Information on
the Ballot Initiative in Humboldt County to Ban Genetically Modified Organisms
Mark S. Wilson, Humboldt State University, Department of Biology
GMOs under development
A variety of other GMOs
have been developed and are undergoing various stages of testing. Many of these have been made to be more
nutritional for the consumer. Some
examples are described below.
Potatos
A number of GMO potatos
have been developed. Recently, the
gene from a wild potato that makes it resistant to the potato blight has been
transferred to a potato variety that is grown for food. The
new potato is highly resistant to the fungus that causes potato blight (the
cause of the Irish Potato famine, which killed 750,000 people and brought my
ancestors to America). Currently,
farmers use fungicide applications to try to combat the blight.
Another GMO potato is
called the protato because it has been engineered to have increased protein
content. This
potato was developed by scientists in India using a gene from
amaranth. Their hope is that this
potato may help reduce the effects of malnutrition among poor children in
India.
Other transgenic potatoes
are being developed that would function as edible vaccines. One of these
being developed by scientists at the University of Rochester confers protection
against Human Papilloma Virus, a common sexually transmitted disease that is
the cause of cervical cancer.
Other GMO crops in development
include: crops that can grow in higher salt soils; crops with improved
nutritional qualities; crops that are less allergenic than current varieties
and crops that produce less toxins; crops with higher yields; and crops that
can be used for industrial processes, such as plants that can concentrate heavy
metals and salts, thus assisting in the cleanup of polluted sites. Future products might be more
appropriate for use in making biodiesel or for conversion to ethanol.
Other products are being
made specifically for use in the developing world. Rice and mustard that contain higher levels of beta-carotene
are being developed to potentially help address vitamin A deficiencies,
transgenic plant vaccines are being developed to help address diarrheal diseases
and viral infections, and a male-sterile mosquito is being researched to reduce
the number of malaria-carrying mosquitos in areas where malaria is a serious
problem. Millions of people are affected by each of the problems these GMOs
might address. Also, plants are being developed that can tolerate soils with
high concentrations of aluminum, which is particularly a problem in the
tropics. If farmers can use these plants to improve yields or to farm
already-cultivated lands longer, the hope is that more tropical forest will be
preserved intact. The rationale
here is that every acre of farmland kept in use may be equivalent to an acre of
forest or grassland not cleared for cultivation.
previous topic, Examples of GMOs
next topic, Issues relating to GMOs