Republic of the Philippines

LEYTE NORMAL UNIVERSITY

College of Education
P. Paterno St. Tacloban City, Leyte

FOOD IS LIFE: A REVIEW ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD

A Term Paper presented to

Prof. BILLY A. DANDAY
College of Education
Leyte Normal University

In partial fulfillment of the course

GE 107: Science, Technology and Society

JOHN MARK PAPIONA

BSEd Filipino SF41

May 2022
 Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

In a dynamic world, food stays on its role as one of the human necessities to live. Food

provides the individuals with the energy that is needed in the implementation of tasks and activities

(Kapur, 2020). Food supplies different kinds of nutrients that a human body needs for it to stay

healthy and functioning. On the other hand, according to the report of World Vision (2022), almost

21 million children are one-step away from famine, to face starvation. Knowing the importance of

food to the humans and the emergence of this problem, this report is very alarming. Shortage in

food supply is putting a lot of life at risk. Remedial actions and plans are needed to be

implemented in order to solve this struggle. In relation to this, still part of the aforementioned

report, each country are implementing their plans on fighting hunger in their respective beloved

land. In the Philippines, in one of the press release of its senate last January 27, 2022, Sen. De

Lima said that as the country faces high incidences of hunger and food insecurity, achieving food

security should be the top priority of the next administration (Senate of the Philippines, 2022).

With the advent of biotechnology, one of the possible solutions of the experts to end

hunger is having the genetically modified food or crops. Genetically Modified Food (GMF) means

any food containing or derived from a genetically engineered organism (Halford, 2000). GMF are

different from other food or crops because some of its original composition were altered to have

better traits and characteristics than the usual. Turnbull et al. (2021) concludes in their review that

the adoption and cultivation of GM crops makes it the fastest growing agricultural technology in

the world and employing complementary new breeding techniques holds promise for providing

solutions to food security and changing climate conditions, possibly introducing a wider range and

more desirable food products on the market. Based on this review, which highlights great

promises of GMF for the sector of agriculture, it seems to be the best action to take-on in battling
hunger. However, having genetically modified crops in the market for human consumption

received oppositions. According to the study of Maghari & Ardekani (2011), the food

biotechnology debate illustrates the serious conflict between two groups: 1) Agri-biotech investors

and their affiliated scientists who consider agricultural biotechnology as a solution to food

shortage, the scarcity of environmental resources and weeds and pests infestations; and 2)

Independent scientists, environmentalists, farmers and consumers who warn that genetically

modified food introduces new risks to food security, the environment and human health such as

loss of biodiversity; the emergence of superweeds and superpests; the increase of antibiotic

resistance, food allergies and other unintended effects. Both sides have their own opinions to

prove and stand-on, but this should not hinder the real goal of addressing the real problem, the

hunger of myriad people all over the world.

The debates and discussions about the safety and risks of GMF continues until the present

time. On the other hand, the problem with regards to hunger is still evident in any part of the world.

At the same time, food still plays its role as one of the primary needs of the humanity.

Indeed, food is a necessity thus issues related to it must be analyze and further discuss.

Understanding the different processes that our food undergoes is needed for the assurance that

we are eating food that are nutritious and safe. This term paper intends to seek for an in-depth

knowledge about genetically modified crops or food and its opposing sides. This paper will present

evidences of the positive and negative effects or impact of GM foods through examining different

related international and local literatures and studies. At the end of this paper, the researcher

aims to give his own position regarding the matter based on the gathered facts and information.
 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Agriculture is one of the main producer of food for the humans. As time passed by,

agriculture was improved due to the increasing demand of the individuals. According to Rodriguez

(2022) humans have been altering plant and animal genomes for thousands of years. He added

that during the ancient times, selective breeding, also called artificial selection, has been a routine

method in agriculture. It can be said that even before, people are already trying to improve the

quality of their crops by not only putting an intensive care to it, but by doing little experiments. Due

to continuous discoveries and with the advent of modern technologies, biotechnology comes in.

Biotechnology is the utilization of biological processes, organisms or systems to produce

products that are anticipated to improve human lives. Hungarian engineer Karl Ereky first coined

the term ‘biotechnology’ in 1919, meaning the production of products from raw materials with the

aid of living organisms. The previous forms of biotechnology include training and selective

breeding of animals, the cultivation of crops and the utilization of micro-organisms to produce

products such as cheese, yogurt, bread, beer, and wine. Currently biotechnology places more

emphasis on the establishment of hybrid genes followed by their transfer into organisms in which

some, or all, of the gene is not usually present (Bhatia, 2018).

Biotechnology is providing a wide range of options of how people may use agricultural and

commercial forestry lands (Maghari & Ardekani, 2011). It is used as a tool to enhance crop

production and performance, shorten crop varietal development, improve livestock production,

and produce bio-fertilizers and biofuels from agricultural waste (Mojica-Sevilla, 2021).

Additionally, biotechnology granted us the ability to overcome insurmountable physiological

barriers and to exchange genetic materials among all living organisms (Maghari & Ardekani,
2011). Indeed, biotechnology opened many doors for the improvement of agriculture towards its

continuous progress.

Biotechnology has four branches which includes green biotechnology that applies to

agriculture and involves such processes as the development of pest resistant grains and the

accelerated evolution of disease-resistant animals (Bhatia, 2018). Under this branch is the

practice of genetically modifying organisms. Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) are whose

genome has been engineered in the laboratory in order to favor the expression of desired

physiological traits or the generation of desired biological products (Fridovich-Keil, 2021). Those

are made by inserting a gene from an external source such as viruses, bacteria, animals or plants

into usually unrelated species (Maghari & Ardekani, 2011). An enormous breakthrough in GMO

technology came in 1973, when Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen worked together to engineer

the first successful genetically engineered organism (Rangel, 2015). GMO’s are organisms who

have grown having characteristics and traits who have been improved and better than its original

composition. As mentioned above, GMO’s includes agriculture which involves food/plants/crops

which are identified as Genetically Modified (GM) crops, transgenic plants, or Genetically

Engineered (GE) vegetation (Yuli, 2022).

The cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops on millions of hectares of lands and

their injection into our food chain is a huge global genetic experiment involving all living beings

(Maghari & Ardekani, 2011). Genetically modified food or crops was first approved for human

consumption in the United States in 1994, and by 2014-15 about 90 percent of the corn, cotton,

and soybeans planted in the United States were GM (Yuli, 2021). She added the simple steps of

making a GMO plant which are: (1) identifying gene(s) in interest, (2) cloning the gene of interest,

(3) selection of modified plant cells and the regeneration into full plants, (4) detection of the

transformation and identification of the inserted DNA fragment, (5) performance testing of a plant,
lastly (6) conduct a risk assessment. With this process, it is evident that this task is not easy and

requires high precautions.

Genetically modified crops have performed exemplary in the different markets. In India,

subject studies comparing Bt cotton to non-Bt cotton revealed that the GM crop increased yields

by 30–80 percent (Barwale, 2004). In China, where farmers were granted access to Bt cotton for

the first time in 1997, the GM crop proved to be a success for farmers who planted Bt cotton used

50–80 % fewer pesticides while increasing their income by up to 36 percent (Yuli, 2021). In a local

context, according to Mojica-Sevilla (2021), the Philippines is a regional biotechnology leader,

highlighted by its passage in 2021 of Golden Rice for commercial propagation and Bt eggplant

for direct use. Moreover, by early 2022 the Philippines is also likely to complete its revision of

current biotechnology regulations embodied in the Joint Departmental Circular of 2016. GM foods

is really paving its way into producing products and goods for the needs of the humanity. With

this data, it can be said that genetically modified foods are really doing its purpose of giving better

services to the humanity.

However, while GMO’s have benefited human society in many ways, some disadvantages

exist; therefore, production of GMO’s remains highly controversial topic in many parts of the world.

(Fridovich-Keil, 2021). The development and consumption of genetically modified (GM) crops are

surrounded by controversy (Rodriguez, 2022). Major concerns of the current debates on

agricultural biotechnology have focused on the potential risks of GM crops for human health

(Maghari & Ardekani (2011). People still reject GM crops not only because of safety concerns,

but also for moral reasons, toxicity, allergies, and possible horizontal gene transfer (HGT) to the

environment or to other species. Moreover, the scarce data available about the long-term

implications of using GM crops is another opponent concern (Rodriguez, 2022). These claims

could not be disregarded because they are based on proven studies and researches based on

facts and with evidences as attachments.

 According to Raman (2017), GM crops are promising to mitigate current and future

problems in commercial agriculture, with proven case studies in Indian cotton and Australian

canola; however, controversial studies such as the Monarch Butterfly study (1999) and the

Seralini affair (2012) along with current problems linked to insect resistance and potential health

risks have jeopardised its standing with the public and policymakers, even leading to full and

partial bans in certain countries.

Despite the fact that only few GM crops can be marketed as food, Rodriguez (2022)

believed that the application of GE techniques to develop GM crops could be used to address the

new challenges of climate change, sustainability, and global food safety. Furthermore, only

molecular biology approaches and genetic engineering tools are realistic food shortage solutions

for the world’s ever-growing population.

According to the study of Maghari and Ardekani (2011), many scientific data indicate that

animals fed by GM crops have been harmed or even died. Current testing methods being used in

biotech companies appear to be inadequate. There are some false claims on the improvement of

the protein content of GM crops expressing the desired protein from an inserted gene. There are

some difficulties with assessing the allergenicity of GM crops.

Nevertheless, science has evidenced no harm from GM crops use to date but has, instead,

reported several benefits that result from their commercialization, such as economic,

environmental, and health benefits for the general public. Additionally, a wide variety of crops is

being studied to create plants with desirable traits, such as delayed maturation, biofortified

vegetables, healthier plants, and edible vaccines. All these crops would offer marked economic,

environmental and food security, and human health benefits (Rodriguez, 2022)

According to the study of Shen et al (2022), they concluded that serious adverse events

of GM consumption include mortality, tumor or cancer, significant low fertility, decreased learning
and reaction abilities, and some organ abnormalities. However, further clinical trials and long-term

cohort studies in human populations, especially on GM food-related adverse events and the

corresponding GM events, are still warranted.

On the other hand, according to the study of Kovak et al. (2022) genetically modified (GM)

crops can help reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In addition to possible

decreases in production emissions, GM yield gains also mitigate land-use change and related

emissions.

On a local context, a study of Pangilinan and Bagunu (2015) on the perception of local

farmers in Magalang, Pampanga, Philippines towards genetically modified crops reveals that in

general, it was observed that despite inadequate information regarding GM crops, their implication

and impact on human health, environment and economy, and their ambivalent view about the

improved nutritional quality and other health benefits of GM crops, the farmers in Magalang,

Pampanga consider GM crops safe for human consumption and a solution for food security.

Academy of Sciences (2016) says that researchers can provide probabilistic predictions

that are based on the available information about the chemical composition of the food,

epidemiological data, genetic variability across populations, and studies conducted with animals,

but absolute answers are rarely available. Hence, considering this opposing ideas, Maghari and

Ardekani (2011) suggests that there is a need for continuous vigilance for all countries involved

in producing genetically engineered food to follow the international scientific biosafety testing

guidelines containing reliable pre-release experiments and post-release track of transgenic plants

to protect public health and avoid future environmental harm. They have added that clear signals

should be sent to biotech companies to proceed with caution and avoid causing unintended harm

to human health and the environment. Additionaly, according to Rodriguez (2022), a risk–benefit

analysis is necessary.
 The studies and researches presented reveals the opposing sides of genetically modified

crops to the country’s economy and to the people consuming. It was found out that GMF, apart

from hunger, it could also be a solution for the mitigation of greenhouse effect or global warning.

However, GMF could also cause harm not only to humans but also to the animals. Both sides

have their own data and interpretations that supports their opinion regarding the issue. Above all,

these tudies considers the importance of risk analysis and in-depth education regarding

genetically modified food to ensure the safety of the humanity, considering it as a solution to the

present problem, not a path to greater turmoil in the future.

 Chapter 3

CONCLUSION

With regards to the literatures and studies, the researcher have made this conclusion.

Food is indeed a necessity to a human life, thus agriculture that primarily produces it should

continue to improve and biotechnology is a great help to achieve this goal. Biotechnology needs

to be understood by many so that misinformation will be eradicated and unnecessary fears will

be avoided. Regarding the genetically modified food, taking into consideration that global food

demand is expected to steeply continue to rise as the world population increases and the great

performance of genetically modified foods in covering future generations’ nutritional deficiencies

with better respect to climate change (Rodriguez, 2022), then having genetically modified food in

the market should be continued and shall progress. However, according to Gatew and Mengistu

(2019), scientists need to consider the types of applications of genetic engineering which will

appear on the commercial market as well as develop procedures which will minimize potential

biological and ecological hazards of the technology. With this, considering the conclusions of the

opposing sides, producing this crops should be well regulated and be based on facts to ensure

the safety of everyone, thus further research and studies regarding this matter is critical.

Additionally, proper education and information dissemination regarding this matter must be

promoted to each country so that the people will be aware of what’s really happening and why

there is a need for genetically modified food’s presence in the market. Communication is a strong

power, if it will only be used appropriately, debates will end, peace and order will be maintained,

problems will be resolved.

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