|
NW Iowa | If you think GMO's are just used in agriculture, you better think again. They may be saving some ones life you know, or in the future.
GMOs in medicine and research
GMOs have emerged as one of the mainstays of biomedical research since the 1980s. For example, GM animal models of human genetic diseases enabled researchers to test novel therapies and to explore the roles of candidate risk factors and modifiers of disease outcome. GM microbes, plants, and animals also revolutionized the production of complex pharmaceuticals by enabling the generation of safer and cheaper vaccines and therapeutics. Pharmaceutical products range from recombinant hepatitis B vaccine produced by GM baker’s yeast to injectable insulin (for diabetics) produced in GM Escherichia coli bacteria and to factor VIII (for hemophiliacs) and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA, for heart attack or stroke patients), both of which are produced in GM mammalian cells grown in laboratory culture. Furthermore, GM plants that produce “edible vaccines” are under development. Such plants, which are engineered to express antigens derived from microbes or parasites that infect the digestive tract, might someday offer a safe, cheap, and painless way to provide vaccines worldwide, without concern for the availability of refrigeration or sterile needles. Novel DNA vaccines may be useful in the struggle to prevent diseases that have proved resistant to traditional vaccination approaches, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and cancer.
Genetic modification of insects has become an important area of research, especially in the struggle to prevent parasitic diseases. For example, GM mosquitoes have been developed that express a small protein called SM1, which blocks entry of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, into the mosquito’s gut. This results in the disruption of the parasite’s life cycle and renders the mosquito malaria-resistant. Introduction of these GM mosquitoes into the wild may someday help eradicate transmission of the malaria parasite without widespread use of harmful chemicals such as DDT or disruption of the normal food chain.
Finally, genetic modification of humans, or so-called gene therapy, is becoming a treatment option for diseases ranging from rare metabolic disorders to cancer. Coupling stem cell technology with recombinant DNA methods may someday allow stem cells derived from a patient to be modified in the laboratory to introduce a desired gene. For example, a normal beta-globin gene may be introduced into the DNA of bone marrow-derived hematopoietic stem cells from a patient with sickle cell anemia, and introduction of these GM cells into the patient could cure the disease without the need for a matched donor.
Role of GMOs in environmental management
Another application of GMOs is in the management of environmental issues. For example, some bacteria can produce biodegradable plastics, and the transfer of this ability to microbes that can be easily grown in the laboratory may enable the wide-scale “greening” of the plastics industry. Zeneca, a British company, developed a microbially produced biodegradable plastic called Biopol. This plastic is made using a GM bacterium, Ralstonia eutropha, to convert glucose and a variety of organic acids into a flexible polymer. GMOs endowed with the bacterially encoded ability to metabolize oil and heavy metals may provide efficient bioremediation strategies.
Genetic modification technologies may help save endangered species such as the giant panda, whose genome is being sequenced in an international effort led by the Beijing Genomics Institute at Shenzhen. Genetic studies of the panda genome may provide insight into why pandas have such low rates of reproductive success in captivity. A likely set of genes to consider for future genetic modification, should the goals of panda conservation warrant it, is the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The MHC genes play an important role in regulating immune function and also influence behaviours and physiological patterns associated with reproduction.
Edited by hawkfan 2/8/2014 19:43
| |
|
Organic/non-gmo farming
