The Effects of

Genetically

Modified OrganismsVictor Balares, Carlos Gamino, Caleb Henderson, Viviana Medrano and

Andrew Schieberl

BIOL-140-01

Professor Steinert

Background on GMOs

“Genetically-Modified Organisms”, “GM foods”

Crop plants for human/animal consumption

Experimental combinations of genes

Selected individual genes

Genetically engineered animals or plants

Desirable traits to improve agriculture

Determine the toxicology of GM crops

Origins

Hybrid corn (1930s)

Resistance to insects

Greater yield

Immoral?

Hybrid vs GMO

Cross-breeding vs gene-splicing

Timeline

1980 – GMO Patent

1982 – FDA Approval (Humulin)

1994 – Flavr Savr for sale

1996 – Herbicide-resistance

1999 – GMOs dominate

2003 – Pests develop resistance

The Purpose of Genetically

Engineered Foods

Enhanced traits:

Resistance to disease

Increased productivity

Greater nutritional content

Disease resistance

Pest resistance

Herbicide tolerance

Cold tolerance

Drought resistance

Increased productivity

Greater nutritional content

How to genetically engineer

plants?

Example of a GMO

Could this be harmful to humans?

Livestock Not

Effected by GMO

Diet, Study Finds

• 100 Billion animals studied

• Livestock health records are

kept on file

• Data collected from before

and after the introduction of

GMO crops and foodstuffs for

animal consumption, 1983

The data shows no

unfavorable health trends or

traits

•No detectable traces of

genetically altered material

found in the milk, meat, and

eggs of the animals studied

Laboratory Mice Fed

Genetically Modified Grain

Resistant to an HerbicideStudy done on five

generations of mice

finds:

•Increased white blood

cell count

• Enlarged lymph nodes

• Decreased percentage

of T lymphocytes in the

spleen and lymph nodes

• Decreased percentage

of B lymphocytes in the

lymph nodes and the

blood

How prevalent are GMO

crops? Over 80% herbicide tolerance

80% of conventional processed food

93% of soy, 93% of cotton, 90% of canola, and 86%

of corn

PrevalenceFDA and USDA: 40 plant varieties

32%

55.76%

12.24%

68%

GMO Production

Positive impacts

of GMOs?

The use of GMOs in agriculture has…

Increased crop production by 98.2 billion dollars

Saved 473 million kilograms of pesticides

Saved 23.1 billion kilograms of C02 emissions

Saved 108.7 million hectares of land

Has helped more than 15 million small farms and their families in the poorest

countries

Source: James, 2013

Growth of GM Crops

Video

Thierry Vrain retired 10 years ago

after a long career as a soil biologist

He found that he cannot ignore them

anymore and has joined the campaign

to educate consumers about the

potential health problems reported in

the recent scientific literature

TEDx Talks:

The Gene Revolution-The Future

of Agriculture

Conclusion

Desired traits

Marketing/Farming

Potential to solve world hunger

Human health risks

Environmental effects to monarch butterflies and bees

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