G ENETICALLY

M ODIFIED
O RG ANISM (GMO)
D I S C U S S A N T : J O S H UA G . J AV I E R
S V N H S S T U D E N T, H U M S S 1 1
OBJECTIVES:
• to further understand what is a genetically modified
organism and its example
• to fortify the fundamental concepts related to
genetics like DNA, genes and its types
• to comprehend the definition and methods of genetic
engineering
• to identify both the bright and dark side genetically
modified organism
I. WHAT ARE
GMO S ?
WHAT ARE GMOS?
• According to the Institute for Responsible Technology,
A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result
of a laboratory process where genes from the
DNA of one species are extracted and
artificially forced into the genes of an
unrelated plant or animal. The foreign genes may
come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even
humans. Because this involves the transfer of genes,
GMOs are also known as “transgenic”
(‘Trans’ + ‘genic’) organisms.
WHAT ARE GMOS?
• A genetically modified organism (GMO) is
an organism whose genetic material has
been altered using techniques in genetics
generally known as recombinant DNA
technology. Whereas, recombinant DNA
technology is the ability to combine DNA
molecules from different sources into the
one molecule, according to Science Daily.
II. REVIEW!
T H E F U N D A M E N TA L C O N C E P T S O F
H U M A N B O DY A N D G E N E T I C S
ORGANISM (PLANTS, ANIMALS, HUMANS)
→ ORGAN SYSTEMS (CIRCULATORY,
RESPIRATORY, NERVOUS)
→ ORGANS (HEART, LUNGS, BRAIN)
→ TISSUES
→ CELLS
→ NUCLEUS
→ CHROMOSOMES
→ DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID (DNA)
DNA
• Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is a double-
helix structure which is responsible for the main
blueprint of an organism’s physical (both
internal and external) characteristics. They
made up of nucleotides (phosphate group, sugar
and a base). The four bases are: adenine, thymine,
cytosine, guanine.
NOTE: A CHANGE IN THE DNA WILL
CHANGE EVERYTHING!
COLOR BLINDNESS TEST
DNA
•Deoxy (means ‘no oxygen’) + ribose
are found in RNA, is a "normal" sugar,
withone oxygen atom attached to
each carbon atom, according to
Pearson.
GENES
•In connection, genes are sequences or
strands of DNA, which determines a
certain trait. (I.e. skin, blood, hair, eye -
colour, shape or type)
•In contrast, an allele is a form of a gene,
which determines the specific trait. (I.e.
white skin, brown eyes, black hair, O blood
type, etc.)
GENES
• Genes are expressed in two types:
1) Phenotype and; 2) Genotype.
• The phenotype tells exactly the characteristic,
like ‘brown eyes’, but the genotype is a portrayal
of an organism’s phenotypic characteristics
through letters, such as ‘BB’, ‘Yy’, that are pre-
identified through Gregor Mendel’s Punnett
Square Model.
GENOTYPE
PHENOTYPE
WHAT IS A GMO?
•Wrapping up all these facts, Genetically
Modified Organisms are the organisms,
relating to microorganisms, plants, animals,
humans, being transfigured through the
extraction of a gene in the DNA from other
organisms, which were transferred to them,
which we call ‘genetic engineering’.
III. THE METHODS
OF GENETIC
ENGINEERING OR
GENETIC
M O D I F I C AT I O N
METHODS OF GENETIC ENGINEERING
•Because living organisms have natural
barriers to protect themselves against
the introduction of DNA from a
different species, genetic engineers
must force the DNA from one
organism into another.
METHODS:
Their methods include:
• Using viruses or bacteria to “infect” animal or
plant cells with the new DNA.
• Coating DNA onto tiny metal pellets and firing
it with a special gun into the cells.
• Injecting the new DNA into fertilized eggs
with a very fine needle.
• Using electric shocks to create holes in the
membrane covering sperm, and then forcing the new
DNA into the sperm through these holes.
GENE GUN
MICROINJECTION
CLONING
I V. B R I E F H I S T O R Y
OF GENETIC
ENGINEERING /
GENETIC
M O D I F I C AT I O N
HISTORY
• Everything started first with selective
breeding of both plants and animals, and
humans became good at it, but they never
understood how it worked.
• Until, we discovered the code of life, DNA -
Deoxyribonucleic Acid, which guides the
growth, development, function and
reproduction of everything alive.
HISTORY
•Information is encoded in the DNA
structure. Four nucleotides are paired and
make up a code that carries instructions,
which guide the development of organisms’
internal and external instructions.
NOTE: If you changed the genetic code,
the organism’s physical structure will
eventually change!
HISTORY
•The discovery of the DNA by James
Watson and Francis Crick has become a
great milestone to the other genetic-related
discoveries.
•In the 1960’s, scientists bombarded plants
with radiation to cause random
mutation or change in the genetic code.
HISTORY
• In the 1970’s, scientists inserted DNA
snippets into bacteria, plants and animals
to study and modify them for research, medicine,
agriculture and etc.
• Past 1974, the first genetically modified
animal, mice are considered a standard tool
for research, saving millions of lives.
• In the 1980’s, the first patent was given for a
microbe engineered to absorb oil.
MICROBES
HISTORY
•Today, we produce many chemicals by means
of engineering life, like life-saving clothing
factors, growth hormones and insulin.
•The first food modified in the lab went on
sale in 1994, the Flavr Savr Tomato, which
has a longer shelf life, where a gene is
suppressing the production of rotting
enzyme.
FLAVR SAVR TOMATO
HISTORY
• But, in the 1990’s, a brief threat in the human
engineering happened.
• To treat maternal infertility, babies were made
using a genetic material coming from 3 humans,
making them to be the first humans to have three
genetic parents.
• Now, there are super-muscled pigs, Featherless
chicken, fast-growing salmons and transparent
frogs. On the other side, we’ve also made things
glow in the dark.
PIGS
SALMONS
CHICKEN
FROGS
FISH
HISTORY
• Looking to the future, through genetic
engineering, HIV, Cancer cells and other
genetic diseases and viruses might be
cured, there are hopes that babies can be
designed, and aging signs might be
reversed, and humans have this possibility to
spend more than a thousand years with their
loved ones.
V. A R E G M O
( G E N ET I C A L LY
MODIFIED
ORGANISMS)
GOOD OR BAD?
ANSWER:
•In the field of medicine, genetically
modified insulins, as medical applications
are widely accepted.
•However, not the same norm goes with
food and agriculture.
VI. IS
G E N ET I C A L LY
MODIFIED
PLANTS AND
A N I M A LS O K AY
O R N O T O K AY ?
ANSWER:
•Since the ancient period, until now, we have
been pre-modifying plants and animals
to increase their benefits to humans, through
simple breeding, which changes
automatically and naturally the genetic code
of an organism.
•So, how is it different with what the so-called,
‘Genetically Modified Organism’ or ‘GMO’?
ANSWER:
•First, selective breeding is a happy-go-
lucky method, which in contrast with
genetic engineering. In genetic
engineering, we can choose the traits
we want. For example, you can make
fruits bigger and more immune to pests.
VII. ARE GMOS
BAD?
ANSWER:
• The first objection of GMOs is what we call,
‘Gene Flow’, which means that GM plants might
get mixed with Non-GM plants, which may
cause unwanted characteristics.
• But, there is a method to avoid mixing GM plants
and Non-GM plants, which are ‘Terminator Seeds’,
however it’s also a big ANTI-FACTOR in pursuing
GMOs, because it might produce sterile plants,
which may require farmers to buy new seeds per
year.
ANSWER:
•This factor resulted to a public protest to
stop this technology, but unintentionally,
seeds from GMO plants carried by the air
have been planted in different locations or
places.
VIII. IS FOOD
COMING FROM
GMO DIFFERENT
WITH THOSE OF
NON-GMO?
ANSWER:
•GMO products, the moment they have
been produced widely, has been checked
and tested by multiple agencies, which have
concluded that GMOs are safe to be eaten
as non-GMOs.
ANSWER:
• However, some plants have been engineered to
create toxic like BT crops, where the scientists
borrowed a gene from bacterium ‘Bacillus
Thuringiensis’, which allows plants to produce
a poisonous protein that can kill pests. In this
case, the plant makes its own pesticide, and insects
eat it and dies. Isn’t it threatening? Pesticide sprays
could be simply washed off using water, but what if
the pesticide material is inside the crop?
ANSWER:
• But, nothing to worry because poison is not a
big deal and is just a question of different
perspectives. What’s harmless to some species
might kill another set of species. Like coffee
and chocolates, which can be poisonous for
insects and/or animals, but harmless for us,
humans, unless if taken with no moderation, of
course.
ANSWER:
• On another approach, there are GMO plants that
are resistant to weed-killers, which may help farmers
to kill the weeds, without harming the crop. But, on
the dark side of this approach, it is a big business for
the pesticide industry.
• Mostly, all 90% of all cash crops in America are
herbicide-resistant, mostly to glyphosate. In result,
the use of glyphosate has increased.
ANSWER:
• Much of this criticism is for modern agriculture and
for business corporations that holds our food supply
and is only a matter of profit and not life –
sustenance, and that food is for people and not for
profits.
• In reality, GMO technology is an ally and not an
enemy, in helping to save and protect nature and
lessen its negative impacts in the environment.
IX . WHAT GOOD,
GMOS CAN DO?
ANSWER:
•For example, in Bangladesh, eggplant
production is a major plant industry, but
harvests are destroyed by pests. Hence,
farmer rely on pesticides. Not just that it is
expensive, but it also makes farmers sick
frequently.
ANSWER:
•But, in the introduction of the genetically
modified eggplant during the year 2013,
this phenomenon has stopped, which
resulted to a dramatical decrease of 80%,
farmers’ health has improved, and their
income rose intensely.
ANSWER:
•In some cases, GMO has been the only
option. During the attack of Ringspot virus
in Hawaiian papayas, a genetically modified
Hawaiian papaya has been introduced,
which has prevented the Hawaiian papaya
industry from collapsing.
ANSWER:
• Now, the scientists have been working for a GMO
that will improve our diet, which they target to
produce plants that have more nutrients, like a fruit
with high-anti-oxidant levels that help fight diseases
or rice with additional vitamins. (I.e. golden rice,
purple tomatoes), and plants resilient to climate
change and that can adapt to erratic weather and
various soil conditions, making them resistant to
droughts or floods.
ANSWER:
•Scientists are working on crops which
can filter the air from nitrogen, like
microbes. Nitrogen is a common
fertilizer, but it pollutes the ground
water and speeds up climate change.
 ANSWER:
•We can also modify plants
that are super-effective
collectors of carbon dioxide,
which can improve the
atmosphere and reverse the
effects of climate change.
X . CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION:

•GMO could be our most

powerful weapon to save
our biosphere. 😊
THE END!
T H A N K YO U F O R L I S T E N I N G ! 