• Third-party interests.
• Intellectual property.
• Criminal responsibility.
• Benefit-sharing.
• Decision-making.
• Genetic alteration.
• Ethical Issues.
GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS.
What are genetically-modified foods? .
The term GM foods or GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. The enhancement of desired traits has traditionally been undertaken through breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be very time consuming and are often not very accurate. Genetic engineering, on the other hand, can create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and with great accuracy. For example, plant geneticists can isolate a gene responsible for drought tolerance and insert that gene into a different plant. The new genetically-modified plant will gain drought tolerance as well. Not only can genes be transferred from one plant to another, but genes from non-plant organisms also can be used. The best known example of this is the use of B.T. genes in corn and other crops. B.T., or Bacillus thuringiensis, is a naturally occurring bacterium that produces crystal proteins that are lethal to insect larvae. B.T. crystal protein genes have been transferred into corn, enabling the corn to produce its own pesticides against insects such as the European corn borer. .
What are some examples of its uses?.
1. Pest resistance.
2. Herbicide tolerance.
3. Disease resistance.
4. Cold tolerance.
5. Drought tolerance/salinity tolerance.
6. Nutrition.
7. Pharmaceuticals.
8. Phytoremediation.
What are some of the benefits?.
1. Pest resistance: Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries.
