MODULE 9

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM

INTENDED LEARNING OUCOMES

At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:

1. Discuss the concepts of genetically modified organism and biotechnology

2. Enumerate the uses and application of Genetically Modified Organism in Agriculture,
Aquaculture/Fishing industry, Food industry, and biomedical research
3. Discuss the economic, social, health and environmental impacts of GMO
4. Explain the ethical issues of genetically modified organism in coastal environment, and
Biodiversity
5. Appreciate the techniques used in the process of creating genetically modified organism

INTRODUCTION

A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism whose genetic makeup has

undergone a deliberate change. Microorganisms (bacteria and yeast), insects, plants, fish, and
humans are some of the organisms that have undergone genetic modification. With the aid of in
vitro genetic engineering techniques, desired DNA (foreign DNA) is introduced and incorporated
into transgenic organisms to create GMOs. However, the source of donor DNA is not the GMOs
themselves. Among the prospective remedies for the world's problems are genetically modified
organisms, which can help with issues like environmental pollution and degradation, food safety,
and food security.

The term GMO refers to creatures whose DNA has been altered to change certain traits.
We can alter an organism's traits by altering its genome, which is its genetic makeup and is
contained within the chromosomes' nucleic acids. Genome editing is a technique for making
precise alterations to an organism's or cell's DNA. A specific region of DNA is cut by an enzyme,
and when the cell repairs the damage, the sequence is altered or "edited."
With the aid of in vitro genetic engineering techniques, desired DNA (foreign DNA) is
introduced and incorporated into transgenic organisms to create GMOs. However, the source of
donor DNA is not the GMOs themselves. Thus, a fish that receives and incorporates a gene
from a daffodil is similarly transgenic as a carp whose genome has had a sequence from its own
DNA inserted into it. Auto-transgenic (donor and recipient of the same species) and allo-
transgenic (donor and recipient of different species) are the two categories into which
transgenics fall.

Numerous potential advantages of gene technology for the aquaculture sector include
accelerated growth rates, enhanced disease resistance, and increased temperature tolerance.
Future use of this technique to increase economic efficiency for the aquaculture sector and
lessen pressure on wild populations is expected to generate more interest.
 In biotechnology, DNA from different species that couldn't breed on their own is
artificially combined or transformed in a situation where only the genetic makeup of the creature
is changed.

Agriculture's methods for improving desirable features through selective breeding or the
creation of genetically engineered organisms have been transformed by biotechnology. This
genetic alteration is used to accelerate genetic gain through techniques including precise gene
stocking and expedited product development.

Uses and Application of Genetically Modified Organism

A. Agriculture

Scientists, policymakers, consumers, farmers, and politicians now all have a keen
interest in the subject of genetically modified crops. Despite the potential benefits of these
crops, public opposition is drastically altering global import/export laws, food safety standards,
and farming methods. Genetically Modified Organisms in Agriculture offers a thorough analysis
of the topic and a fair assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of GMO products.

Benefits of GMOs in Agriculture

One of the most commonly used examples of GMOs is agricultural plants. Increased
crop yields, lower costs for food or drug production, less need for pesticides, improved nutrient
composition and food quality, pest and disease resistance, greater food security, and medical
benefits for the world's expanding population are a few advantages of genetic engineering in
agriculture.

B. Aquaculture

GMOs are living things with altered genetic makeup. Gene technology has already made
significant improvements to plant output in agriculture. Commercial GM crops were first made
available in the world in 1996, and since then, crop production has increased significantly. Over
70 different varieties of transgenic agricultural species are sown on more than 60 million
hectares of land worldwide. However, genetic engineering is now also being used in studies on
genetically altered animals used in aquaculture, primarily fish.

Benefits of GMOs in Aquaculture

The use of gene technology in aquaculture has a wide range of potential advantages,
including the production of fish with greater disease resistance, increased temperature
tolerance, and faster growth rates. Fish have been altered to grow six times more quickly than
they would naturally, endure colder climates, and carry natural diseases.

GMO in Food Industry

The industrial food business is constantly expanding its use of food enzymes (FE).
These FE are primarily produced by microbial fermentation, which employs strains that are both
wild-type (WT) and genetically modified (GM). By improving the fermentation procedure, either
by employing genetically modified microorganism (GMM) strains or by creating
recombinant enzymes, the yield of FE can be enhanced. This article gives a broad
overview of the many techniques used to make FE preparations and describes how
using GMM might boost production yield.

GMO in Biomedical Research

The use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) marks a significant advancement in

biological sciences and medical research, with GMOs becoming more and more crucial in the
search for and creation of novel therapeutics. Over 10,000 diseases are caused by a single
defective gene, and most diseases, from cancer to dementia, are somewhat influenced by our
genetic make-up. With the use of GMOs, scientists and researchers can better understand how
human and animal genes function as well as the function of genes in particular diseases.

The development of new and more effective techniques for producing antibodies to cure
disease, generating and producing medications, and creating vaccinations to prevent disease
(such as an HIV vaccine) all depend on GMO-based medical research. Another crucial field of
research concerns the development of antibodies and vaccinations using genetic alteration and
recombinant DNA.

Possible future applications include

1. Raising marine fish in fresh water

2. Manipulating the length of reproductive cycles
3. Increasing the tolerance of aquaculture species to wider ranges of environmental
conditions
4. Enhancing nutritional qualities and taste
5. Controlling sexual maturation to prevent carcass deterioration as fish age
6. Using transgenic fish as pollution monitors
7. Creating fish that act as pollution monitors
8. Enabling fish to use plants as a source of protein
9. Using fish to produce pharmaceutical products
10. Improving host resistance to a variety of pathogens, such as Infectious Haematopoietic
Necrosis Virus (IHNV), Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) and furunculosis.

Impacts of Genetically Modified Organism

Environmental impacts:

The aquaculture industry's main effects include overfishing, the spread of disease and
parasites, the introduction and spread of exotic species, chemical pollution, habitat destruction
for the establishment of the farm or as a result of farm activities, and the eradication of
predators that feed on the farmed species.
These impacts are dictated by three main factors:

1. Species in production – For culturing species with higher trophic level position, the
requirement of feed input will be more, thereby releasing large quantity of wastes.
2. Location of production – The impact on environment due to farm outputs (waste,
amplified disease or parasites, escapes of cultured stock, or killing of predators) will be
high in ecologically sensitive locations, such as mangroves, coastal estuaries and
migration of fish routes.
3. System of production – Open net pens are completely open and thus, anything that
happens in the farm can be transferred to outside of the farm whereas closed
containment system contains all inputs and outputs within itself.

Social impacts:

Aquaculture production is also seen to have significant social effects, and there are
many conflicts in the globe today. Traditional livelihood, community displacement, and
exploitative labor practices are among the main conflicts. The main cause of social effects is the
export-driven manufacturing of commodities like shrimp, where businesses aim to maximize
profits by taking advantage of underdeveloped nations with lax rules.

Human health risks

Whether or whether GMOs are safe for human consumption is one of the main worries
held by the public. According to a number of reports, eating GM fish is just as safe as eating fish
raised traditionally22, 29. There may be issues for one of two reasons: (a) if the DNA is derived
from an allergenic protein; or (b) if the transgenic results in the expression of an inactive toxin
gene22. A regulatory evaluation process of the inserted gene on a case-by-case basis might be
able to lessen these risks. The introduction of a transgene into the host DNA may have toxic
effects29. An dormant toxin gene may potentially be produced in a fish species that is normally
safe if a transgenic were to be inserted.

Economic Impacts

The introduction of crop biotechnology over the previous 17 years has produced
significant economic gains. In all nations, the GM IR characteristics have primarily increased
earnings through improved yields. Reduced production costs (less money spent on insecticides)
have also benefited many farmers, particularly in industrialized nations.

Overall, there is a sizable body of research in peer-reviewed literature that quantifies the
beneficial economic consequences of crop biotechnology, which is presented in this study. The
financial impact of this technology on farms varies significantly between and within areas,
nations, and/or continents. For some trait, crop, and country combinations, this technique may
still overestimate or underestimate the impact of GM technology, particularly when the
technology has improved yields.
Ethical Issues of Genetically Modified Organism in Coastal Environment, and
Biodiversity

Conflicts along the coast must be ethically assessed in order to identify coastal
pathways, including reference and target states, which are made possible by the intensifying
pressures brought on by human and climate change. Develop adaptive routes based on
consensual goals, tipping points, and strategies to avoid them can only be done from such a
framework, with explicit and morally evaluated uncertainties. As part of a motivated engagement
where ethics and optimism define a fabric that supports a common coastal sustainability goal,
such a development must involve scientists, stakeholders, and users.

The present dystopian situation differs from such an idyllic landscape due to:

(a) Large and often implicit uncertainties that allow biased decisions, often against a sustainable
coastal future;
(b) Corrupted analyses linked to limited ethics and diverging interests that lead to aggravated
conflicts;
(c) Unmotivated stakeholder cooperation due to social inertia or contradictory expert opinions;
(d) Reactive compromises because of personal interests or perceived threats, which result in
inefficient adaptation; and
(e) Lack of decision making, due to overwhelming uncertainties and pervasive pessimism that
result in inactiveness.

Despite all of these obstacles, the change should be comprehensive and include an
ethical component because current coastal systems, which house a disproportionate amount of
people and socioeconomic resources, need to be maintained.

The scientific world should support this transformation by:

(a) Bounding and making explicit the inherent uncertainties with larger data sets and improved
knowledge;
(b) Increasing social and economic confidence on observational and numerical results, based
on cross-disciplinary analysis impelled by balanced ethics;
(c) Proactive decisions linked to available forecast and projection products that apply and share
such anticipated information; and
(d) Cooperative commitment based on stakeholder optimism and trust on the co-designed
interventions and criteria.

The relationship between information and decision/power should be bounded by:

(a) Shared ethical values;

(b) Explicit uncertainties and error intervals;
(c) Clear distinction between true and false discourses. Such an approach requires a
transformation on how information is generated, disseminated and even controlled, since that
information shapes perceptions and the capacity to decide by diverse socio-economic groups.

The following sections present the application of an ethical approach to determine

uncertainty levels and apply formulations to define a knowledge-based discourse,
demonstrating how this approach can encourage a balanced perception that combines objective
facts and opinions in order to reverse the current trend of favoring opinion over facts. The
blending of social and ecological sciences should be based on knowledge-based ethics for
interdisciplinary systems like coastal zones, enabling a shift from segmented management and
rigid engineering to an all-encompassing strategy that connects sustainability to social
responsibility, especially for the irreplaceable natural capital.

It should be possible to reach an informed consensus on what is best for coastal zones
by combining the rational and intuitive aspects of coastal analyses, merging historic criteria with
current big-data analysis (applied, for example, to regional high resolution forecasts or satellite
data), and avoiding fruitless contentious negotiations that rarely contribute to long-term
sustainability.

Building on the ability of coastal systems to heal themselves naturally and adopting
jump-start measures to promote recovery if going dangerously near to tipping points would
make coastal adaptation pathways under climate change more sustainable. In order to turn
degraded coastal regions into high quality habitats, these interventions should target the source
of the issue (such as sediment starvation, coastal rigidification, etc.). At this point, ethical
considerations must be made when calculating the often difficult to measure natural resilience
capacity.

As shown by the examples given in the following sections, ethical considerations point to
the necessity of new coastal techniques that limit uncertainty in drivers and responses and
correlate forecasts and valuations with explicit error intervals. Only from constrained uncertainty,
supported by an ethical analysis, will it be feasible to develop proactive solutions for challenging
coastal issues that have an impact on long-term values. And while making such proactive
choices is essential to predicting the effects of climate change, doing so requires a certain level
of optimism, especially during economic crises when immediate needs may overshadow the
value of longer-term assets.

The development of coastal protected areas, which follow the path of marine
protected areas and national parks on land, is a classic example. These areas offer mid- to
long-term advantages, such biodiversity, which are difficult to commercialize but are necessary
to build healthy and resilient coasts. These coastal protected zones will give room for coastal
dynamics and habitat for coastal ecosystems, reuniting the natural coastal capital (represented
by its biodiversity and ecosystem services) with littoral socio-economic assets that are essential
for the welfare of coastal communities.
Processes of Genetic Modification

Production of GMOs is a multistage process which can be summarized as follows:

1. Gene of interest is identified
2. Gene is isolated
3. The gene is amplified to produce many copies
4. The gene is then associated with an appropriate promoter and poly A sequence and inserted
into plasmids
5. The plasmid is multiplied in bacteria and the cloned construct for injection is recovered
6. The construct is transferred into the recipient tissue, usually fertilized eggs
7. Gene is integrated into recipient genome
8. Gene is expressed in recipient genome; inheritance of gene through further generations.

Why are GMOs Produced?

The main reasons for genetic manipulation of species used in aquaculture are;
a) Enhancing growth and/or efficiency of food conversion
b) Enhancing muscle characteristics for commercial purposes
c) Controlling reproductive activity and/or sexual phenotype
d) Increasing resistance of species to disease causing microorganisms
e) Increasing tolerance to/of environmental variables such as temperature
f) Modifying behaviour, e.g. aggression
g) Controlling fertility and/or viability

List of example of Currently Use Genetically Modified Organisms

1. Herbicide tolerance

An example is soybean. Glyphosate herbicide (Roundup)

tolerance conferred by expression of a glyphosate-tolerant
form of the plant enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-
phosphate synthase (EPSPS) isolated from the soil
bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens

2. Insect resistance
 An exampleis Bt corn. Resistance to insect pests, specifically the European corn borer,
through expression of theinsecticidal protein Cry1Ab from Bacillus thuringiensis.

3. Altered fatty acid composition

High laurate levels achieved by inserting the gene for

ACP thioesterase from the California bay tree
Umbellularia californica

4. Virus resistance

Resistance to plum pox virus conferred by insertion of a

coat protein (CP) gene from the virus

5. Fortification

Beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, is introduced through biosynthesis in the

endosperm of the golden rice. This is a practical way to provide poor farmers subsistence crop
capable of adding much needed Vitamin A to avoid high risk of infection, diseases and
blindness.

6. Vaccines

Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) produced in transgenic tobacco induces

immune response when injected into mice.

7. Faster maturation
 A type 1 growth hormone gene injected into fertilized fish eggs results in 6.2% retention
of the vector at one year of age, as well as significantly increased growth rates.

8. Flower production

Several traits of ornamental plants have already been modified including flower color,
fragrance, flower shape, plant architecture, flowering time, postharvest life and resistance for
both biotic and abiotic stresses. Transgenic ornamentals the most common techniques being
Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and particle bombardment.

9. Paper production
 Scientists identified an enzyme in other plants that contain more digestible lignin
monomers. The resulting trees showed no difference in growth and strength, but their lignin
showed improved digestibility.

10. Bioremediation

Biomolecular engineering approaches develops GMOs for the degradation of persistent

organic pollutants (POPs) like polyaromatic hydrocarbons PAHs, polychlorinated biphenyls

PCBs, and pesticides. Recently, several developments in the field of recombinant DNA
technologies have been carried out to achieve safe and efficient bioremediation of contaminated
sites.

Risks and Controversies Surrounding the Use of GMOs

1. Unintended Impacts on Other Species

The controversy surrounding Bt corn is one instance of the public discussion about the
usage of genetically engineered plants. A Bacillus thuringiensis protein is expressed in Bt corn.
The protein was successfully utilized as an eco-friendly insecticide for many years before to the
creation of the recombinant corn. It had long been known to be harmful to a number of
pestiferous insects, including the monarch caterpillar. The advantage of corn plants producing
this protein is that farmers will need to use less insecticide on their crops as a result.
Regrettably, seeds harboring recombinant protein genes may unintentionally disseminate
recombinant genes or expose non-target species to fresh environmental toxins.

2. Unintended Economic Consequences

By obtaining trade secret protection, plant breeder's rights, and patents for inventions,
biotech corporations aim to safeguard their technologies and goods. Given the high expense of
creating and testing plants, GMO seeds may be pricey. Transgenic plants are frequently out of
reach for the farmers who stand to benefit from them the most.

3. Ecological imbalance

Introduction of the GMOs in the natural environment may cause disruption of the natural
communities through competition or interference.

4. Mutation in organism

Genetic modification promotes mutation in organism which the long term effect is still
unknown. It may mutate to become more resistant or virulent that may cause more dreadful
diseases for human beings.

5. Produce new pathogen

Genetic recombination, mutations, and other causes all contribute to this variation. A
certain group can grow more prevalent, reproduce more frequently, and emerge as a novel
pathogen variety that can harm its hosts in specific biological or environmental circumstances.

6. Potential human risk.

Some people are concerned that because transgenic crops are neither naturally
occurring or grown organically, the potential for GMO to become a pest and a threat if it
escapes into the environment. Toxin and allergen production may negatively affect a person's
health. The balance of the microorganisms already present in the human digestive tract may
also be affected.
7. Bioterrorism

Many countries and regions have establishes high tech facilities for vaccine or single-cell
protein production that could be hub for the reproduction of biological weapons One example is
the USSR's 'invisible anthrax', resulting from the introduction of an alien gene into Bacillus
anthracis that altered its immunological properties.

Biosafety on GMOs

On September 11, 2003, “the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB)” has been adopted
by 167 parties to recognize the need of biosafety in GE research and development activities.
The Protocol entered into force, and its main objectives are:

a) To set up the procedures for safe trans-boundary movement of living modified

organisms,

b) Harmonize principles and methodology for risk assessment and establish a mechanism
for information sharing through the Biosafety Clearing House (BCH).

Research involving GE and GMOs requires prior clearance from the nation's relevant
regulatory bodies. It is necessary to abide by the suggested recommendations for reducing
biosafety concerns. The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC) or its equivalent entity, which
is comprised of experts from many pertinent disciplines, is the main regulating body at the level
of research institutes. According to the safety level of the experiments to be performed, the
IBSC ensures the availability of the fundamental biosafety equipment needed. For conducting
GE tests on the animal species and the proposed trait modification, prior authorisation from the
local Animal Ethics Committee or Animal Welfare Committee is also required when working with
GM animals. Regardless of the research's usefulness, animal experimentation and ethical
concerns.

Name:____________________ Course:___________ Date:__________

SN:___________________ Time:_________________
 Activity No. 9

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM

Essay: Answer the following questions:

1. What benefits and drawbacks do genetically modified organisms have?

2. Will you consume or eat food that contains GMOs? If not, why not?

3. How are GMOs produced or altered? Explain briefly.

4. Is it advantageous to use GMO crops to feed the population of our nation? Are genetically
engineered organisms an impending disaster?

5. .List the GMOs that the Philippine government considers acceptable for consumer sale.