SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

• BIODIVERSITY - describes the variety of living things that exist on Earth that plays crucial role in maintaining the balance of our planet’s ecosystem
• SPECIES DIVERSITY - variations within and between species
• ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY - between living and extinct creatures and their habitats
• GENETIC DIVERSITY - genetic material within and between populations of the same species
• The International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) 2010 - to stress the importance of biodiversity, reflect of different achievements to safeguard biodiversity and to encourage a redoubling of efforts to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss
• Disadvantages of Biotechnology in Biodiversity

  
  

  1. Biotechnology can be harnessed as a weapon
  2. Biotechnology has still many unknowns
  3. Biotechnology can be used for destruction
  4. Biotechnology is expensive
  5. Biotechnology could result to biodiversity loss
  6. Biotechnology has made human life a commodity
• GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS/GM CROPS


  first introduced in the U.S in the mid-1990’s

  plants whose DNA has been modified to introduce useful traits such as high yield, pest resistance, nutrition profile and flavor
• How do GM crops benefit biodiversity?

  1. Protecting farmland biodiversity
  2. Reducing pesticide use
  3. Reducing toxic levels in herbicide use
  4. Decreasing carbon dioxide emissions
  5. Avoiding farmland expansion
  6. Addressing climate change
• Protecting farmland biodiversity - resist insect pests, reducing the use of synthetic insecticides and resulting in higher insect biodiversity on farms.
• Reducing pesticide use - significantly contributed to the reduction of insecticide sprays around the world
• Reducing toxic levels in herbicide use - decrease the use of herbicides with acute (or short-term) toxicity and chronic (or long-term) toxicity.
• Decreasing carbon dioxide emissions - GM technology in corn, soybean and cotton reduced agricultural land and input use.
• Avoiding farmland expansion - higher yields on cultivated land could reduce the need for additional cropland expansion, thus preserving natural biodiversity.
• Addressing climate change - GM crops currently under development have produced evidence that if adopted they could contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation
• 1970s - Biochemists Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen develop genetic engineering by inserting DNA from one bacteria into another, a breakthrough that enabled the manipulation of genetic material.
• 1980s - The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the landmark case Diamond v. Chakrabarty (1980) ruled that genetically modified organisms could be patented, providing a significant incentive for research and development in biotechnology.
• 1982 - FDA approves the first consumer GMO product developed through genetic engineering: human insulin to treat diabetes.
• 1990s - The Flavr Savr tomato, genetically modified for delayed ripening, became the first GMO food product to be approved for sale to consumers in the United States.
• 1996 - The introduction of herbicide-tolerant soybeans and insect-resistant cotton marked the widespread adoption of GMO crops in agriculture
• 2000s - The acreage of GMO crops continued to expand globally, with the adoption of genetically modified corn, canola, and other crops.
• 2010s - The debate over GMOs intensified, with increasing public scrutiny and calls for transparency in labeling
• 2020s - GMO technology continued to evolve, with advancements in gene editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9
• Examples of Genetically Modified Organisms

  1. PRLR-SLICK Cattle
  2. Pink Pineapple
  3. Canola
  4. AquADVANTAGE SALMON
• PRLR-SLICK Cattle - gene-edited cattle is modified to have slick coats and short hairs, making it more tolerant and resistant to heat
• Pink Pineapple - This fruit is sweeter than conventional pineapples. Through the alteration of the lycopene and beta-carotene content in this fruit, the fruit stays pink and is added with traits like becoming a non-browning produce and pest resistance.
• Canola - One crop that has been genetically modified to withstand herbicides is canola. It is mostly used to make oils, which are used as ingredients in processed foods. It is also frequently fed to a variety of agricultural animals that are raised for their meat and milk.
• AquADVANTAGE SALMON - genetically engineered fish that grows to market size in half the time as conventional Atlantic salmon. This salmon has a promoter sequence from the ocean pout and a growth hormone gene from the quickly growing Pacific Chinook salmon. Once the gene and promoter is combined, the fish is able to grow yearround instead of seasonally like wild or farmed salmon
• Benefits of using GMOs

  1. Producing edible vaccines or medicines
  2. Producing functional food or nutraceuticals with added traits
  3. Improving the qualities of certain crops and producing safer food.
  4. Breeding with increased yield while reducing the use of pesticides
  5. Using GMOs in scientific and medical research.
  6. Using GMOs for bioremediation
• Risks of Using GMOs

  1. Health Risks
  2. Environmental Risks
  3. Threat to Biodiversity
  4. Increase in Social Differences
• Health Risk

  • Unexpected gene interactions
  • Cancer risks
  • Allergenic potential
  • Horizontal Gene Transfer
  • Antibiotic resistance
• crossbreeding - which has been used for centuries to change the genetic makeup of plants and animals
• The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety - a legally binding protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• It was named in honor of Cartagena, Colombia, where negotiations were expected to conclude in February 1999
• One year later, on January 29, 2000, the Protocol was finalized and adopted in Montreal, Canada by unanimous consent with 135 countries present.
• Objective of Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

  • seeks to protect biodiversity from the potential risks of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology
  • also defined LMOs as “any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.”
• What does the Protocol cover?

  • “transboundary movement, transit, handling and use of all living modified organisms that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking into account risks to human health”
• What does the Biosafety Protocol do?

  • assists developing countries in building their capacity for managing modern biotechnology
• What does the Biosafety Protocol not do?

  • does not address food safety issues
  • does not require segregation of bulk shipments of commodities that may contain living modified organisms
  • does not require consumer product labeling.
• Nanotechnology - evidence of the revolutionary path of technology development that covers the management of material on a nanometer scale. This technology includes the fabrication and application of chemical, physical, and biological systems at scales that range from a single molecule or atoms to submicron dimensions. It may also be applied to larger systems.
• According to Nasrollahzadeh et al., 2019, this technology includes the fabrication and application of chemical, physical, and biological systems at scales that range from a single molecule or atoms to submicron dimensions. It may also be applied to larger systems.