Genetically Modified (GM) Food

Michelle Rasch

Techniques

• Agrobacterium Tumefaciens– “First Genetic Technique”– Puts in a stretch of DNA that gives the plants the chemicals

they need to survive longer.

• Biolistics– Uses little guns that shoot a certain gene the scientist

wants into the plant’s cell. If the gene is accepted into the DNA it will start to read the inserted gene’s instructions.

More Techniques

• Protoplasts– A plant’s cell that has had their walls removed in

order to give a “foreign DNA” an easier time getting into the cell.

Contribution

• Technologies used for genetically modifying foods give a promise for meeting some of the 21st Century’s largest challenges.

Advantages• Quality and taste are further enhanced• Maturation time is reduced and nutrients are increase,

yielded and stress tolerant• Better and more resistant to pests, disease and herbicides• Gives consumers new products and more techniques• Fewer pesticides are used to repel insects and other pests• Farmers acquire more income• Food prices are lowered• Cause a reduction of poverty

Disadvantages

• Can harm other organisms• Genes and effect in a crop can be poisonous to

insects that are not harmful to the crop.• Spread of new, more resistant “super weeds”

& “super pests”• Possible damages to the environment• Made because they can be, not because the

are necessarily needed

Future?

• Bananas that could produce a vaccination for diseases like Hepatitis B and more

• Cows that are resistant to mad cow disease• Fish that mature more quickly• Nut and fruit trees yielding years earlier• Plants with new unique qualities and properties• A better advancement in GM Foods, as researchers

gain more access to genomic resources that are applicable to organisms.