Genetically Engineered Food: The Science Behind the...
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Genetically Engineered Food:The Science Behind the
ControversyToby Bradshaw
Washington Research Foundation Professor of Basic Biological Science
Department of BiologyUniversity of Washington
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KCPQ 13 News KIRO 7 News
Prof. Kern Ewing (Center for Urban Horticulture, UW)
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An hour from now, I hope that you:
• Know more, and perhaps worry less,
about the genetic engineering (GE) of
food plants
• Know more, and perhaps worry more,
about “traditional” food plants
produced by “conventional” breeding
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Genetically engineered (GE) or genetically modified (GM)?
• Genetic engineering -- Intentional
transfer of genes (DNA) from one
organism to another by an asexual
process called transformation or
transgenesis
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Genetically engineered (GE) or genetically modified (GM)?
• Genetic modification -- Change in genes or genomes by any means, including mutation, chromosome doubling, selection, or hybridization (cross-pollination)
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• Why is plant genetic engineering so controversial?
• Why genetically engineer plants?
• How is plant genetic engineering done?
• How was plant breeding done before genetic engineering?
• Does genetic engineering pose unique, unfamiliar risks?
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Why is plant genetic engineering so controversial?
• It is an unnatural breaching of the species barrier
• Potential risks to human health
• Potential risks to the environment
• Increased corporate control of food
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A polarizing debate
“I happen to believe that this kind of
genetic modification takes mankind
into realms that belong to God and
to God alone.” -- Charles, Prince of
Wales
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A polarizing debate
“In all honesty, if scientists don’t play
God, who will?” -- James Watson
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Why genetically engineer plants?For exactly the same reasons that we
have genetically modified them by “conventional” methods for centuries
• Increased yield
• Improved quality and variety
• Profit
• Basic research on plant form, function, and evolution
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How is genetic engineering done?
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“Genetic engineering enables scientists to create plants, animals and micro-organisms by manipulating genes in a way that does not occur naturally.” -- Greenpeace
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/crops/a1219-3x.jpg
http://www.blc.arizona.edu/INTERACTIVE/cells3l/bacteria2.gif
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http://www.nikkei-bookdirect.com/science/beyond-discovery/transgenics/closeup04d.html
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http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Fig15_transgenic_tobacco.gif
Griffiths et al. 1996
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How was genetic modification done in the 10,000 years
before genetic engineering?• Artificial selection of spontaneous
mutations and spontaneous hybrids
• Artificial hybridization, including “unnatural” wide crosses between species and genera
• Mutations induced by radiation or DNA-damaging chemicals
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The power of “unnatural” selection
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pf/PHD0308_f.jpg
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/environment/biology/usfw-list/images/wolf.jpg
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Here is the wolf. What is the chihuahua?
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What is the chihuahua?
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Here is the wolf. What is the chihuahua?
http://www.first-nature.com/flowers/images/brassica_oleracea1.jpg
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What is the chihuahua?
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Here is the wolf. What is the chihuahua?
http://www.primitiveways.com/Images2/teosinte.jpg
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What is the chihuahua?
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Here is the wolf. What is the chihuahua?
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What is the chihuahua?
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Crops are as out of place on a natural landscape as the Grand Coulee Dam or a nuclear power plant.
http://www.fema.gov/graphics/fima/damsafe/grand-coulee-dam-security-wa.jpg
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~sliang/validation/field.jpg
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• Humans have harnessed (critics might say “subverted”) natural processes (hydrological cycle, gravity, nuclear fission, mutation, hybridization, genetic engineering) to concentrate energy and food production.
• Concentrated production of energy and food make modern civilization possible, but has health and environmental risks.
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The question is not whether plant genetic engineering has risks –as with all technologies, it does.
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The question we should be asking is:DOES PLANT GENETIC
ENGINEERING POSE ANY UNIQUERISKS – RISKS WITH WHICH WE
ARE NOT ALREADY FAMILIAR AFTER 10,000 YEARS OF
GENETICALLY MODIFYING PLANTS THROUGH
“CONVENTIONAL” BREEDING?
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Is genetic engineering unique in breaching the species barrier?
• Rutabaga
• Canola (oilseed rape)
• Triticale (Triticum x Secale)
• Strawberry
• Wheat, potato, tomato, tobacco, cotton ...
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Is genetic engineering unique in potentially introducing toxins?
http://www.rogerlovejoy.co.uk/elf/invasive/gt-hogweed/images/blister.jpg
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Plant chemical warfare
• Chili pepper
• Potato
• Oilseed rape
• Cassava
• Castor bean
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Plant carcinogens
• Coffee contains >1000 chemical compounds. Of 28 tested, 19 cause cancer in rats and mice.
• Plants produce “natural” pesticides. Of 71 tested, 37 cause cancer in rats and mice. One of these is pyrethrum, perhaps the most widely used insecticide in organic farming.
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Is genetic engineering unique in potentially introducing allergens?
Genetic engineering
• Brazil nut protein gene soybean
“Traditional” agriculture
• Peanuts
• Wheat gluten
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Does genetic engineering pose unique environmental risks?
• Herbicide resistant crops have been produced by genetic engineering (e.g., “Roundup Ready”) and by traditional breeding. They have the same:
• benefits (no-till weed control)
• risks (evolution of resistant weeds, dependence on chemical weeding)
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Does genetic engineering pose unique environmental risks?
• Insect resistant crops have been produced by genetic engineering (e.g., “NewLeaf” potato) and traditional breeding. They have the same:
• benefits (plant protection, reduced reliance on sprayed insecticides)
• risks (evolution of resistant insects)
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• Not everything that is natural is good for you.
• Not everything that is good for you is natural.
• We have 10,000 years of experience with many of the risks posed by genetic engineering.
• In plant breeding, it is the properties of the PRODUCT that determine benefits and risks, not the process by which it was made.
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Are there products of plant genetic engineering that may
be of unique concern?
• Transgenes encoding common allergens from nuts, wheat, crustaceans, mollusks, or eggs if introduced into staple food crops
• Pharmaceutical proteins or other drugs in food crops
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Are there products of plant genetic engineering that may increase public acceptance?
• Improved nutrient content and flavor
• Edible vaccines
• Non-food plants engineered for production of industrial raw materials
• Crops engineered for low-input, sustainable agriculture
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GE in perspective• In the U.S., we have cut down,
burned, and plowed 300 million acres of native ecosystems to grow just four crops – corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton –none of which is native to the U.S.
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GE in perspective• Introduction of these four non-
native crops brought ca. 200,000 “new” and untested genes into the U.S.
• Genetic engineering has added about a dozen “new” genes, all of which have been tested extensively.
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But isn’t there something creepy about putting flounder
genes into a tomato?
Flounder PRGLKMSSTFIGNSTAIQELFKRMSEQFTAMFRRKAFLHWYTGEGMDEMEFTEAESNMND
Human PRGLKMSATFIGNSTAIQELFKRISEQFTAMFRRKAFLHWYTGEGMDEMEFTEAESNMND
Potato PTGLKMASTFVGNSTSIQEMFRRVSEQFTAMFRRKAFLHWYTGEGMDEMEFTEAESNMND
* ****::**:****:***:*:*:************************************
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“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” -- Charles Darwin
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You are not what you eat.YOU ARE WHAT YOU
KNOW !