4 Things You Might Not Know About Genetically Modified Items

1 - Not everyone understands the difference between GMO and GMO

A GMO - or genetically modified organism - is one that undergoes genetic alterations so that certain qualities, such as color, weight or size, are favored over others. However, not every organism that undergoes these modifications is a transgenic, although every transgenic is a GMO. Calm down ... let's explain!

Basically, a transgenic organism is created by introducing genetic material from other organisms - and even from living beings of different species - so that it has specific characteristics.

A genetically modified organism, on the other hand, undergoes alterations so that certain characteristics can be expressed - or simply disappear. This happens, for example, when scientists make lab mice produce more enzyme than another or make them immune to some disease, but without inserting genetic material from other animals into their genome.

2 - They have been around longer than you think

Do not think that genetically modified organisms began to exist recently. In fact, they have existed for thousands of years, and evidence of this was the discovery that several varieties of sweet potatoes underwent minor genetic “adjustments” 8, 000 years ago by the action of bacteria - which our ancestors took advantage of in cultivating edible versions. of these roots.

According to scientists at the International Potato Center - yes, that's the name of the institution! - Located in Lima, Peru, bacterial genes have been found in 291 sweetpotato varieties from around the world.

The finding suggests that microorganisms introduced new genes into the genetic material of a wild version of the food and that humans realized this made it edible. So our ancestors began to grow transgenic sweet potato, and genetic modification eventually "survived" - and spread across the planet.

3 - It may be that humanity depends on them in the future.

You may have heard of the Svalbard Global Silo Silo, located in Norway, right? It is designed to store seeds of all plant varieties that exist on the planet so that should any tragedy on a global scale occur, we can rebuild our flora.

It turns out that the scientists responsible for the project are not just busy stocking up little seeds. Much research is conducted in the silo, and many are focused on developing plant species that are more resilient than current ones so that they are more likely to survive the most varied conditions.

4 - They can bring advantages for the environment.

While there is much prejudice against genetically modified organisms, the truth is that in some cases changes have been introduced to lessen the environmental impact associated with these living things. In the case of plants, for example, several varieties have had their DNA "edited" so that they are more pest resistant and do not require pesticides.

In addition, other varieties have been modified to become more resilient and thus suffer less under certain climatic conditions. In addition, researchers have also been able to increase the yield of certain crops significantly thanks to genetic alterations.

* Posted on 3/2/2016