What is GM?
Genes can be seen as a set of instructions that give rise to the characteristics (or traits) of living things. Genes, either singly or in combination, determine, for instance, the colour of our eyes or the number of petals in a flower. As genes are made up of DNA, which is common to all living things, it is possible for completely unrelated species to recognise each other’s genes (instructions).
For thousands of years man has been altering the genes of domesticated plants and animals by selectively breeding from individuals with particular desirable traits. As man’s technical ability has advanced so have breeding methods, and several laboratory based techniques have been developed to assist in the improvement of crops; these techniques, referred to as "conventional breeding techniques", include induced mutation, cell selection, induced polyploidy and molecular marker–assisted breeding.
Genetic Modification (GM) is the use of modern biotechnological techniques to alter or move particular genes within an organism or to transfer particular genes from one organism to another. GM crop improvement differs from non-GM in that one or several genes can be isolated specifically from one organism and incorporated into another organism rather than reshuffling two complete genomes as is the case with sexual reproduction. The genes transferred into a crop can be from the same crop, a related crop or from a totally unrelated organism such as a bacterium or an animal.
Using GM techniques it is possible to incorporate single or multiple genes thereby gaining the desired trait of the donor organism without simultaneously incorporating other undesirable traits. It is also possible to characterise the inserted gene(s) and its position and to assess the genetic characteristics of the resulting organism. This can be done with a greater degree of precision than for crops produced by most non-GM techniques. The methods used in GM crop production have made it possible to transfer traits from organisms which are not naturally sexually compatible, but GM crops do not necessarily contain genes from sexually incompatible species. Further details of GM and non-GM breeding techniques can be found in the GM science review at:
Examples of traits that have been introduced into Genetically Modified plants are;
- herbicide tolerance
- insect resistance
- enhanced fungal resistance
- improved nutritional quality
- addition of enzymes to aid digestion of animal feed
The use of genetic modification in agriculture raises important safety issues for human health and protection of the environment, and legislation requires that these risks are addressed at every stage of product development, including in the laboratory, field trial and commercial production.
