1. Gentically Modified Food
Methods, current practice, pros and cons

2. Background
Traditional farming involved harvesting seed from crops and saving for planting the following season
There would be natural genetic variability within the seed crop –meaning the plants are similar but not exactly the same.
Why would this be important?

3. Review: Plants are living things composed of cells
(notice how large the water vacuole is)
The nucleus of the cell contains all of the genetic (DNA) information for the plant

4. How does DNA work? DNA in the nucleus looks like coiled up spaghetti.
The thread-like strands are actually polymers of organic molecules that have been given the code letters A,T,G and C.
The sequence of the molecules is very important!
This sequence of coded information helps the cell to manufacture SPECIFIC proteins.

5. Why are proteins important?
The proteins that are coded by DNA are the building blocks for the plant.
Proteins are found in or used for:
Cell membrane components
Contractile proteins form movement
Enzymes that help specific biochemical reactions to take place inside the cell
Living things cannot survive without proteins.

6. How does this help us understand traditional farming?
A typical field crop would contain plants that are similar but not exactly the same
If a pest were to infect a field, some plants may be naturally immune to infection due to the proteins that they manufacture.
If there is a sudden micro-climate change, some plants may be more suited to survival in the new conditions
This variation means that the entire crop would not often be wiped out

7. How does this compare to today?
Most farmers purchase seed from a seed company.
The seeds are all clones (meaning that the DNA inside each seed is exactly the same)

8. Advantages:
Seeds are chosen with best features, higher yeilds, best fruit etc.
If you have a bad season you can always purchase good seed the next year
Some seed is genetically modified to contain new protein codes that make the plant resistant to herbicides like Round-up

9. Disadvantages:
An entire field planted with clone seeds may be susceptible to insect infestation and require more pesticides
Farmers do not own the seed if it is patented and can be criminally charged if they hold back seed for planting the next year
Maybe required to purchase the chemical fertilizers and pesticides from the same company so that the seeds will germinate

10. How do you modify the DNA?
Traditionally hybrid plants have been created by cross-pollination
Pollen from one plant is placed in another and since plants reproduce sexually, a hybrid plant is the result
This has been done successfully for centuries
Note that not all hybrid plants can produce viable, healthy seeds.
Today- we can not only introduce other plant DNA but also DNA from other organisms!

11. History:
The first research in this area was done in where DNA was successfully transferred between bacteria
The first successful genetic transfer into plants was done with corn in 1977.
Currently there are MANY products which are genetically modified for specific desirable traits

12. Examples: herbicide resistance Ripening retardant Improved yeilds
Frost resistance
Production of fatty acids
Production of specific vitamins

13. Crops that have been modified:
Corn
Rice
Soya Beans
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Cotton
Tobacco

14. Techniques: How do you do this?
Requires a vector (transportation mechanism) to get the new DNA into the cell
Recall that God-designed sexual reproduction allows fusion of DNA from two parent cells and provides natural variability
Outside of the natural way, scientists need to “trick” the cell into accepting the new DNA

15. Vectors include: plasmids (membrane encasing a small amounts of DNA)
Bacteria
Viruses
Shot-gun techniques (shooting tiny gold particles that are coated with DNA into the nucleus of the plant cell)

16. Remember that what you do to one somatic (body or plant) cell, only affects that cell
What you do to a germ (egg, sperm, pollen) cell, affects every new cell of the entire resulting organism!

17. In Canada:
The main piece of legislation regarding GM labeling is the Canadian Food and Drugs Act.
Under the Food and Drugs Act, the two key bodies dealing with food safety are Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

18. Health Canada regulates the safety of genetically modified food items through designating them ‘novel foods’.
Health Canada evaluates the safety of a novel food through a comparison with a food that is not novel, a method known as the ‘Standard Equivalency Test.’ This means that, if considered close enough to a food already deemed safe for consumption, the GM product is approved for sale to the Canadian public, and does not require any labeling stating that the item is genetically modified.

19. if the product proposed a certain allergy risk, it would be labeled with an allergy risk warning. Potential long-term risks are not a part of the assessment. To date, no genetically modified food product for sale has been labeled as genetically modified, and no application for the sale of a GM product has been turned down based on health risks.
There are 81 GM food products accepted as meeting sale requirements in Canada. It is estimated that around 70 percent of processed foods contain genetically engineered ingredients. Without labeling, we have no means of measuring and identifying long-term risks.

20. PROS:
Genetically engineered food can be naturally pest-resistant and thus reduce the need for additional chemicals, pesticides, and other dangerous additives.
Genetically engineered food may help reduce world hunger. As new species are altered to grow faster or more effectively, they can be used to feed poor nations or chosen for less than desirable environmental conditions.
Some crops can help against certain diseases or provide specific nutrients, such as milk proteins and iron, which would otherwise not be available to some populations.

21. Golden Rice grains are easily recognisable by their yellow to orange colour, the stronger the colour the more β-carotene.
Would you believe that once upon a time carrots were white or purple? Orange-coloured carrots are the product of a mutation selected by a Dutch horticulturist a few hundred years ago because it was the colour of the Dutch Royal House of Orange-Nassau!

22. CONS:
Too new to us, so we don’t know all the affects or results of GM foods.
Poor countries can’t afford GM seeds, so they rely on rich countries.
Creates a co-dependence that is not healthy.

23. Conclusion:
There are definite pros and cons regarding GMFs (genetically modified foods).
We need to proceed with caution and perhaps begin to track potential health risks
Should we label all GMFs in Canada?
How does this affect food security and the need to feed a growing population on less land?