Biodiversity and the Health Society PDF

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MA. PRISCILLA JESSICA K. HERNANDEZ, RPh | 2ND YR, S.Y 2024-2025 | TRANSCRIBED BY: LAPUZ, ASHLEY JANELLE D. ★♡♥☆ BIODIVERSITY AND THE HEALTH SOCIETY BIODIVERSITY GENETICALLY...

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MA. PRISCILLA JESSICA K. HERNANDEZ, RPh | 2ND YR, S.Y 2024-2025 | TRANSCRIBED BY: LAPUZ, ASHLEY JANELLE D. ★♡♥☆ BIODIVERSITY AND THE HEALTH SOCIETY BIODIVERSITY GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS: SCIENCE, ❖ Also known as biological diversity and is essential HEALTH AND POLITICS for supporting human life on earth. ❖ Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) ❖ Is defined as the variability among living organisms ❖ A.k.a Transgenic in the terrestrial, marine and other aquatic resources ❖ Product of Genetic Engineering → also known as of the earth. Recombinant DNA technology which refers to all ❖ It is also the ecological aspect of diversity, it includes techniques that allow desirable genetic traits from diversity within species, and between species and plant, animal or microorganisms to be incorporated the ecosystem. into an unrelated species. ❖ Provides us humans resources such as water, food and medicines. ❖ Refer to plants and animals with altered (can be artificially manipulated) genetic makeups that have BIODIVERSITY AND THE HEALTH SOCIETY been edited in a laboratory to incorporate genes from ❖ Changes to biodiversity can have severe and other organisms. unpredictable effects on the health of all living things, ❖ This creates a combination of plants, animals, including people. Alterations could lead to various bacteria, and virus genes that do not occur in nature defects – can affect wildlife or marine life. or through traditional cross-breeding methods. ❖ Even with the improvement of technology and ❖ Examples of GMO foods: science at present, we should still learn basic concepts about the consequences of biodiversity Roundup Monsanto company also has created loss like from: Ready Corn roundup ready soy, alfalfa, canola, Charles Darwin cotton, and sorghum Alfred Russel Wallace AquAdvantage GE Atlantic salmon developed by ❖ Biodiversity loss: “The earth will retain its most salmon AquaBounty Technologies in 1989. The striking feature, its biodiversity only if humans have the prescience to do so. This will occur, it seems, typical growth hormone-regulating gene only if we realize the extent to which we use in the Atlantic salmon was replaced with biodiversity”- Tilman (2000) the growth hormone-regulating gene from Pacific Chinook salmon. This gene enables GM salmon to grow year-round BIODIVERSITY AND HUMAN HEALTH instead of only during spring and ❖ Short-term exposure- exposure to forest, urban summer. parks, gardens and other semi natural environments. Helps reduce stress and depressive symptoms, restores attention fatigue and increases self reported CURRENT USE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED position, positive emotions and improves ORGANISMS self-esteem. ❖ Increased crop yields ❖ Long-term exposure- exposure to a natural ❖ Reduced costs for food or drug production environment such as residing in areas with high ❖ Reduced need for pesticides greeness or in diverse landscapes. Has been ❖ Enhanced nutrient composition and food quality associated with reducing respiratory, cardiovascular ❖ Resistance to pests and disease and cancer mortality and also mental health. ❖ Greater food security ❖ Medical benefits to the world’s growing population 3 MAIN MECHANISMS THAT LINK BIODIVERSITY IN NATURE AND GREEN SPACES TO HUMAN HEALTH & POTENTIAL GMO APPLICATIONS WELL BEING: ❖ A number of microorganisms are being considered BIOPHILIA HYPOTHESIS as future clean fuel producers, biodegraders and ❖ Edward O. Wilson- believes that humans are may be used to produce recombinant vaccines. genetically predisposed to be attracted to nature and ❖ Develop plant-derived vaccine candidates in states that all humans inherently love the natural potatoes and lettuce for Hepatitis B virus (HBV), world and states it in his book Biophilia in 1984. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), and Norwalk virus BIODIVERSITY HYPOTHESIS ❖ Scientist are also looking into the production of other commercially valuable proteins in plants, such as ❖ Proposed that exposure to biodiversity improves the spider silk protein and polymers that are used in immune system by regulating the species surgery or tissue replacement (Ma et al., 2003) composition of the human microbiome. Exposure to beneficial environmental microbiota reduces the ❖ Xenotransplantation- also known as heterologous prevalence of allergy, asthma and other chronic transplant and comes from the Greek word “xenos” inflammatory diseases. meaning foreign or strange. It is a genetically modified animal that has been used to grow DILUTION EFFECT HYPOTHESIS transplant tissues and human transplant organs. ❖ Suggest that diverse ecological communities limit - Transplantation of living cells, tissues or disease spread via several mechanisms. organs from one species to another. Such cells, tissues or organs are called ❖ Transmission and burden of infectious diseases are xenografts or xenotransplants. expected to be lower in animals. In an area with more species of animals, if a disease-carrying animal RISKS AND CONTROVERSIES OF USING GMOs is surrounded by many non-carrying animals, the ❖ Despite the fact that the genes being transferred overall risk of disease spreading to others is lower occur naturally in other species, there are unknown (diluted). So, having a diverse range of species can consequences to altering the natural state of an help protect against the spread of certain diseases. MT2-B | 1  organism through foreign gene expression. Such Canola alterations can change the organism’s metabolism, Potatoes growth rate, and/or response to external Cotton environmental factors. Sugarbeet ❖ Horizontal gene transfer- is the ability of Alfalfa organisms, like bacteria, to share genes with each other. Instead of getting genes only from their GMO CROPS IN THE PHILIPPINES parents (like most living things do), they can pick up ❖ 2017 - Philippines ranked as the top grower of genes from other organisms in their environment. biotech or genetically modified (GM) crops in Southeast Asia and 12th biggest producer globally in ❖ Horizontal gene transfer of pesticide, herbicide, or the International Service for the Acquisition of antibiotic resistance to other organisms would not Agri-biotech Application (ISAAA) only put humans at risk, but it would also cause ❖ Highest hectarage of GM corn recorded is at ecological imbalances, allowing previously 831,000 hectares in 2014. Adoption rates of biotech innocuous plants to grow uncontrolled, thus or GM corn here are up by two percentage points to promoting the spread of disease among both plants 65 percent in 2016 from 63 percent in 2015. Growing and animals. biotech or GM corn has benefitted some 406,000 farmers in 2016. UNINTENDED ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES ❖ On a global scale, a total of 185.1 M hectares of ❖ Private companies will claim ownership of the biotech or GM crops were planted in 26 countries in organisms they create and not share them at a Asia, Africa, Europe, and North and Latin America in reasonable cost with the public. 2016. ❖ Average landholding of Filipino Biotech farmers is at GMOs AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC: PHILOSOPHICAL two hectares. The corn producing areas in the & RELIGIOUS CONCERNS country are Isabela, Cagayan Valley, South and North Cotabato, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat, ❖ According to the Food and Agriculture among others. Davao City is also producing corn but Organization of the United Nations, public only minimal. acceptance trends in Europe and Asia are mixed depending on the country and current mood at the time of the survey (Hoban, 2004). Attitudes toward ETHICAL AND SOCIAL CONCERNS IN THE PH cloning, biotechnology, and genetically modified 1. GE foods remove consumer choice- because products differ depending upon people’s level of many GE crops are not separate from non-GE foods education and interpretations of what each of these in the food system and consumers have been denied terms mean. Support varies for different types of the right to choose not to eat genetically engineered biotechnology; however, it is consistently lower when foods because labeling of genetically modified food animals are mentioned. is not required in the ph. ❖ The ethical issues surrounding GMOs include debate 2. Biopiracy- use of intellectual property system to over our right to “play God” (meaning his creations), legitimize the exclusive ownership and control over as well as the introduction of foreign material into biological resources, products and processes that foods that are abstained from for religious reasons. have been used over centuries in non-industrialized culture. ❖ These issues are increasingly important to consider 3. Loss of Farmers rights- GMO agriculture has led to as the number of GMOs continues to increase due to superweeds and superpest that are difficult for improved laboratory techniques and tools for farmers to manage. It leads to shifting to old and sequencing whole genomes, better processes for more toxic chemicals. cloning and transferring genes, and improved 4. Genetic engineering is unnatural- interferes with understanding of gene expression systems. Thus, the natural occurrences of nature. legislative practices that regulate this research have to keep pace. Prior to permitting commercial use of ❖ Problems associated with genetically engineered GMOs, governments perform risk assessments to crops: determine the possible consequences of their use, Production of unexpected toxins and but difficulties in estimating the impact of commercial allergens → because genetic engineering is GMO use makes regulation of these organisms a not precise technology, the insertion of challenge. foreign genes can stimulate the production of unexpected protein which may be toxic or LABELING carcinogenic. Effects on the environment- potential to ❖ Congress passed a law in 2016 to make it create new weeds through outcrossing with mandatory for GMO foods to be labeled as such, but wild relatives. the implementation of the law has been delayed. A Contamination of seeds and crops- GMO public comment period was scheduled to continue crops can contaminate non-GMO and through summer 2018 before establishing final organic crops through cross pollination on standards for labeling. Among the topics being the field. debated is the language to be used on the labels and what percentage of GMO ingredients a product must contain for a label to be mandatory. ❖ Last February 2019, in its “Draft Guidelines on Labeling of Prepackaged Foods Derived from or Containing Ingredients from Modern Biotechnology,” the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (PFDA) indicated that it would not require labeling for GE packaged foods because it has no difference with conventional foods, not carcinogenic and has been proven safe for human health under numerous test. There are at least 34 gene insertion processes involving genetically modified food that have been approved for commercial release in the philippines. Corns Soybeans MT2-B | 2