Approximately 800 million people on planet Earth are currently malnourished, and 2 billion

additional people are expected to populate the world by 2050. Only the widespread embrace of
bioengineered or genetically modified (GM) crops and animals can solve the persistent problem
of hunger and lessen the impact of pest-borne diseases without doing untold damage to the
environment.

What is Genetic Modification?

Genetic modification (GM) is the introduction of new traits to an organism by

making changes directly to its genetic makeup, e.g. DNA, through intervention at
the molecular level. Its also called genetic engineering or GE. With genetic
engineering, scientists can change the traits of plants and animals by inserting DNA
pieces, whole genes, or long stretches of DNA segments from many different
organisms. These sequences can also be taken from the same species or be newly
made up. Scientists can also delete or swap DNA sequences in organisms or
introduce genetic material to silence genes.

Unlike conventional breeding and hybridization, genetic engineering is a

laboratory technology that enables the direct transfer of genes between organisms
in different species or kingdoms

ACD( ASIATIC CORN BORER)

One of the most economically important insect pest of corn in the Philippines is Asian corn
borer, (Ostrinia furcunalis). It is commonly known as "Dalipog", "Gitagit", "Tuhod", "Amasok",
"Tipgoy" and "Ulad".

The Asiatic corn borer (ACB), Ostrinia furnacalis Guenee is a serious threat to
corn production. This insect pest can reduce corn yields from 20- 80%. As the ACB
feeds on and tunnels through the stalks and ears of the corn plant, holes are
created that serve as entry point for microorganisms like fungi. These
microorganisms can colonize corn tissues leading to infection or diseases such as
ear rot and kernel rot. Some fungi infecting corn grains can produce secondary
metabolites known as mycotoxins. Studies have shown that dietary exposure to
mycotoxins can cause serious health and productivity problems in man and animals.

As a strategy to manage the ACB problem, Bt corn hybrids are developed.

Through biotechnology, a Bt corn plant produces a protein that is lethal only to
certain types of insects. Studies from other countries showed that besides
demonstrating high level of resistance to ACB, Bt corn hybrids could also reduce
mycotoxin levels.

Advantages of GMOs

More food with less land

GMOs increase crop yields and promote efficient land use. Food production uses a significant
quantity of land natural resources, but according to biotechnology companies with GMOs will
improve the livelihood of farmer around the world (Cummins, 2o1o).

Reduce of pesticides
Use of transgenic plants increases yields and decreases the need for pesticide use, preventing
the ecological damage.

Better food quality and taste

With this biotechnological model food could be improved and search for the best quality
standards and tastes to put into the products

Disadvantages of GMOs

Unfair distribution of them

Biotechnology is not an issue of poor countries. The research and investigations that are behind
GMOs are just focus on develop countries of the world, with the needs of developed countries in
mind (GMF). They could be focus on support the climate changes in Africa, for instance,
contributing to improve the food security in one of the most hunger regions of the world. This
might be done in the future, but it has not been done yet.

Unknown health effects

Unknown health consequences are a common objection to transgenic organisms. Although
numerous studies found that GM crops have passed existing safety reviews and they concluded
that GMOs are not harmful to human health (Academic review, AFNZA), further studies are
needer to support this claim (Randerson, 2008).
Another problem is allergic reactions. Genetical modifications often mixes or adds proteins that
werent indigenous to the original plant, causing new allergic reactions to the human body,
according to Brown University (Kantor, 2010).
 Long term ecological impacts
Cross pollination with the wild type of GM species may lead to genetic contamination of the wild
type, which could affect local ecosystems (Cherry, 2010).

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CRITICISMS AGAINST GM FOODS?

Unintended harm to other organisms

Last year a laboratory study was published in Nature21 showing that

pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly
caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear
is that if pollen from B.t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in
neighboring fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish. Although the
Nature study was not conducted under natural field conditions, the results seemed
to support this viewpoint. Unfortunately, B.t. toxins kill many species of insect
larvae indiscriminately; it is not possible to design a B.t. toxin that would only kill
cropdamaging pests and remain harmless to all other insects. This study is being
reexamined by the USDA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other
nongovernment research groups, and preliminary data from new studies suggests
that the original study may have been flawed.22,23 This topic is the subject of
acrimonious debate, and both sides of the argument are defending their data
vigorously. Currently, there is no agreement about the results of these studies, and
the potential risk of harm to non-target organisms will need to be evaluated further.

Reduced effectiveness of pesticides

Just as some populations of mosquitoes developed resistance to the now-

banned pesticide DDT, many people are concerned that insects will become
resistant to B.t. or other crops that have been geneticallymodified to produce their
own pesticides.

Gene transfer to non-target species

Another concern is that crop plants engineered for herbicide tolerance

and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance
genes from the crops into the weeds. These "superweeds" would then be herbicide
tolerant as well. Other introduced genes may cross over into nonmodified crops
planted next to GM crops. The possibility of interbreeding is shown by the defense
of farmers against lawsuits filed by Monsanto. The company has filed patent
infringement lawsuits against farmers who may have harvested GM crops. Monsanto
claims that the farmers obtained Monsanto-licensed GM seeds from an unknown
source and did not pay royalties to Monsanto. The farmers claim that their
unmodified crops were cross-pollinated from someone else's GM crops planted a
field or two away. More investigation is needed to resolve this issue.