-->| Conclusions
The application of biotechnology and genetic engineering under carefully controlled clinical conditions represents a major advance in modern medicine. This contrasts with the large-scale commercial application of rBGHs, resulting in potential hazards from uncontrolled lifelong exposures of the total population in the U.S. and elsewhere, in the absence of matching benefits to others than rBGH industries. | | Genetic Engineering of Livestock." Science, 244: 1281-1288, 1989
25. THE LANCET. "Bovine Somatotropin and Human Health." The Lancet, p. 376, August 13, 1988.
26. U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Governmental Operations, Twenty-Seventh Report. "Human Food Safety and Regulation of Animal Drugs," 99th Congress, December 31, 1985.
NOTES
1. This report, including cited references to Dr. | | There was a lot of enthusiasm in the government and at the FDA, as genetic engineering was then a sexy new technology that many believed held the promise for significant breakthroughs in science, and significant windfalls for American companies. Being the first transgenic drug, rBGH was expected to be a poster child, so there was enormous pressure to get it out to the market quickly.
The plan, however, was deeply flawed. Injections of rBGH made the cows sick. They developed a wide range of ailments and even died prematurely. |  It is the application of engineering principles to the construction of novel genetic structures; in contrast, genetic engineering is often a trial-and-error process, with numerous unanticipated results. Many of the reasonable concerns about genetically modified foods and animals come from this hit-or-miss aspect of biotechnology. Biological engineers take a more systematic approach, using an increasingly deep understanding of how DNA works to make microorganisms perform narrowly specified tasks. |  It is now commonplace in genetic engineering to introduce antibiotics in genes as a marker to indicate that the organism has been successfully engineered. These gene markers have the potential to create bacterial mutations that are resistant to antibiotics and therefore undermine the effectiveness of antibiotics.
Harmful effects may not be discovered for years, in the sense that we do not have an idea of what can potentially happen as we introduce these GE foods into our diet. There are no long-term studies to prove the safety of genetically altered foods. | | With modern genetic engineering techniques, however, changes can be made virtually immediately, and there are much greater manipulation options, including moving genes within or between species. It is the movement of genes between species that is of the greatest concern.
The processes involved in making a transgenic crop are as follows. | | Today the situation with genetic engineering is perhaps even more grave because this technology acts on the very blueprint of life itself." When you do not know what you are doing, and you insist on meddling, you have the potential to create a great deal of damage. There is an old saying, "If it's not broken, don't fix it."
More than two-thirds of food on grocery shelves contains genetically engineered ingredients. In 1996 and 1997, there were nineteen genetically engineered products on the market. Now there are more than thirty. |  Nonetheless, biotechnology spawns ethical, social, and legal debates at the margins of pharmaceutical bioprospecting, including the collaboration between big business and big science, the ethics of genetic engineering, and the patentability of life forms as well as ideas about genetics and racism, culture and ethnicity. However, it is significant to note that, since the inauguration of the CBD, no pharmaceutical bioprospecting product developed by using traditional knowledge has generated an economic profit. |  Based on analysis of six transgene insertion sites, four (corn varieties T25, Mon 810, GA21, and Bt 11 corn) appeared to be in or near transposons.46 "This poses additional risks."47 The promoter (and enhancers) that accompany the transgene may cause the transposons to become more active and mobile. In addition, the strong promoters that are often associated with transposons may increase the expression levels of the transgenes. |  Flavonoids and isoflavonoids—A gold mine for genetic engineering, Trends in Plant Science, 4: 394-400.
52. Jung et al., 2000, Identification and expression of isoflavone synthase.
53. Croteau, Kutchan, and Lewis, 2000, Natural products (secondary metabolites).
54. Yu, O., Jung, W., Shi, J., Croes, R.A., Fader, G.M., McGonigle, B., and Odell, J.T., 2000, Production of the isoflavones genistein and daidzein in non-legume dicot and monocot tissues, Plant Physiology, 124: 781-793.
55. Verpoorte R., Contin, A., and Memelink, J. | | Utilizing genetic engineering, it has been possible to modify these pathways and generate metabolically engineered plants with novel pharmacoactive components.
Terpenoid Metabolism
More than 25,000 different terpenoid structures have been described, and although particular terpenoids are restricted to single or a few organisms, terpenoids, as a group, have common biosynthetic origins.39 Thus the implementation of recombinant DNA technology to modify terpenoid pathways is particularly promising. We describe next a few successful examples of metabolic engineering of the terpenoid pathway. | | UTILIZATION OF genetic engineering IN MEDICINAL PLANTS
The production of genetically engineered plants depends on the stable introduction of foreign DNA into the plant genome, followed by regeneration to produce intact plants and expression of the introduced gene(s). Once
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FIGURE 12.1. Schematic representation of marker-assisted selection (MAS). | | For example, it is possible to transfer a gene that is normally expressed in a flower of one plant species and force its expression in the fruit of the target plant.3 genetic engineering has therefore an unprecedented ability to complement existing breeding programs.
The commercialization of many genetically engineered plants and plant products is currently being actively pursued by biotechnology and seed companies, and many of the genetically engineered plants are presently field-tested to determine their potential for commercialization. | | The main emphasis is put on the classical techniques; methods of plant genetic engineering are dealt with in Chapter 12 of this book.
PLANT TISSUE CULTURE TECHNIQUES
Within the scope of this handbook the following section provides basic information about general procedures and more specific plant tissue culture techniques with potential impact on production and improvement of medicinal plants, as well as in vitro manufacturing of crude drugs and active compounds.
Establishment of Sterile Cultures
Basically, cultures can be initiated from a variety of different parts of a plant. | | It is possible to manipulate the levels and composition of active pharmaceuticals in medicinal plants using genetic engineering. To efficiently accomplish this task, it is important to elucidate the biochemical pathways and the pattern of expression of the genes responsible for the synthesis of the specific natural products to be modified. To confer plants with desired traits, novel pathways have been introduced into target plants and, in parallel, endogenous genes have been "turned off" using proper constructs. |  Instead of distracting us from questions of democracy, genetic engineering could turn out to be our ultimate wake-up call. Where is democracy, we can ask, when just one company, Monsanto, controls 85 percent of all genetically engineered germplasm and has the power to saturate the commercial-seeds supply with genetically engineered varieties—with no input from the public, who must bear the consequences? genetic engineering may be what finally shocks us into finding our voices to ask the questions we must if we are to heal our planet. | | This shamanistic, Earth-based understanding is in sharp contrast with the intent of the genetic engineering corporations.
So why does the corporate world push a technology that breeds ill health, is a danger to the world ecology, does not feed the worlds poor and hungry, and is actually less economically productive per acre? Robert T. Frailey when he was Co-President of Monsanto's agricultural sector, put it bluntly: "It's really a consolidation of the entire food chain. |  Now that we are aware of this inter- and intra-species gene transfer mechanism, the dangers of genetic engineering become apparent. For example, tinkering with the genes of a tomato may not stop at that tomato, but could alter the entire biosphere in ways that we cannot foresee. Already there is a study that shows that when humans digest genetically modified foods, the artificially created genes transfer into and alter the character of the beneficial bacteria in the intestine. |  Recombinant DNA technology is one technique of genetic engineering.
RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY • A broad range of techniques involving the manipulation of genetic material of organisms, including technologies by which scientists isolate genes from one organism and insert them into another. The term is often used synonymously with genetic engineering and to describe DNA sequences isolated from and transferred between organisms by genetic engineering techniques. RECOMMENDED DIETARY ALLOWANCES (RDA) • The former listing of amounts of certain of nutrients needed to maintain health. | | Americans—especially those interested in healthful aging—should be asking more questions about what's happening to their food before it reaches their supermarket shelves.
The genetic engineering of food is another area that we should be examining closely, and, in my view, soundly rejecting. Traditional methods of breeding combine two animals or two plants in an effort to produce a new strain that offers the good points of each. But genetic engineering goes way beyond this by cutting and splicing genetic material between two totally different types of organisms. |  Soybeans contain many different types of protease inhibitors because of genetic heterogeneity, with new strains of protease inhibitors emerging as a result of hybridization and genetic engineering. The relative numbers of the Kunitz versus the Bowman-Birk types and the strength of their inhibitory powers also vary widely from one breed of soybean to another.6 In most soybeans, the Kunitzes outnumber the Bowman-Birks; the reverse occurs in chick peas, limas, azuki and mung beans. | | Those who endorse the hypothesis argue that tampering with the balance of that super-organism called Gaia, whether it be by destroying the rainforest, depleting the ozone layer or altering organisms through genetic engineering can threaten its survival and consequently ours.
Recent studies funded by Britain's Natural Environment Research Council provide support for those concerns. | | The tabloids heralded the brave new world of genetic engineering with its promise of designer babies and magic bullet medical treatments. I vividly remember the large block print headlines that filled the front page on that memorable day in 1953: "Secret of Life Discovered".
Like the tabloids, biologists jumped on the gene bandwagon. The mechanism by which DNA controls biological life became the Central Dogma of molecular biology, painstakingly spelled out in textbooks. In the long-running debate over nature v. nurture, the pendulum swung decidedly to nature. | | This amazing feat of genetic engineering is profoundly important because it represents an inherent "intelligence" mechanism by which cells evolve. [Steele, et al, 1998]
The Origins of Life: Smart Cells Get Smarter
It shouldn't be surprising that cells are so smart. Single-celled organisms were the first life forms on this planet. Fossil evidence reveals they were here within 600 million years after the Earth was first formed. For the next 2.75 billion years of the Earth's history, only free-living, single-celled organisms—bacteria, algae and amoeba-like protozoans, populated the world. |  Many scientists and politicians believe that making plants resistant to insects and infections will greatly increase crop yield and help prevent world hunger. In fact, in 2006 a total of 252 million acres of transgenic (or GM) crops were planted in twenty-two countries by 10.3 million farmers. The United States led the way with 53 percent of its crops produced from GM organisms, followed by Argentina (17 percent), Brazil (11 percent), Canada (6 percent), India (4 percent), and China (3 percent). |  At his Canberra, Australia, nonprofit institute, Richard Jefferson directs research into what he calls transgenomics—a method halfway between traditional plant breeding and genetic engineering. Jefferson is effectively trying to mimic the natural process of evolution. He believes that there is a "Jurassic Park" of diversity slumbering inside the genome. | | Where is democracy, we can ask, when just one company, Monsanto, controls 85 percent of all genetically engineered germplasm and has the power to saturate the commercial-seeds supply with genetically engineered varieties—with no input from the public, who must bear the consequences? genetic engineering may be what finally shocks us into finding our voices to ask the questions we must if we are to heal our planet. | | Long before genetic engineering, the American tomato had suffered several "improvements" at the hands of growers as they tried to meet the voracious American appetite for fresh tomatoes, estimated at $4 billion annually. When growers introduced mechanical pickers, the tomato had to be tough enough to survive the unfeeling fingers of the harvesting machines. So breeders had been carefully selecting varieties that ripened more slowly, or ones that had tougher skins. | | Second, once health-damaging effects caused by genetic engineering occur, there is no cleaning them up. Genetic mistakes are passed down in perpetuity, and this is yet another reason society should think twice before accepting this vast modification of agriculture as we've previously known it.
The Danger in Sugar
To return to the relatively controllable sphere of our dinner table, let's look at one of the really dangerous single items in our diet— sugar. This is a crucial piece of the aging puzzle. | | Antibiotech activists protesting the genetic engineering of the bacterium pulled up most of the strawberry plants the night before the test. The next day a scientist, dressed somewhat unfortunately in a moon suit, sprayed the bacterium onto a small patch of strawberries that had survived. Frostban apparently worked, but the company dropped the project after deciding that opposition to GM products was already too widespread. They would never be able to market Frostban without a fight. | |
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