Ayaz Latif Siyal

M.Sc Plant Breeding & Genetics

latifayazsiyal@gmail.com
+923337579719
P/O Pacca Chang, Taluka Faiz gunj, District Khairpur Mirs Sindh Pakistan.

Transgenic Crops or Genetically Modified

Organisms (GMOs)

A transgenic crop plant contains a gene or genes which have been artificially
inserted instead of the plant acquiring them through pollination. The inserted
gene sequence (known as the transgene) may come from another unrelated
plant, or from a completely different species: transgenic Bt corn, for example,
which produces its own insecticide, contains a gene from a bacterium. Plants
containing transgenes are often called genetically modified or GM crops,
although in reality all crops have been genetically modified from their original
wild state by domestication, selection and controlled breeding over long periods
of time. On this web site we will use the term transgenic to describe a crop
plant which has transgenes inserted.
Genetically Modified Organisms
"Genetically modified foods" is the term most commonly used to refer to crop
plants created for human or animal consumption, which have been modified in
the laboratory to enhance desired traits or improved nutritional content. The
enhancement of desired traits has traditionally been undertaken through
breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be very time consuming
and are often not very accurate. Genetic engineering, on the other hand, can
create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and with great accuracy.

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs as it is widely known, are a very hot

topic these days. Issues such as the advantages and disadvantages of growing
GMOs, labeling, and moral issues in the production of such products, are just a
few of the discussions going around. This report will deal with the findings the
advantages and disadvantages for the farmers who are interested in getting into
this field if they haven't already done so.

Definition and Process Genetically modified organisms is a process of taking

genes from two different species of plants or animals and combining them. You
can come up with some interesting combinations, left only to the wild
imaginations by the human brain. For example, you can come up with a kiwi
fruit with an orange rind, instead of the fuzzy peel, an orange that tastes like a
banana, or how about a carrot shaped like a scorpion?

The ability to transfer genetic material between two unlike species for
agricultural purposes and crop production is the subject of this publication.
Development of the science and methods to produce transgenic crops began
around 1983 as part of a broader technological movement to modify organisms
for economic, medical, military, and other general human ends.

Transgenic crops plant contains a gene or genes which have been artificially
inserted of the plant acquiring them through pollination, the inserted gene
sequence known as transgene which comes from another unrelated or from
different species.

GMOs plants created for human or animal consumption, which have been
modified in laboratory to enhance desired traits or improved nutritional content.

TYPES

1. Transgenic
transgenic plants having genes inserted into them that are derived from
another species. In many cases the inserted DNA has to be modified
slightly in order to correctly and efficiently express in the host organism.

2. Cisgenic
Cisgenic plants are made using genes within the same species or closely
related one, where conventional plant breeding can occur.

3. Subgenic
Development by using gene Knockdown or gene knockout to alter the
genetic makeup of a plant without incorporating genes from other plants

Commercial Transgenic Crops and Their Traits

While increased yields and improved nutritional value are among the promised
benets of transgenic crops, most now planted worldwide are designed either

1. To survive exposure to certain herbicides (called herbicide-tolerant)

 2. To kill certain insect pests (called pesticidal or insecticidal). The
transgenic tomato was designed for long shelf life. It is unclear whether
the increased beta-carotene in transgenic Golden Rice (derived from
the daffodil) is in a usable form for human nutrition, especially in the
absence of dietary fats and proteins.

Transgenic herbicide-tolerant crops have been altered to withstand being

sprayed with broad-spectrum herbicides, with the idea that one application will
take care of most types of weeds without killing the crop. Insecticidal crops
contain genes of the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). These Bt genes
cause the plants to produce a chemical toxic to the European corn borer, the
cotton bollworm, and other caterpillars. (Caterpillars are the larvae of insects in
the Lepidoptera order, which includes moths and butteries.

Development

GM foods were first put on the market in the early 1990s. Typically, genetically
modified foods are plant products: soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil,
but animal products have been proposed. The first commercially grown
genetically modified whole food crop was the tomato puree (called FlavrSavr),
which was made more resistant to rotting by Californian company Calgene.
Currently, there are a number of foods of which a genetically modified version
exists.
How are transgenic crops made?

In those days, variation occurred through induced mutation or

hydridization where two or more plants were crossed. Selection occurred
through nature, using a selection of the fittest concept, where only the seeds
best adapted to that environment succeeded.

In order to make a transgenic crop, there are five main steps

1. Extracting DNA

2. Cloning a gene of interest

3. Designing the gene for plant infiltration

4. Transformation

5. Plant breeding.

Advantages of GMOs
There are five advantages that found in creating genetically modified
organisms. They are the following:

1. Creation of super foods

2. Foods can be grown in unnatural places

3. Decrease of greenhouse gas

4. Feed the poor

5. Reduction of insecticide used

These are all great advantages. Just think, that by creating foods that can grow
in desert like climates or even the most extreme cold; you can provide the food
necessary for proper human growth and health. More vitamins essential for the
human body can be injected into these super foods. No more worries about
insecticides being used on the crops and thus being ingested by humans. Green
house gas is a major concern with global warming. By producing more plants,
plants can turn that carbon dioxide into oxygen so we could breathe.

Disadvantages of GMOs
Of course, with advantages, there will be disadvantages. Here are the five
disadvantages of genetically modified organisms:

1. Unknown allergies

2. Profit motive

3. New diseases

4. Morals and ethics

5. Tastes

These disadvantages have found make perfect sense. If you are playing around
with Mother Nature, you never know what sort of sickness can be developed,
such as allergies, in consuming these foods. Perhaps that particular gene you
have taken out or added is something that people have tried to avoid because
they were getting sick from eating regular foods. Religious beliefs of people
also affect whether or not genetically modified organisms is a good thing.