato’s robust production in the
country.
Bt corn
- Bt corn in the Philippines was engineered
to be specifically resistant to the Asian corn borer
(ACB), Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenee), the most
devastating corn pests in the industry. It was
introduced as a “practical and ecologically
sustainable solution” for poor corn farmers, a
major bullet to combat poverty and improve
livelihood.
Potential benefits of GM crops
1.Better nutritional qualities rice with
provitamin A and iron; corn with high
lysine and tryptophan; vegetables with
higher ~-carotene and lycopene; legumes
with higher sulfur containing amino acids:
sweet potato with higher protein content.
2. Engineering pest or disease resistance in
important crops such as rice and corn,
various vegetables. sweet potato and others
especially those important for developing
countries.
3. Edible vaccines ---aimed at providing
low cost immunization strategy for
developing countries; banana with antigen
of causal organism of diarrhea is now at
clinical trial stage. Vaccine corn for
gastroenteritis in hogs, hepatitis B in
humans, etc.
4. Antibodies engineered and produced in
plants---expressed antibodies in potato,
tobacco and rapeseed were stable and
active; need to increase expression level.
5. Crops which can extract and detoxify
pollutants from the environment such as
heavy metals.
6. Crops which produce less toxic residues
such as corn with low phytate, 15 Phytate 104
complexes phosphorus and thus the latter
becomes unavailable and cannot released by
nonruminants.
7. Production of alternative polymers which
can replace o substitute plastics and other
petrochemical products in plants and thus are
renewable and biodegradable.
Risk Related to the Use of Genetically
Modified Organisms (GMOs)
 Genetic Contamination/Interbreeding -
Introduced GMOs may interbreed with the
wildtype or sexually compatible relatives.
The novel trait may disappear in wild types
unless it confers a selective advantage to
the recipient.
Competition with Natural Species
- Faster growth of GMOs can enable
them to have a competitive
advantage over the native organisms.
This may allow them become
invasive, to spread into new habitats,
and cause ecological and economic
damage.
 Increased Selection Pressure on
Target and Non-target Organisms
- Pressure may increase on target
and non-target species to adapt to
the introduced changes as if to a
geological change or a natural
selection pressure causing them to
evolve distinct resistant populations.
 Ecosystem Impacts
– The effects of changes in a
single species may extend well
beyond to the ecosystem. Single
impacts are always joined by the
risk of ecosystem damage and
destruction.
 Impossibility of Follow-up
– Once the GMOs have been
introduced into the environment and
some problems arise, it is impossible
to eliminate them. Many of these
risks are identical to those incurred
with regards to the introduction of
naturally or conventionally bred
species.
 Loss of Management Control
Measures
- Regulatory approvals for field trials of
GMOs often require measures to limit
and control the release in space and
time.
 Long-term Effects
- Sometimes the impact of HGT
may be more severe in the long
term. Even under relatively strong
selection pressure, it may take
thousands of generations for a
recipient organism to become the
dominant form in the population.
 Antibiotic Resistance and
Horizontal Gene Transfer
- Most of the first generation of
GM crops have antibiotic
resistance gene as selectable
marker.
GMOs and Biodiversity
The impact of GMOs on biodiversity is widely
debated. Pro-GMO researchers maintain that if crops
are genetically modified for pest resistance, farmers
can reduce their reliance on insecticides, so that
local fauna, such as birds, rodents, and insects, can
flourish in the area. Secondary pests that would
have been eliminated through widespread
insecticide application are not suppressed by the
scaled-back insecticide use permitted GMOs.
Because these secondary pests remain, other small
predator – the birds and rodents that feed on the
secondary pests-remain viable.
It has been hypothesized that
GM crops can harm insect species
that are not pests. Insects that feed
on GM crops will carry GM pollen,
which may prove toxic in the long
term and result in depletion or even
extinction of insect populations.

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 Biological diversity or biodiversity is

the variety of life, and refers

- Biotechnology is a set of techniques

 Longer-lasting papayas - Institute of Plant

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