Solving the world’s problems with genetics, one sequence at a time
What are Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)?
In recent years, the organic food movement has taken the developed world by storm. Preaching the benefits of healthy food without unnecessary preservatives and dangerous additives, purveyors of organic foods are quick to mention that healthy food should be devoid of hormones, modifications, and harmful pesticides. In short, healthy food is not derived from any Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). As with all highly publicized movements, there’s always an amount of information that’s misconstrued or misrepresented in order to make a sale.
So-called GMOs have come under fire for spreading harmful chemicals while simultaneously endangering the lives of otherwise unrelated organisms. The term “Genetically Modified Organism” is actually not the preferred legal phrase. As defined by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, living modified organisms are “any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.
That being said, genetically modified organisms can be as small as bacteria and as large as the largest mammals. The changes made can be minor – like manipulating eye colour in rats – to major – like manipulating genetic structures in corn plants so they can better resist harmful strains of bacteria.
How do GMOs work?
GMOs are created through genetic engineering, a process by which genes are changed, inserted, or removed from organisms. It goes without saying that there are multiple ways that DNA can be altered.
Transformation is a genetic process in which bacteria can intake foreign DNA through their cell membranes and change their own genetic structure. While only 1 per cent of bacteria are capable of naturally intaking foreign DNA, the process can be achieved through human intervention. Inducing electric shock or utilizing heat to force bacteria to become more receptive can allow transformation to occur in bacteria that wouldn’t naturally absorb foreign DNA.
Genome editing is the complicated process of manually changing an organism’s genetic sequence. Before genome editing, scientists isolate the gene they want to insert into an organism, combine the isolate gene with other genetic elements, and insert the gene into the organism. The simple explanation of genome editing betrays its complicated nature. Randomly inserting DNA sequences into organisms won’t necessarily work without consequence, so it isn’t rare for DNA sequences to be randomly placed throughout an organism.
Why are GMOs Important?
There’s a dichotomous relationship between an era’s scientific achievement and its future. Regardless of how much a single generation can do to advance the scientific cause, there are always questions left to be answered and problems left to be solved. GMOs give us unprecedented opportunity to actively reshape our world by manually manipulating the very fabric of life. Despite the criticism launched at researchers and organizations that preach the benefits of GMOs, the fact remains that disease and food research would be bereft at the loss of genetic modification.
Monsanto is a controversial name for a variety of reasons, but their work on genetically modified corn and soy led to an unprecedented boom in food production. Thanks to Monsanto, an entire generation of farmers have been able to stay in business and massive populations have been able to avoid starvation.
It’s equally important to recognize that GMOs are not harmful by nature. Quite the contrary, genetic modification’s consequences were not a result of harmful intentions on the part of its promoters. Increased use of growth hormones in farm animals, pesticide resistant insects, and super-bacteria were never intentional. That being said, we need GMOs for two reasons: we still have many illnesses to cure, and we still have many hungry mouths to feed.
What is the future of GMOs?
There is a vision of the future where GMOs save lives and eliminate hunger. Instead of being used to grow bustier chickens, genetically modified crops that require less water to grow are being used to help replenish drought-riddled areas. In this future, one in eight people are not malnourished, but are able to eat because lab grown food is sustaining their hungry bodies. In this future, fatal diseases are easily treatable. In this future, genetic engineering has allowed us to surpass the limitations set about by nature.
As always, I’m most interested in the truly absurd possibilities. The world’s first lab-grown hamburger was eaten in London, England on August 5, 2013. Created by a team of researchers led by Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University, the burger was lean and almost entirely devoid of any fat. Though more research is required before foot shortages can be solved, the lab-grown burger is another first step towards eliminating famine.