AGRIC104: BASIC BIOTECHNOLOGY

Submitted to:
Ma’am Leah Luz Vellascoar
Instructor

Submitted by:
Farro, Jevelyn M.
BSA-4A (Cropsci Major)
 Understanding Genetically Modified Organisms

Episode 1: Introduction to Biotechnology

Lactose is natural sugar found in milk. In biotechnology, it produce lactose free
like cookies, medicines etc. Biotechnology defined as utilization of organisms, part of
organisms and biological processes that benefit of mankind. Like the dough of bread
with the use of yeast which helps to release toxic chemicals with the reaction ultimately
with the soft and fluffy loaf on baking. We used yeast as organism to obtain the product
of our interest.
Fermentation is part of classical biotechnology which include utilization of
organisms obtaining products that benefit humankind like milk, medicines and hybrid
crops. There are numerous application of biotechnology. Part of organisms, in field of
medicine, the emergence of biotechnology has been nothing less that has a boom in the
medical industry. Everything ranging from vaccine to gene therapy has raise to
standards for healy living. With the development of biotechnology newer vaccines that
are synthetic in nature started getting produce. They commercially available Hepatitis B
Vaccine is now been synthetically made by utilizing a small part of the pathogenic virus
and it is also known as recombinant Hepatitis B Vaccine. It also known as First Anti-
Cancer Vaccine because it’s proven that the vaccine helps in reducing the chances of
developing liver cancer.
Golden rice is modified version which in yellowish color, it’s the presence of β-
Carotene, a red-orange coloured pigment converted into Vitamin A. Vitamin A is
essential with the development and maintenance of good vision. The deficiency of
vitamin A is vision related issues and malnutrition. The rice was chosen for modified
because it is human staple diet for majority of population in the areas affected with
vitamin A deficiency was rice to minimize the deficiency this variety of rice was
developed. The modification of rice was done by exploiting by processes making it
classic example of biological processes. This variety of rice called in category of
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

Episode 2: Genetic Engineering

When we cut and join genetic material the process is known as genetic
engineering. It is a principle of biotechnology and biotechnology has 2 branches: the
genetic engineering and chemical engineering. The genetic engineering deals with the
modification of genetic material of an organism. The genetic material is the DNA and
RNA. The chemical engineering is the principles revolves around the use of chemicals
for the growth and maintenance of cell cultures. The desired eukaryotic microbial cell
culture are stored with the contamination free zone. With these, they produce vaccines,
antibodies, enzymes and other products. In genetic engineering, the first genetic
organism was done in bacterium. These modification was done in animal and as well as
plant cell. The genetic modification can be done in adding something new to the existing
into genetic materials or it should be done by deleting something from the existing
genetic materials. The DNA obtained optimum modification known as Recombinant
DNA. Generally, genetic engineering can be done in many ways, recombinant DNA is
one way to pursue it. Genetic engineering is a pledge to modified organisms known as
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Almost all organisms can be modified with the
help of genetic engineering. Modification in organisms can give rise for the beneficial
products. In plant, with the help of genetic engineering we can produce robust crops,
pest resistance variety and also high yield varieties of many crops. The other way to
perform genetic engineering is by making copies in genetic material also known as
cloning. Gene cloning can be defined as the process of making an exact duplicate of the
genetic material. A few genes which called vexerted gene extreme important proteins or
even in newly modified gene can be copied several times. This process of making exact
copies of gene is called gene clones or copies of genes serves as many important
applications. These entire process of making copies of genetic materials falls under the
umbrella of genetic engineering.

Episode 3: Application of Biotechnology

Today, biotechnology have several products with wide applications in the field of
agriculture, environment and health care and many more. Organism integrated into its
genomic DNA. A mice will not usually glow in the dark, but when we manipulate its
gene, then the transgenic mice obtained shows the unusual ability to glow in the dark
brightly. BT cotton (cotton plant), BT stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, the bacteria which
comes to the rescue of cotton plants. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Cotton
plants have the biggest enemies in the form of insects. And there are certain bacteria
like Bacillus thuringiensis which are like the enemies of these insects. Thus, for the
cotton plant, their “enemy’s enemy which is the bacterium is like a friend. And this
relation is exploited by genetic engineers to get cotton modified. Let us find out how?
The first thing we need to know is about the protein, and then about the “gene” which
create the magic. These bacteria produce certain proteins, which are capable of killing
various insects like cotton bollworms, beetles and others. These proteins are also called
proteins. These genes encoding the toxins is called “cry” gene. And don’t these toxins
harm the bacterial cell? Nope. Inside the bacterial cells, these toxins are present in the
forms of crystals which are inactive by nature. The crystals get activated only when in
contact with apt pH conditions found in the gut of the insects. Crystals get activated, Apt
pH conditions. Hence, the toxins are harmful only to the insects and not the bacterial
cells. Now what we do is take the “cry” gene from the bacterium and insert it into the
cotton plant through one of the various methods of gene transfer. And once inside the
cotton plant, the cotton gene gives rise to proteins, which are present in the inactive
crystalised forms in the plants as well. These when consumed by the insects, get
activated inside their gut, creating holes in the lining and eventually killing the organism.
This is how cotton plants get the ability to naturally fight the threats and get benefited. In
this way, transgenic plants can be created using genetic engineering. Various other
useful plants that have better resistance capacity or which have high yield can be
designed using such techniques. Several important and beneficial traits can thus be
incorporated in plants. And in transgenic animals are also a boon to researches.

Episode 4: Bioethics

Episode 5: Are GMOs Good or Bad?

G’MOS are one of the most controversial areas of science. Genetic engineering is used
in many fields but even through medical applications like GM incident widely accepted.
The debates hits up when it comes to food in agriculture. Why is that? Why the same
thing treat is is so differently? Let’s try to get the bottom of this and explore the facts, fair
and the future of GMOS. What is natural? Humans have been genetically modified
plants and animals for thousands of years. Maybe a few of your crops have very goods
yields, maybe one of your wolf was especially loyal. So you did the smart thing and bred
the plants and animals that had traits beneficial to you. Traits suggest an expression of
genes. So with each generation, these genes got more pronounced. After thousands of
years, almost every single plant and animal around as is vastly different form the pre-
domesticated state. If humans have been changing genes for millennia, what makes a
so called, “Genetically Modified Organism”, or GMO, different? Selective breeding is
basically hoping for lucky hits. Genetic engineering eliminates this factor. Gene flow,
meaning GMO crops could mix with traditional crops and introduce unwanted new
characteristics into them. There is a method that might guarantee complete prevention,
but it is a big anti-GMO argument by itself. Terminator seeds, the idea that they could
sterile plants, requiring farmers to buy new seeds every year. The very concept of this,
however caused a public outer stopping the technology being put to use. This brings us
back to the unintentional spreading of engineered DNA. There have been cases of
GMOs growing where they weren’t planted and traces of modified genes found in
foreign crops. But GM plants can’t run wild entirely. Many crops pollinate themselves
and all crops have to be related to mingle. There are also cultural methods like buffer
zones to keep unintentional crossing at a minimum. But if it’s possible in principle that a
GMO could unintentionally across with a non-GMO. GM plants that are destined to be
eaten are checked for possible dangers, and the results are evaluated by multiple
agencies. After more than 30 years and thousands of studies, the science is in. Eating
GMO plants is no more risky than their non-GMO equivalent. BT crops produce a
protein that is tailored to the specific design of the digestive tract of certain insects; it’s
completely harmless for us. There’s also the opposite approach. Plants that are
engineered to be resistant to certain weed killers. This way, farmers can use them
widely, killing the other plants competing for resources without harming the crops. For
the pesticide industry they are big business. Over 90% of all cash crops in the US are
herbicide resistant, mostly to glyphosate. As a result, the use of glyphosate has
increased greatly. That isn’t only bad glyphosate is much less harmful to humans than
many other herbicides. This means farmers have a strong incentive to rely on this one
method only, casting more balanced ways of managing weeds aside. That’s one of the
most fundamental problems of GMO debate. Much of this technology is criticism of
modern agriculture and a business practice of the huge cooperation that control our
food supply. This criticism is not only valid, it’s also important. We need to change
agriculture to a more sustainable model. GMOs as a technology are actually an ally and
not enemy in that fight, helping to save, protect and minimize our impact on the
environment.
What good GMOs can do? Eggplant is most important crop in Bangladesh but often
whole harvests are destroyed by pets. Farmers had to rely hearily on pesticides. Not
only was this very expensive. Farmers also frequently got sick the introduction of a new
GM eggplant in 2013 stopped this. The same BT protein we talked about before, an
effective killer of insects but harmless to humans, was engineered into them. This
reduced insecticide use on eggplants by more than 80%. The health of farmers
improved and their income rose dramatically. And sometimes, the GM approach is the
only option. In the 1990’s, the papaya industry in Hawaii was under attack from the
ringspot virus which threatened to wipe out Hawaian papaya. The solution was a
papaya genetically modified to be vaccinated against the virus. Without it, the state’s
papaya industry would have collapsed. The future. All these stories show a very narrow
application. 99% of all GMO’s use right now produce pesticides, or are resistant against
them. There are so much more we could do. The scientist are working on GMO’s that
could improve our diet. Plants that produce more or different nutrients, like fruit with
higher antioxidant levels that help to fight diseases or rice with additional vitamins. On a
large scale, we’re trying to engineer plants more resilient to climate change, plants that
can better adapt to erratic weather and adverse soil conditions making them resistant to
droughts or floods. GMO’s could also not only reduce agriculture’s impact in the
environment but actively help to protect it. Scientist are working on crops that can draw
nitrogen from the air, like microbes. Nitrogen is a common fertilizer, but its build up
pollutes the ground water and speeds up climate change. Plants that collect their own
nitrogen could fix two problems at once. The over use to fertilizers in the developed
world, as well as the shortage of it in developing countries. We could even modify plants
to become super-effective carbon collectors, like the American chestnut free, to mitigate
and actually reverse climate change. With the tools we have today, our imagination is
the limit CONCLUSION. The world eats 11 million pounds of food every day. A UN
estimate suggests well need 70% more by 2050. We could grow that food by chearing
more and more forests to create fields and patures and by using more pesticides. Or we
find a way to do it on the land we’re got right now with more effective methods like GM
crops. Intensifying farming instead of expanding it means GMO’s could become the new
organic. In a nutshell, GMO’s have the potential to not only drastically change
agriculture but to also damper the effects of our own irresponsible behavior. GMO’s
could be our most powerful weapon to our biosphere.

Episode 6: GMO Debate Grows Over Golden Rice in the Philippines

Researches believe they have found a way to add critical nutrients to rice a dietary
staple in the countries like Philippines. But those changes top directly into concerns
over genetically modified foods. It may not be happy about it but these mega dose of
vitamin A might saves his vision or maybe his life. Vitamin A deficiency is a pervasive
and silent killer. A malnourish children and pregnant mothers in the third world. Each
year at least the half children and a few hundred thousand women go blind or die for.
Lack of these crucial micronutrients. The sources of vitamin A, meats and leafy
vegetables expensive an often available are rarely part of the daily diet here. That is
why people, here in the Philippines are working to add vitamin A to the daily staple, rice
but the rice here are meticulously breeding becomes the gold, stander for heated the
bait over genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) Bruce Tolentino (International Rice
Research Institute) introduce the greenhouse, the controlled trial greenhouse where
they are breeding the rice. Bruce Tolentino (deputy director general for communication
partnerships and the non-profit Internatoinal Rice Institute) (IRRI). Los Banos,
Philippines the field here was very strange rice that increase yield, flood tolerant or
insect resistant. All the rice through conventional breeding techniques, but golden rice
stands apart literally and figuratively. They are taking some aspects from the corn plant
which has be the carotene and transfering those traits in rice, so that they will
developed a rice variety that contains vita-carotene. The rise which turns yellow, hence
the name human body converts by the carotene into vitamin A, an essential
micronutrients the scientist here spye’s the corn and microorganism in soil with rice
genes. These DNA taking goes against the grains for many environmental activist. In
August 8, 2013 hundreds of storms of the Philippines (Bicol) government has field
planted with golden rice. They uprooted and destroyed all the plants. Daniel Ocampo in
sustainable agriculture campaign for green peace in the Philippines which oppose the
GMO’s primarily out of fear, they will contaminate other crops. These happens, there’s
no way that can actually have a recall of GMO once they spread out of controllably. The
camp denies of green peace involved the rice raid but it says they respect that the
protest is they are not afraid in science but they are concern about the long term
impacts in the environment and human health. Cause they has no proof that is the safe.
Antonio Alfonso is incharge of finding the proof that GMO opponents sock. His the
leaders of golden rice project in the Philippines Department of Agriculture Rice
Research Institute (PhilRice). The agency is testing golden rice and see if this is indeed
safe for the environmental and human consumption. The plot that was destroy was 115
spread throughout the Philippines so researches, convince that they can recover
scientifically. But they worried, that they big phsychological and political blow to the
golden rice project. Alfonso’s sees there’s no difference between conventional breeding
techniques employed by agriculture for thousands of years in genetic modification

Episode 7: The Truths about GMO

Episode 8: Monsanto
Episode 9: The Real Problem with GMO Food