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DEFINITION] |
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| The term Genetically
Modified foods or GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to
refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest
molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in the laboratory
to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved
nutritional content. The enhancement of desired traits has traditionally been
undertaken through breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be very
time consuming and are often not very accurate. Genetic engineering, on the
other hand, can create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and with
great accuracy. For example, plant geneticists can isolate a gene responsible
for drought tolerance and insert that gene into a different plant. The new
genetically-modified plant will gain drought tolerance as well. Not only can
genes be transferred from one plant to another, but genes from non-plant
organisms also can be used. The best known example of this is the use of B.t.
genes in corn and other crops. B.t., or Bacillus thuringiensis, is a
naturally occurring bacterium that produces crystal proteins that are lethal to
insect larvae. B.t. crystal protein genes have been transferred into corn,
enabling the corn to produce its own pesticides against insects such as the
European corn borer. |
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