Modify Your Thoughts on Genetically Modified Organisms
Modify Your Thoughts on Genetically Modified Organisms
Rishitha Voleti and Joanna Cheng Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
“Non-GMO!” food products at the supermarket boast with brightly colored stickers on their packaging. This is a clever marketing technique that appeals to the stigma against GMOs, but are they really that harmful? The fears against them are not unfounded, but the world of GMOs promises agricultural sustainability, health, and efficiency like never before.
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are created by artificially inserting genes from one organism into another through a process called transformation. Besides plant transformation, this process can be used to modify organisms to produce important compounds, such as insulin, which can be used to treat high blood glucose [3, 7]. Plant transformations in particular can increase plant yield and survival. There are two main methods of plant transformation: stable and transient transformation, both of which heavily rely on a species of bacteria called Agrobacterium [2].
Stable transformation introduces foreign genes to a plant in a way that allows these genes to be expressed throughout its lifetime and then transferred to its offspring. Agrobacterium can insert DNA into plants and induce tumors by the use of a plasmid, a circular strand of DNA separate from the chromosome. Scientists use this Ti (tumor-inducing) plasmid to transfer desired genes by swapping out the tumor-inducing genes and replacing them with genes of interest [1, 8]. However, when transformation occurs, only a few of the plant cells are actually transformed. To distinguish and select these successfully transformed cells, the plasmid often includes a selective marker. This marker may confer antibiotic resistance, and by exposing the cells to that antibiotic, the successfully transformed cells will survive while the rest will not. These cells can then be cultured and grown into a plant, creating an organism with specific traits based on the genes incorporated [3].
Transient transformation, in contrast, is temporary and allows for quick and efficient experimentation. Transient transformation uses the same plasmid method as stable transformation, but the plasmid is instead injected into plant leaves [5]. As opposed to stable transformation, temporary transient transformation does not culture a new organism from transformed cells. Therefore, results can be seen in days instead of having to wait for a new plant to grow [2].
GMOs may hold the key to ensuring that a Malthusian view of the world’s future, in which human population outgrows food production and suffers a catastrophe, does not happen. The human population is expanding at an exponential rate, but agricultural yields are struggling to keep up, not to mention that conventional breeding to create desirable traits in plants takes many generations to take effect. Modified crops could solve the ever-growing demand for food in the 21st century, as they hold the potential of rapidly using transformation techniques to increase yield and efficiency. Moreover, benefits abound for those living in poverty. Meals can be genetically modified to change their nutritional contents, providing essential nutrients to people in parts of the world that may have difficulty obtaining them, and can also be modified to have longer shelf lives [8]. Finally, GMOs may allow us to adapt the plant to the environment, instead of adapting the environment to the plant. Much land considered non-arable today, for example, salty soil, could be cultivated with the use of modified plants that can thrive in these non-standard conditions [3].
On the other hand, there is a negative side to GMOs. The inserted genes of GMOs can cause allergic reactions. For example, if a certain plant was transformed by a gene from a nut, people originally allergic to the nut could also be allergic to the transformed plant product [8]. Not only can GMOs increase the allergenicity of food products, they can also induce other internal problems. To test this case, an anti-GMO group called the Institute for Responsible Technology created an experiment in which healthy male rats were isolated into groups, and each group was fed either an organic or a genetically modified potato. After ten days, the rats that consumed GMO potatoes were found to have decreased organ and immune system function [6]. It is uncertain if these results can be applied to humans, and similar experiments with humans will need many more years to determine the true long-term effects of GMOs.
GMOs do not only have the potential to harm health but our environment as well. There are widespread ethical concerns about tampering with the natural balance of species as the genetic modification of organisms threatens to disrupt the delicate food web. For instance, engineering plants to be insect-resistant may decrease the population of that type of insect, throwing the entire ecosystem out of sync [8]. Lastly, there are possibilities of genetic modifications made in crop plants being transferred to weed species. If weeds gain herbicide resistance in this manner, they could thrive in crop fields and negatively impact crop growth [3]. The truth is, no matter what herbicide or insecticide is used, nature is right behind with resistant weeds and stronger pests [7, 8].
Despite serious concerns with the widespread consumption and usage of genetically modified organisms, they still hold a place in the future of an increasingly growing society. The term ‘GMO’ nowadays has a deeply negative connotation due to mis- and disinformation [4], but it is worth a balanced argument on both sides of the issue. Remember this the next time you buy something labeled ‘non-GMO’!
References
[1] Dunn, S. E., Vicini, J. L., Glenn, K. C., Fleischer, D. M., & Greenhawt, M. J. (2017). The allergenicity of genetically modified foods from genetically engineered crops: A narrative and systematic review. Annals of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology, 119(3), 214-222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2017.07.010
[2] Gelvin, S. B. (2003). Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation: the biology behind the "gene-jockeying" tool. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews: MMBR, 67(1), 16–37. https://doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.67.1.16-37.2003
[3] Hillis, D. M., Price, M. V., Hill, R. W., Hall, D. W., & Laskowski, M. J. (2014). Principles of life (2nd ed.). Sinauer Associates.
[4] Ryan, C. D., Schaul, A. J., Butner, R., & Swarthout, J. T. (2020). Monetizing disinformation in the attention economy: The case of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). European Management Journal, 38(1), 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2019.11.002
[5] Sainsbury, F., & Lomonossoff, G. P. (2014). Transient expressions of synthetic biology in plants. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 19, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2014.02.003
[6] Smith, J. M. (2007). Genetic roulette: The documented health risks of genetically engineered foods. Chelsea Green Publishing.
[7] The story on GMOs. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2020, from https://ag.purdue.edu/GMOs/Pages/ WhatareGMOs.aspx
[8] Zhang, C., Wohlhueter, R., & Zhang, H. (2016). Genetically modified foods: A critical review of their promise and problems. Food Science and Human Wellness, 5(3), 116-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw. 2016.04.002
