GM CROPS: Friends or Foes

1
GM CROPS Friends or Foes?

• Jessi Hirth
• EPH 541

2
Background

• Green Revolution of the 1960s brought greater
  food production
• Total available food rose by 11 percent during
  1970-1990
• Hungry people declined by 16 percent

3
What is genetic engineering?

• Modification of an existing gene
• Replacing genes with improved versions
• Introducing new genes from a similar or different
  organism

4
What kind of crops are modified?

• Broad acre commodity crops
• Canola
• Corn
• Cotton
• Soybeans
• Over 40 crops available in the US
• 4,500 GM plants tested by 1999 in US alone

5
Acceptance is occurring fast

• 1995 no commercial plantings of GM crops in US
• 1999 33 of the corn crop, 55 of the cotton
  fields, 44 of the soybeans
• 2000 44.2 million hectares in 13 different
  countries

6
Whos doing it

• 68 GM crops grown in US
• 23 grown in Argentina
• 7 grown in Canada
• 1 grown in China

7
Environmental Benefits Pest Control

• 500,000 kg of pesticides are applied in US each
  year
• Dont have to spray plants
• Bt in over 50 crops

8
Environmental Benefits Herbicide Resistance

• Less herbicide usage
• Less harmful herbicides
• 5.4 million lbs of glyphosate in place of 7.2
  million lbs of other synthetic herbicides
• Stays in environment for shorter periods
• 3.4 to 16.8 times less toxic

9
Other Environmental Benefits

• Remove heavy metals from soil
• Can be used in bioremediation
• Can convert annual grains to perennials

10
Environmental Risks Super Bugs Super Weeds

• Bugs become resistant
• Pests can actually use Bt toxins for nourishment
• Transfer herbicide resistance to weeds

11
Environmental Risks Harm to Wildlife

• Glyphosate and Bt are toxic to non-target species
• Modified fish contain metals that can kill other
  fish and racoons
• Eradication of weeds will have a chain reaction
  through food chain

12
Human health benefits

• End world hunger
• More nutritious foods
• Increase Vitamin A in rice prevent death and
  blindness
• Increase Iron in rice less anemia, learning
  disabilities and susceptibility to infections

13
Health Benefits Pharm Crops

• Edible vaccines
• Cheaper drugs 10 to 100 time lower than current
  prices

14
Health Risks - Allergens

• GE regularly moves proteins from organisms into
  crops
• Most known allergens are to proteins

15
Health Risks Resistance to Antibiotics

• GE uses genes for antibiotic resistance as
  selectable markers
• Antibiotic effectiveness can be reduced
• Resistance genes can be transferred to human
  pathogens

16
More Health Problems

• Turning off genes can produce problems
• Some proteins in pharm and industrial crops act
  as hormones
• Acromegaly in adults
• Giantism in children

17
How is it getting in our food?

• Seed mixing
• Pollen flow
• Corn pollen travels more than 50 yards in the
  wind
• Canola pollen travels up to 15 miles and can
  fertilize other crops!

18
Can GM crops solve the problem of world hunger?

• There is already enough food to supply everyone
  in the world with 4.3 lbs and 3,500 calories each
  day

19
So why is anyone without food?

• People are without food because they are poor in
  terms of income to purchase food, or in terms of
  access to agricultural resources, education,
  technology, infrastructure, and credit to produce
  their own food

20
The Scary Conclusion

• Only 30-40 countries have regulations governing
  GM products
• That leaves over 130 countries that have no
  regulations for GM organisms!

21
Just remember

• You are what you eat!