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GENETICALLY MODIFIED PLANTS: A SOLUTION TO WORLD
HUNGER
Kevin Woeppel ([email protected])
EFFECTS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED
PLANTS IN THE WORLD TODAY
Genetically modified plants are a viable
solution to many of the food and nutritional
requirements of the world, and more time and
funding should be put towards advancing our
abilities to modify the genetic composition of
plants. My cousin is an aid worker in Kenya and
her stories of the hunger and poverty there have
hit me hard as well as become a driving force
behind my views on science to stop hunger. In the
world today there are over 985 million hungry
people, 1 in 6 infants has a low birth weight, and
22,000 children die every day from hunger and
poverty related causes. Genetically modified
plants are already in vast use throughout the world
and have much untapped potential in lessening or
eliminating many of the problems which may be
encountered through a food shortage due to
overpopulation and in-arable land and developing
countries. As Engineers, we must take advantage
of a field which will allow us to better the lives of
people in the world [1]. The field of genetic
modification is capable of increasing crop yield,
crop nutrition and the overall ability to provide
food to a larger proportion of the population.
Genetically modified foods should continue to
receive funding and remains a viable option to
curb world hunger by increasing crop yields and
nutrition.
A genetically modified plant is a plant where
several of the genes have been changed in order to
form more favorable phenotypes. Many times the
traits acquired are not far different than those
obtained through selective breeding, but these
same genes are obtained with far greater ease. The
advantages of genetic modification over
traditional forms of selective breeding are that
with genetic modification, one can select specific
traits which are transferred into the plants genetics
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to allow only the wanted genes without the risk of
unwanted ones, as well as the ability to import
genes from species which are less closely related
or even completely different. Genetic modification
began in the 1980’s and has been commercially
available since the 1990’s. Genetically modified
plants are broken into 3 groups; first generation
focuses on survival of the plant, mainly through
drought, flood, disease and pest resistance, second
generation plants focus on quantity and quality of
food produced by increasing yield and nutrition
profiles of the food they create, and third
generation plants are grown with the interest of
pharmaceuticals and industries [4].
Since the 1990’s, the GM plant trade as
exploded in both developed and developing
countries. The dominant traits of these plants are
herbicide tolerance (50%) and insect resistance
(30%). GM plants account for 86% of the United
States maize production in 2010 [9]. GM corn is
resistant to many pests including corn borers,
rootworm and many stem borers. In developing
countries, cotton and canola are extremely
prevalent, with India growing 7.6 million hectares
of cotton and China with 3.8 Million. On hold at
this time are BT rice, cauliflower, eggplant and
wheat. BT stands for bacillus thuringiensis,
bacteria which are the source of the genes. Also in
development are fungal, viral and bacterial
resistant strains of crops as well as plant that have
increased resistance to abiotic stress such as
drought and flooding [6]. Second generation
plants have possibilities which include greatly
improved fatty acid profile in seeds, creating
maize with an improved protein content, and
improving the nutrition profiles of many staple
foods such as wheat and corn. An excellent
example of an improvement in second generation
GM plants in the production of Golden Rice, rice
which is fortified with Beta-Carotene, the
Kevin Woeppel
precursor to vitamin A. Useful third generation
plants possibilities include the production of biodegradable plastics from organic plant matter,
vaccines, antibodies and antibiotics [6].
Another recent entry into the GM market is
GM wheat. By 2004, the Monsanto Company, a
leader in GM seeds, had been in the process of
developing several forms of GM wheat; this
project was scrapped however due to opposition
from American farmers. Now though, it appears
that there has been a change in the views of
Americans. In 2006, a United States Coalition
decided to advance work on genetically modified
wheat with enhanced traits. According to a survey
from 2009, over ¾ of American farmers would be
in favor of genetically modified plants with traits
including; drought resistance, freeze resistance,
pest resistance, and disease resistance [3]. Such
traits would limit the damage done by factors such
as leaf rust, the world’s largest wheat killing
disease, which is capable of wiping out over 20%
of the world’s wheat supply. American growers
were deprived of access to new and innovative
varieties of wheat because they were caught
between the anti-technology feelings of some of
the largest buyers and the innovation which could
have been offered by the Monsanto Company.
This left the door open for other countries to take
advantage of GM wheat and increase their output
while leaving America behind. As a result,
America, which was supplying 50% of the world’s
wheat in the mid 1970’s, fell to 20% in 2009, and
lowered its position as one of the worlds “Food
Superpowers” [3].
GM Plants in China
GM plants have, perhaps, one of their largest
successes in China. China is the world’s largest
producer or rice, a staple food for over 1 billion
people inside of China and 2 billion in the world.
Unfortunately, rice lost to pests such as borers
were calculated to be about 1.69 billion dollars.
By 2030, China needs to produce enough rice to
feed and expected population of 1.6 billion people.
The estimated rice yield will need to be 7.85kg/ha
and will need 2 billion kg of rice a year. In order
to manage such a huge production, China needs to
manage the limiting factors of production and
improve both total crop yield as well as the crop
yield per acre. In response, the Chinese
government invested billions of Yuan (Chinese
currency) into the production of insect resistant
genetically modified rice. Using an insecticidal
protein found in the BT bacterium, the Chinese
government was successful in creating an insect
resistant strain of BT rice which has gotten
approval for public use and is available to the
market for planting [2]. The production of this
strain of rice eliminated a huge amount of the
pesticides required in production. Originally, rice
used about 15% of the insecticide market, and
farmers who would use insecticides would over
spray their fields and eliminate both the pests and
the helpful insects, effectively harming the crop
instead of helping. Also, extra insecticides would
cause damage to the local environment. The
developed strain of BT rice has increased the
average yield of rice as well as decreasing the
damage to the environment from pesticides which
was common in the production of rice [2].
Recent Progress in the Field
In recent years there has been a large amount of
progress in the field of Genetic engineering.
Previous methods of inserting genes involved the
use of agrobacterium. Agrobacterium are natural
gene splicers and proved very successful in
inserting genes into the plant’s chromosomes.
Originally this method was not available for many
grains, and a biolistic method was used instead.
The biolistic method involved using an elemental
particle coated with plasmid DNA that was “shot”
into the cell’s nucleus. Recently, however, it has
become possible to use the agrobacterium to insert
genes directly into plant chromosomes. Still
though, both biolistic and agrobacteria methods
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proved ineffective in several ways; they cannot
transfer single genes, they may insert genes into
random areas of the chromosome and they tend to
have a large amount of difficulty in inserting
several genes which must be transferred together
and simultaneously [4]. In response to this, new
research is being conducted in the field of artificial
chromosomes, which would allow scientists
complete control over which and where genes
were placed. Other perceived advantages in this
field are increase plant stability and the ability to
transfer the same chromosome to different plants
to create unique hybrids [4].
ETHICS
According to the Engineering code of ethics,
engineers should devote their time to creations,
developments and improvement to that will
contribute to society [1]. The field of Genetic
engineering follows these guidelines as it is
designed to improve the production and nutrition
of food. GM plants have shown that they are
capable of greatly increasing yield by being
resistant to a large amount of plant killing
diseases, as is the case in bt rice in china. It also
has shown the ability to improve the protein
content and vitamin content of many common
cereals such as maize, wheat and rice. Improving
the nutrition and quantity of food has the potential
to save countless lives throughout the world.
Upholding honesty should always be held in the
highest regard [6], which is true as all proposed
genetically engineered plants are subject to the
highest levels of scrutiny and testing before they
are released to the public.
Engineers should take the highest level of
concern and caution when it comes to the health
and safety of the public, the employer and the
clients [6]. The vigorous testing required is
entirely designed to insure the safety of all.
Genetic engineering is careful to implant only
genes that will create proteins that are naturally
found in the human diet or are extremely similar
to existing ones. Extreme caution is taken when it
comes to the health of the environment, and any
possible contamination is immediately addressed.
This is very evident in the case of third generation
GM plants, where the plant genome is rearranged
in order to be more beneficial to industry and
pharmaceuticals. Any 3rd generation plant is
grown in a way which there is near zero chance of
it invading wildlife or becoming part of the human
food network. In accordance to the code of ethics
from the National Society of Professional
Engineers [6], no genetically modified plant will
be released that has any significant chance of
causing harm to the public or the environment.
Health and Environmental Concerns
While genetic engineering of plants has the
ability to increase yield and nutrition profiles of
many plants, there are still concerns about the
health effects of the plants and the impact on the
environment. Engineering ethics demands that
engineers take the highest level of concern over
health and the environment [6]. In response to
criticism over the health and environmental effects
of GM plants, studies are carried out in order to
test the effects of the newly modified proteins on
animals and the environment. Nearly all of the
genes and proteins created through genetic
modification are similar to or identical to proteins
which are already consumed and have been
previously found to be completely safe. The
genetically modified genes also take up a tiny part
of the total proteins of a plant; it is almost always
less than .2% of a GM plant that is modified. To
be sure of the safety, each plant undergoes 8-12
years of testing, including 4 of environmental
testing to ensure that they are both safe for human
consumption and will not have a great impact on
the environment. This testing includes hazard
identification, hazard characterization, exposure
assessment and risk characterization to focus on
the potential toxicity of proteins and metabolites
in GM plants [5].
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they are spending is going to good use. Writing an
opinion or persuasive paper has the ability to
further explain the final goals of the project, the
possible helpful effects and detriments, the reason
funding or equipment is needed and the overall
purpose of the project[8]. Furthermore, funding is
never unlimited and must be used in the most
effective ways possible. Not only must an
engineer argue that their project is worth funding,
they must argue that the funding, research, labor
and equipment would be better used towards their
project than anyone else’s.
When working on a project/experiment, ethics
are one of the few binding forces as to what can be
done. Ethics in engineering stop engineers from
causing harm to the environment, the health of the
public as well as encouraging honesty, integrity,
and giving motivation for engineers to apply their
skills to the causes which will best serve humanity
as a whole. Creating a paper that includes a
section on ethics not only has us integrate this into
our work but also forces us to analyze the ethics
ourselves. We can then take these ethics and our
new understandings and opinions and use them
later in our own projects.
Although I truly hate to admit it, writing is still
a necessary part of my chosen career part. I am
very happy that this project was assigned as it
allowed me to consider how to write a paper on a
topic I felt strongly about as well as consider why
ethics exist in the field of engineering as a whole.
Other schools should consider adding assignments
similar to this in order to give students a taste of
how they must be able to defend the legitimacy of
their topic or field and explain why funding, time
or resources should be devoted to the
advancement of their field. This assignment gave
me some real would application of writing which
will be relevant to me later on in life.
CONCLUTIONS
Genetically modified plants are a great
resource and have an incredible amount of
potential in improving productions, minimizing
waste and loss to pests and disease, and creating
plants with far superior nutritional profiles to curb
under- and malnutrition. In China, the government
invested money into the creation of BT-rice, and
the results were spectacular, with rice being
resistant to many pests, the loss is minimized and
the production can improve. In America, the
Americans fell behind the world in the field of
Genetically Modified wheat and thus fell from its
dominance in the grain market when it refused to
incorporate GM wheat into its agriculture. The
field is constantly advancing even now, with one
of the newest advancements including the creation
of artificial chromosomes. This seemingly
impossible feat has given promise to the field of
complete control over the genes which are inserted
into the genes of the plants. Finally, GM plants are
relatively safe and cause little to no damage to
humans who consume them or the environment
around them. Further funding should be placed
towards the advancement of such a crucial field
which has proven ability in increasing crop yields
and nutrition. GM plants have the potential to stop
world hunger.
REFLECTIONS
I feel that researching and analyzing genetic
engineering has furthered my knowledge in the
engineering field. Writing a persuasive and ethical
analysis paper such as this is extremely valuable
and should be a part of many if not all of
engineering undergraduate work. In the field of
engineering, there are many time when one must
be able to present their own opinions and be able
to argue that they are important [8]. When
applying for funding, grants, or the materials
necessary to preform experiments, engineers must
be able to reassure their clients that the money
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[9] U.S. department of agriculture, Agriculture
statistics board. (2010). Acreage. Retrieved from
National agriculture statics service website:
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/nass/Acre/20
10s/2010/Acre-06-30-2010.pdf
REFERENCES
[1]ASCE. (2012) Code of Ethics. Retrieved from
American Society of Civil Engineers website:
http://www.asce.org/Leadership-andManagement/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/
[2] A. Shelton, M. Chen, & Ye, G. (2010).
“Insect-resistant genetically modified rice in
china: From research to commercialization.”
(online
article).
http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.114
6/annurev-ento-120709-144810.
[3]Miller, & C. Carter. (2010). “Genetically
engineered
wheat,
redux.” Trends
in
biotechnology, 28(1), 1-2. (Online article).
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S
01677 79909001838.
[4] J. Kour, M. Dhar, & S. Kaul. (2011). “Towards
the development of better crops by genetic
transformation
using
engineered
plant
chromosomes.” Plant Cell Reports, (30), 799-806.
(Online article). http://www.springerlink.com/
content/f44175gj22mt383m/.
[5] M. Quaim. (2009, June 26). “The Economics
of Genetically Modified Crops.”
Annual reviews. (Online article). http://www.
annualreviews.org/eprint/Ec5XmuiH3JwHVFxg7
42s/full/10.1146/annurev.resource. 050 708.
[6] NSPE (2012.) Code of Ethics for Engineers.
Retrieved from National Society of Professional
Engineers website: http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/
CodeofEthics/index.html
[7] R. Goodman, & A. Tettah. (2011). “Suggested
improvements for the allergenicity assessment of
genetically modified plants used in foods.”
Current Allergy And Asthma Reports, 1(4), 317324.
(Online
article).
http://www.springerlink.com/content/m7471044m
8087241/?MUD=MP.
[8]S. Shepard, & R. Jenison. (1996). “Freshman
Engineering
Design
Experiences:
an
Organizational Framework.” International Journal
of Engineering Education. Retrieved from
website:
http://www-cdr.stanford.edu/images/D
ACKNOLEDGEMENTS
My roommate Sam Proctor, who was very
helpful in allowing me to schedule my time more
effectively, Marilyn Ngo, who assisted me in the
planning and writing of this paper, and the entire
University of Pittsburgh and its staff including
Beth Bateman Newborg, which granted me access
to many of the recourses used in this paper and
offered advice and guidance through the project.
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