EGE UNIVERSITY

BIOENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

ETHICS IN BIOENGINEERING
SEVENTH COURSE
Genetically Modified Organisms and Ethical Issues

Assistant Professor Dr. Pınar Kocabaş

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 Organisms do not pass their replica to the next generation but
rather genetic material containing information needed to
construct a progeny. In almost all organisms DNA is the genetic
material. In humans this is in 23 pairs of chromosomes in the
nucleus of each cell. The genetic constitution of an organism is
called its genotype. Interaction of the genetic constitution with
the environment results in the physical appearance or other
characteristics of an organism which is called the phenotype of
the organism.

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DNA works as a store of information needed to make an organism. It exists in
the form of sequence of four nucleic acids A (adenine) T (thymine) G (guanine)
and C (cytosine). When two strands of DNA are together, A binds with T and G
binds with C, and these are called as base pairs. There are approximately 3
billion base pairs in the human DNA. Genes are coding regions of the DNA that
carry necessary information needed to make proteins, which are structures
present and operating in the cell. Genes are passed from one generation to the
other during reproduction and called the unit of heredity. Variations in the
sequence of DNA makes each organism different. Genes express and function
differently in all species, which makes each species or even organism unique.
Although almost all organisms have DNA (and a few viruses have their genetic
information encoded as RNA), the expression of genes determine what we look
like in general. Several genes get switched on or switched off during
development and determine our phenotype. Environmental interaction also can
determine diseases and behaviour.
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The genetic code of all living organisms is made up of DNA.

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 • GMO (short for “genetically modified organism”) is a plant, animal or
microbe in which one or more changes have been made to the genome,
typically using high-tech genetic engineering, in an attempt to alter the
characteristics of an organism.
• Genes can be introduced, enhanced or deleted within a species, across
species or even across kingdoms.
• GMOs may be used for a variety of purposes, such as making human
insulin, producing fermented beverages and developing pesticide
resistance in crop plants.

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Genetically-Modified-Organism#:~:text=Definition,the%20characteristics%20of%20an%20organism.,
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 With many years of research, scientists have now discovered to some
extent which genes do what functions in building organisms. With the help
of this knowledge and new developments in scientific technologies, they are
able to modify the genetic constitution of organisms for various purposes
through genetic engineering. Genetic engineering or genetic modification
is an all-inclusive term to cover all laboratory and industrial techniques
used to alter the genetic constitution of the organisms by mixing the DNA
of different genes and species together.

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 This process of recombining DNA is genetic engineering or genetic
modification and the living organisms made with altered DNA are called
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). However, the process is
not so simple as precisely cutting out one gene and putting it into
another place in the DNA, since genes are surrounded by other
sequences in the DNA that determine whether a gene of one organism
can function in another organism or not. So a careful study of the GMO
is needed for us to be sure of its safety. Genetic engineering can be used
for good causes and also can be misused.

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Genetic engineering is considered special because often the
techniques involve manipulating genes in a way that is not
expected to occur ordinarily in nature, that characters can be
changed between the species and also between kingdoms.

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Technology is rapid and new ways of manipulation and
experimentation are being made. Also it can be applied to
human beings.

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 Given that the technology is new, has immense potential, is
rapidly developing, and can be applied for all living beings, it
can be used for beneficial purposes but there are also risks. It is
also a sophisticated technology and needs developed laboratory
facilities and particular environmental conditions that require
investment.
Many kinds of GMOs are developed for environmental
purposes and for health and medicine. Genetic engineering has
been particularly successfully used and applied in food and
agriculture to produce genetically modified foods.

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 Environmental use of GMOs

Oil spills and oil in waste discharged into the sea from refineries, factories or
shipping contain poisonous compounds that are dangerous to welfare of all living
beings, including plants and animals and other wildlife. Bioremediation is a
natural process occurring very slowly in which the bacteria and other micro-
organisms breakdown oil into other harmless molecules. With environmental
pollution on the increase, scientists are developing genetically modified bacteria
that can effectively and rapidly digest oil and that are well suited to particular
environmental conditions. They are also used to remove algae from ponds and
lakes. They are also used for manufacture of useful chemicals such as enzymes for
plants by providing renewable resources of industrial chemicals.

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 Use of GMOs for environmental clean up has been used in various
parts of the world. Not many ethical concerns have been raised against
this purpose. However, what is interesting is that in general the natural
genetic engineering done by gene exchange between bacteria in the soil
or water makes so many different bacteria that are selected to use the
toxins for their energy source, and these bacteria are better suited to local
environments. So usually by adding fertiliser to a polluted area, the
already existing bacteria will be able to grow well and clean up the
pollution rather than adding new ones. There is still more research
needed, but it shows that in nature genes exchange between different
organisms, especially in microorganisms.

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 Genetic engineering in Food and Agriculture

Use of genetic engineering technologies in food and agriculture to

produce genetically modified (GM) food has been very controversial.
Genetic engineering has been used to produce transgenic plants that
carry several enhanced characteristics by inserting genes from various
organisms. Genetic engineering is used in agriculture to make plants
with increased yield, disease resistance, pest resistance like Bt genes to
kill selectively pests that eat crops. There have also been fruits and
vegetables modified for long term storage or delayed ripening that
remain fresh for long time, which is useful also during transportation to
the market. Over 15 countries of the world use GM crops for the
general food production already.

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 The second wave of GM plants includes those with high
nutritional content and improved food quality like golden rice,
plants that can tolerate high salt levels in the land or are
modified so that they can grow in harsh conditions like drought.

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 Genetic engineering in health and medicine

Some GM food such as golden rice and also bananas with vaccines is
being developed especially for health purposes. Golden rice has
increased levels of beta carotene which is considered to be especially
beneficial for people with vitamin A deficiency. Already there are
successful attempts to transfer human genes that produce useful proteins
into sheep and cows milk, so that they produce, for instance, the blood
clotting agent factor IX to treat hemophilia or alpha-1-antitrypsin to treat
cystic fibrosis and other lung conditions, also naturally occurring
polyclonal antibodies for which at present there are only human donors.

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 Genetic engineering in medicine has been long researched for
transplantation purposes, for example, to make organs or body parts like
valves for the heart from pigs. There are still safety concerns about large
organ transfer from other species (xenotransplants). The most
controversial form of genetic engineering in medicine is the use of
cloning technology to create organs for transplantation purposes so that
they are immunologically compatible. There are fears that it could be
misused for cloning human beings or making genetically enhanced
"designer babies", so that parents can select, chose and improve the
characteristics of their babies, like blue eyes, fair skin, tall, boy or girl,
etc. However, the success rate of cloning is very low and its applications
are still in very early stages of research.

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Ethical concerns in genetic engineering

a) Extrinsic concerns: These concerns are based on the doubts

about the technology, its potentiality, newness and applicability
to all life forms. The people in favour of technology think that
genetic modification provides a great opportunity for solving
hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition in the world since it
can be made for all environmental conditions and help in
increasing quantity and quality of food. At the same time, there
are fears raised about the safety of the food in eating and also
risks to one’s health since it is considered as a new technology
and people fear that some genes will be transmitted to them.

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 Also many people think genetic engineering is unnatural
and call it as Franken foods. However, it is not possible to
differentiate GM food from other conventionally grown foods
since both look the same, may even taste the same, unless it is
mentioned on the labels of the packets. It is difficult to say
whether the food is safe or unsafe given that in some parts of
the world, like in the USA, people have been eating GM food
for a decade but in other parts of the world, especially in
Europe, many people are not willing to accept GM food because
of fears of risks and other ethical concerns.

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 Many NGOs in the world have also raised the concern that
growing genetically modified crops will be harmful for the
environment and genetic modification will result in
"superweeds". For example, if herbicide resistance genes from
canola will flow into weedy relatives to make them resistant to
herbicides. Scientific studies have not supported this fear.

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 Also it said that GM crops are unsafe for other organisms that feed on
them, for example, some people claimed Bt toxin kills Monarch butterfly
larvae. Extensive scientific studies found this was not true, however, these
stories are still found on the Internet and in some NGO circles.
There is a fear that GM crops and foods will result in the loss of our
biodiversity. Also, since the technology is new and needs lots of
investment, it would be unfair to small farmers in poor countries. These are
valid concerns and demand scientific interventions. However, the scientific
studies have not been conclusive, there may be benefits in some
environments and societies and not in others. There have been reports both
in favour and against genetic modifications which are confusing people.

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b) Intrinsic concerns: intrinsic concerns are based on how people
view life, nature, religion, their personal emotions and values.
There is a feeling that mixing up genes in the organisms for our
use is "Playing God" and human beings should not intervene in
God’s realm. Crossing natural species boundaries is creation of
new life forms and inventing a new world through technology.
Genetic engineering disrupts the beauty, integrity, balance of
nature and might harm life. However, at the same time we can say
that high tech medicines involves playing with God and
agriculture was started by disrupting nature. Also hybrid plants
and animals like mules are cross-species organisms and exist. In
fact mules have been cloned and can reproduce in that way!

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It is also argued that people eating meat harm the life of sentient
beings. Supporters of GM food consider these concerns are not
valid and do not provide any solution to pragmatic issues like
saving the environment and improving environmental
conditions, solving hunger and malnutrition, preventing loss of
biodiversity etc.

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Resources:
See papers on the Eubios Ethics Institute website, including News in Bioethics
and Biotechnology < http://www.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/~macer/NBB.html>
There is a vast amount of Internet material, some is unreliable and
extreme on both sides of the issues. Care is needed. Also some useful links
include:
http://biosafety.ihe.be/
www.fao.org
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/biotechm.html#reg
http://www.srtp.org.uk/whatisrt.shtml
http://reason.com/bi/bi-gmf.shtml

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Recommended Film: Blade Runner
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