Gene Technology

Gene Technology
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Introduction.
Biotechnology use and application involves a wide variety of technologies that are commonly used for different purposes. Some of these uses include the genetically improving plant varieties and animals with the aim of increasing the crop and animal yields, for genetic characterization and to improve the conservation of genetic resources. Moreover, the development of new and efficient vaccines and the improvement of animal feed is another factor for biotechnology. The methods of achieving this include the utilization of genetic markers commonly called genetic modification and tissue culture. One type of biotechnology is the use of genetically modified crops. This technology modifies crops through the application of a recombinant DNA as the technology to produce better crops. This is also called genetic engineering. This paper focuses on the technology on the use of genetically modified crops or the development of transgenic crops that carry specifically developed traits and released with the goal of achieving commercial production. Some of the crops developed through this technology include cotton, maize, canola that are pest resistant and potatoes and papaya that are disease resistant. Moreover, the technology produces soybean, cotton that is herbicide resistant. The underdevelopment of GM crops that are not yet commercialized is being carried out through the production of bananas that have vaccines and rice with high volumes of carotenoid that are rich in vitamin A.

The genetic modification of crops is the manipulation of the development or growth of a plant, its structure or its genetic composition by way of inserting a specific DNA sequence. The sequences are developed from a variety of plants or the same species of a plant. With this sequencing, the patterns of expression of a particular gene are altered and the biological properties that contain the proteins which they encode is changed.
The process of crop genetic modification
The genetic modification of crops begins with the delivering of the DNA after the selection of the transgenic crop. This form of crop transformation can be done in two ways. Firstly, through the natural occurring bacterium in the soils called the Agrobacterium tumefaciens that inflicts wounds on plants leading to tumor growth, the crown gall. This tumor is due to the integration of the T-DNA, a DNA fragment of the soil bacterium directly into the plant genome. The tumorous cells produce compounds that bacteria feed on courtesy of the genes present in the T-DNA which is in a plasmid form made up of a close circle having extra- chromosomal DNA instead of the bacterial chromosome. As such, it can easily be manipulated after isolation to remove the genes that will be used for insertion into a plant through the working of the wild Agrobacterium and furthermore replacing them with the novel genes (Halford & Shewry, 2000). The new plant becomes infected with modified Agrobacterium making the whole plant to be replicated from the GM tumor –like cell clumps commonly called callus by utilizing plant hormones.
The second method widely used in genetically modifying crops is particle bombardment. Through this method, the DNA is coated onto the surface of the microscopic gold particles. These particles are later shot into plant cells by use of a helium gas. The new DNA in the particles is washed off from the particles and is integrated into the plant genome. It’s important to note that only a few cells are genetically modified in the tissue that is targeted. The killing of the cells that are not modified is, therefore, necessary as such the gene that is of interest during the crop transformation is accompanied with another gene that acts as a selectable marker. This gene makes the transformed cells be antibiotic resistant in practice, like the kanamycin or herbicide resistant like the phosphinothricin that acts as an active ingredient of Basta during transformation that kills the untransformed cells due to its toxicity. To date, the use of a selectable marker is the minimum requirement for any plant transformation. The marker, therefore, facilitates the transformation process by allowing thyme discrimination of the GM tissues and facilitate the regeneration of the GM plants. However, it is argued that the use of these markers leads to the risk of spreading antibiotic resistance to the large bacterial population in humans and the soil (Halford & Shewry, 2000).
Social and ethical implication of genetically modified crop plants
The adoption of biotechnology through genetic engineering where new crops that are drought, pesticide and herbicide resistant has greatly increased the number of Form land put under GM crop cultivation. With this increases the adoption of GM crops has led some social implications. The use of GM has increased crop production hence the commercialization of this GM crops has resulted in mass production of cotton, maize, wheat, tomatoes and rice. As such this is seen as a faster way of reducing poverty levels in the world through the production of enough foods to the population. This has intern improved the quality of life of farmers owning GM crop farms. The adoption of this technology has been said to be the road map to the reduction of inequality gap between the rich and the poor. Moreover, it has been argued that through genetic engineering, more nutritious food have been developed, unlike the previous indigenous crops. Through the introduction of specific gene sequence into crops, a high level of nutritious content can be achieved in one particular crop (Key, Ma, & Drake, 2016). It’s through GM crops that food production can be increased to serve the ever increasing human population. However, genetically modified crops usage has led to both social and ethical implication where its consumption it’s controversial. The use of GM crops can lead to allergies and some diseases. This ethical concern is based on the notion that it can trigger human diseases because genes can be removed from allergic crops and placed into crops that have no allergic reactions. There is also the rumor that the use of DNA from bacteria and virus may result into new diseases. Three is also the ethical fear that the use this technology on crops might damage the environment. However, there is no scientific proof to date that supports this rumor of environmental damage. The cross-pollination of theses crops with other crops might result into weeds that will be difficult to manage and control. Moreover, the consumption of these crops by animals might result in the animals consuming bacteria that might lead to their death and even birds are consuming weeds. As such there is the concern that the food web will be threatened. The majority of the public are skeptical about the use of GM crops due to its safety (Murnagham, 2016).
The use of GM foods has both its good sides and its cons. However, it’s scientifically sound to say that its use can lead to better quality crops, improved production efficiency and yields of crops in the long run. Despite the concerns raised concerning food safety which should be addressed, the use of GM crops is the best way of ensuring enough crop productivity. There are regulatory authorities put in place by many countries to ensure that the production of GM crops is done with safety and that consumption of such foods meets the set safety requirements. The continued research on GM crops should thus be enhanced through proper financing and support from the relevant institutions.
References
Halford, N. & Shewry, P. (2000). Genetically modified crops (1st Ed.).
Key, S., Ma, J., & Drake, P. (2008). Genetically modified plants and human health.
Murnagham, I. (2016). Ethical Concerns and GM Foods. Geneticallymodifiedfoods.co.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2016, from http://www.geneticallymodifiedfoods.co.uk/ethical-concerns-gm-foods.html