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GENETIC MANIPULATIONS: AN ENGINEERING DISASTER? GENETIC MANIPULATIONS: DISASTER? ENGINEERING The application of GM technologies in agriculture is proceeding apace, with scant regard for impacts on health and the environment, and may even be implicated in the collapse of honey bee colonies around the world. hould genetically modified (GM) foods be introduced into our food chain? It's a debate that shouldn't be allowed to die down, quelled by major agricultural corporations citing research validating the essentiality and safety of genetic manipulation of plant and animal organisms. Caught somewhere between these claims and the counter-claims of scientists questioning the long-term safety and relevance of genetic engineering—the cutting-edge technique used to create GM organisms—are scores of consumers like you and I, who deserve to be given the lowdown on GM foods and genetic engineering every once in a while. The reason is simply because, while the latest breakthroughs made by scientists engaged in furthering or negating the technique of genetic engineering may or may not be grabbing headlines, GM foodstuffs are more than likely already making it to the shelves of supermarkets around you. And let's face it: you should know whether to buy or shun these products and why. So, let's review the basics up to the latest research into genetic engineering. A primer on genetic engineering and its agricultural products To start from scratch, a GM organism is a plant or animal having a modified gene code. That is to say, scientists apply molecular biology techniques such as the use of a vector virus or a gene gun to shoot a desired gene into the genes of a target organism, thus altering its genome. The desirability of certain genes representing favourable traits in other plant or non-plant organisms is the key to understanding the whys and wherefores behind genetic engineering, as the process is called. By and large, gene manipulations aimed at enhancing the desirable traits of an organism centre around the need for humanity to produce more food, at a lower cost and with less wastage attributed to crop losses caused by pests, to feed its teeming millions. It's a lofty aim, considering that the world's population has topped six billion people and is predicted to surpass nine billion by 2050.' Ensuring adequate food for humanity's burgeoning billions is already a challenge, and will undoubtedly emerge to be an even greater one in the years to come. n this context, advocates of genetic engineering claim that by making it possible to isolate and introduce desirable genes such as a drought-tolerant or a salinity-tolerant gene into essential food crops like potatoes, the method will create plants that may be grown in drought-prone arid landscapes or in areas where the soil or groundwater are known to be saline, thereby enabling agriculture in hitherto inhospitable lands? Transgenic crops, as GM plants are also known, are slated to be environmentally friendly in that, since farmers supposedly require lesser quantities of herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers to protect these crops from weeds and pests, the run-off from these crops is less likely to pollute over-ground waterways and groundwater aquifers. Scientists also claim that GM crops are less prone to fall prey to diseases and adverse environmental conditions like frost, which is known to destroy sensitive seedlings. Genetic engineers aim to work around this loss of agricultural Website: http://www.charubahri.com NEXUS ¢ 21 by Charu Bahri © 2009 Email: charubahri@gmail.com DECEMBER 2009 - JANUARY 2010 www.nexusmagazine.com