Artificial Gene Transfer
What is artificial gene transfer?
- Genetic modification is a form of artificial gene transfer in which the genetic material of one organism is introduced into another
- The organism receiving the genetic material is said to be ‘genetically modified’, or is described as a ‘transgenic organism’
- The DNA of the organism that now contains DNA from another organism is known as ‘recombinant DNA’
- It is possible to genetically modify many different types of organisms, such as plants, animals, microorganisms, insects and fish
- Most commonly, genetic modification is used in crop plants to enhance yields, nutritional content, shelf-life and ultimately profits
- Examples of genetic modification in crops:
- Crop plants, such as wheat and maize, have been genetically modified to contain a gene from a bacterium that produces a poison that kills insects, making them resistant to insect pests such as caterpillars
- Crop plants have also been genetically modified to make them resistant to certain herbicides (chemicals that kill plants), meaning that when the herbicide is sprayed on the crop it only kills weeds and does not affect the crop plant
- Some crops have been genetically modified to produce additional vitamins, e.g. ‘golden rice’ contains genes from another plant and a bacterium which make the rice grains produce a chemical that is turned into vitamin A in the human body, which could help prevent deficiency diseases in certain areas of the world
Advantages & Risks of Genetic Modification Table
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|
Reduced use of chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides on crops is better for the environment, cheaper and less time-consuming for farmers |
Increased costs of seeds Companies that make GM seeds charge more for them to cover the cost of developing them. This can mean smaller, poorer farmers cannot compete with larger farms |
| Increased yields from the crops as they are not competing with weeds for resources or suffering from pest damage | Increased dependency on certain chemicals, such as the herbicides that GM crops are resistant to. These are often made by the same companies that produce the seeds, and are more expensive to buy |
| Bacteria have a rapid reproduction rate and so GM bacteria can produce large quantities of product in a short space of time | Risk of inserted genes being transferred to wild plants by pollination. This could reduce the usefulness of the GM crop (e.g. if weeds also gain the gene that makes them resistant to herbicide) |
| There are few ethical concerns over the manipulation and growth of GM bacteria | Reduced biodiversity as there are fewer plant species when herbicides have been used. This can impact insects and insect-eating birds |
| Some research has shown that plants that have had genes inserted into them do not grow as well as non-GM plants | |
| GM bacteria could pass human genes they carry to other bacteria, resulting in unknown consequences |
