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GMOs: BENEFITS AND RISKS
Dipendra Shahi
What’s in name??
GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM
Population explosion
Shrinking land
Soil degradation
Climate change
MalnutritionBio-fuel
Traditional breeding practices are exhausted
and
restrained by species boundary
Traits engineered to crops
TRANSGENICS
Insect pest resistance• Stem borer Rice Sorghum Maize• Pod Borer Pigeon pea Chick pea• Boll worm Cotton• Fruit borer Tomato Brinjal• Aphid Brassica
Drought stressBrassica
Delayed ripening Tomato
Fungal resistanceRiceBanana
Virus resistance
CottonSoybeanTomatoPotatoBananaPapayaCassava
TARGET CROPS AND TRAITS
DELAYED RIPENING
FLAVR SAVR TOMATO
Flavr Savr Tomato Traditional Tomato
Ripens on the vine resulting in fuller flavour
Harvested while it is still green and firm.
Ripe and Increased Flavour.
Ripe but decreased flavour.
Supermarket
Sprayed with ethylene after shipping to induce ripening.
ENHANCED NUTRITION
GOLDEN RICE
GOLDEN RICE
Alleviate vitamin A deficiency
Insect Resistant Crops
Bt cotton
Insect infestation on Bt and non-Bt cotton bolls
Bt corn
Bt brinjal
Non Bt maize
Herbicide Resistance
Weed-infested soybean plot soybeans after herbicidetreatment.
Disease resistance
Papaya resistant to papaya ringspot virus
Biopharmaceuticals from crops
Recombinant Tobacco used to make serum albumin
Banana Vaccine
Hepatitis B virus (HBV)
• Possible to create many varieties of useful plants
• Preserve and increase the biodiversity
A point of optimism
Current research
Insert Selenium (a proven cancer fighter)into edible plants
Astragalus bisulcatus naturally accumulates selenium
Basis for creating value added traits
Combat hunger and famine
GENETIC ENGINEERING AND GMOs
NEGATIVE ASPECTS
Should we play God??
Interference with God’s creation
God’s ©Patent
Are we blurring the lines among the species???
Creation of chimera
What are long term environmental effects???
• Gene escape
• Gene flow to non-GM organisms
• Gene transfer to wild or weedy relatives
• Problems for biodiversity
• Poisoning nature
• Unforeseen future problems
What are Potential health risks to human???
• Allergies
• Antibiotic resistance
• Production of new toxins
• Diminished nutritional quality
• Creation of new, more virulent viruses
Argument
Cultivation of few H Y V of crops resulted in huge loss in genetic diversity
Use of genetic engineering in agriculture might lead to erosion of species diversity
GREEN AND GENE REVOLUTION LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
Green Revolution
Gene revolution
Genetic engineering is a crude and imprecise operation andconsequently is inherently hazardous to health and bio-diversity.The insertion of a foreign gene into the host genome is a randomprocess, not under the control of genetic engineer.
Dr. Wae Wan Ho
VS
•Monopoly of biotech companies over the staple crops
•Questions about equity and sustainability
•Genetically engineered crops could devastate third world agriculture
Ethical issues
Will genetic engineering respect the rights of third world people who have promoted biodiversity over thousands of years??or Will it facilitate Bio-piracy?
Ethical issues
• The fundamental question is whether genetic engineering respects the intrinsic rights of other creatures??
• What unintended personal, social, and cultural consequences could result?
• Who will have access to these technologies??
• Will these interventions redefine what it means to be normal??
Ethical issues
Do not have complete faith on transgenic
If no trials conducted
Widening the framework for ethics
• Essential to develop an appropriate ethical framework for thisnew and powerful technology which can literally transformnot just human life but life itself
• Thorough debate on potential benefits and possiblenightmares
OTHER ISSUES
• Process or Product??
• Necessity or convenience??
• Tip of the iceberg??
• Optimism or skepticism??
• Public opinion and Media hype??
IS NEPAL READY FOR GMOs??