Genetic Modification in Fruit

Friend or Foe ??

By Ella, Caitlin and Laura

What are genetically modified fruits?

Genetically modified fruit uses modern biotechnology which allows selected

individual genes to be transferred from one fruit species to another and then

used to grow.

What you may not realise is that genetic manipulation of fruit and vegetables has been around for thousands of years…

Facts

CA

RR

OTS

Dutch selectively bred white carrots to be orange as a tribute to their royal family, the house of orange

TH

E P

INK

GR

APEFR

UIT

The Pink grapefruit is a clone of one mutant grapefruit that was accidentally pink

TH

E P

OTA

TO

The potato used to be poisonous but has now become a household vegetable the wheat was once just a scrawny wild grass.

What you also may not know is the health benefits of genetic modification. We will now go through the most known genetically modified fruits and explain the health benefits of these…

What are the health benefits??

PLU

OT

Not many will know what a Pluot is. This is a delicious fruit that has been genetically combined from two other fruits, theses being a plum and a apricot.Pluots have Loads of health benefits like…

=

+

1. Pluots are also very rich in vitamin A and also a great source of vitamin C and fibre. It is a good source of potassium, and has much more health benefits than its parents, the plum and the apricot.

2. Pluots have phytonutrients called neochlorogenic and chlorogenic acid. These function as anti-oxidants that help in removing the free radicals in our body. These radicals kill proteins in our bodies so the anti- oxidents get rid of these.

3. Pluots help the absorption of iron in the body, helping the circulation which can further lead to healthy blood flow.

4. The latest Research has in fact confirmed that Pluots contains anti cancer agents that will prevent the growth of cancerous cells and tumours in the body.

5. Eating Pluots also reduces the chance of contracting heart disease in the long run. Plums have a certain cleansing agent that keep he blood pure and also prevent complications of the heart

TAN

GELO

S

A Tangelo is one of the more known Genetically modified fruits. Belongs to the citrus family and has a bitter and sour taste that some people love, like a Pomelo or Tangerine, which is in fact is where this hybrid came from. The health benefits for this genetically modified fruit are..

+ =

1. This fruit , the tangelo has an excellent source of vitamin C, like most other citrus fruits.

2. The Tangelo also has a good amount of flavonoids which give the fruit its colour and helps protect the plant from insects.

3. Tangelos are a great source of vitamin B including B1, B2, B5, B6 and B9

4. Carotenes are found in tangelos which are pigments of colour from violet to red-yellow which are then converted to vitamin A in the body

5. The tangelo has a good source of Potassium which helps the kidney to function normally. It also has an important role in the sense of it helps the skeletal and smooth muscle movements. I you have too much potassium this can be very dangerous, causing stomach pain, nausea and even it can cause your heart to stop but I don’t think you’ll have the problem with Tangelos because of its size, theirs not that much potassium in each fruit to cause risks to your health

6. An important Flavonoid is Hesperidin which is crucial to lower cholesterol and high blood pressure.

As an overall view of genetic modification in fruit there are many Pros and Cons as follows

Pros•Enhances nutrition and quality of life

•Enables crops to taste better, contain more nutrients and take less time to grow

•Enables living plants to have a better resistance to disease, pests and chemicals.

•Improves animals health

•Lessens the use of pesticides, (chemicals) increases the conservation of soil, energy and water

•Benefits communities due to increased food security for growing populations

Cons

•The potential risks to human health= allergens, antibiotic resistance, and the possible development of chronic and terminal illness after years of exposure all in all there are too many unknowns

•There is also the issue of ethics. Many Christians believe that what god made should not be tampered with . Genetic modifications is tampering with genes across and among other species.

• The FDA (food and drug administration)EPA (Environmental protection agency)USDA(united states department of agriculture) are very complex with how they do business that labelling regulations may slip through the cracks mean people may not know that they are eating genetically modifies food that many people will be angry with

How is Genetically Modified fruit made??This process involves the insertion\deletion of genes. This means that in every thing being genetically modified has to add something and delete something to make room for the matter going into the plant. In the process of this *Cisgene genes are artificially transferred between organisms. In *Transgenes, genes from a different specie are inserted, which is a form of horizontal gene transfer . To do this artificially requires physically inserting the DNA of the foreign genetics into the host or attaching the gene to a virus and giving it to the host. This means that your taking genetics from one living thing to another, whether the foreign gene is resistant to pesticides or has more health benefits, is up to the scientist who decides what is appropriate, and what would help the growing of the fruit, for a community and how to sustainably make their genetically engineered fruit.Transgene- A gene that has been naturally transferred by a genetic engineering technique from one living thing to another. This means that a portion of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) containing a gene sequence that has been isolated from an organism for a specific reason, wether is being its resistance to weather or diseases or giving it more vitamins

Cisgenesis- When genes are transferred into something that can be conventially bred, Unlike Transgenesis they are only transferred to closely related things which results in far less of a change to the living things genes

Transgenesis- is the process of introducing a Transgene into a living organism so it will exhibit a new property and transmit to their offspring, Their children.

How will genetically

modified Fruit help a community of 20 families live

sustainably??

This week has been about figuring out how a community of 20 families can learn to live sustainably and we have talked about genetically modified fruit, which as we’ve shown has lots of health benefits but does not completely come without risks so we think, after a weeks worth of research that genetically modified fruit and food in general is a way to live sustainably for many reasons but this is what we can conclude•If we eat genetically modified fruit there is some kind of

security of the fruit to not be diseased because of the genes that have been added to protect the fruit

•Because of all the vitamins in some genetically modified fruit you wont have to waste extra supplies of more fruit and veges or even tablets to get the recommended amount per person. for example a Tangelo has over 6 vitamins

•The extra Vitamins means a healthier community meaning less sickness as vitamin deficiency can be prevented with the eating of these fruits as well as other foods.

•Another reason we think it will help the community is the taste of these delicious fruits. Many of us know the burden of eating yucky vegetables and fruits for the benefits but because these fruits are delicious people wont have to be forced to eat these fruits but delighted at the opportunity.

These genetically modified fruit may taste great and have many health benefits but Will not solve the problem of sustainable living for a community but is a step in the right direction, as it would be vigorous to eat fruit without any protein and iron from meat. So we conclude that a community of 20 families should be eating and producing genetically modified fruit but should also eat meats so they can also get there daily required intake of nutrients and goodness.

Conclusion

Bibliographyhttp://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/nutritionessentials/vitaminsandminerals/potassium/http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/potassium-000320.htmhttp://www.btinternet.com/~martin.chaplin/hypec.htmlhttp://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2007/11/therealgmfoodscandal/http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Genetically_modified_foodshttp://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Caroteneshttp://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/33119798/Genetically-Modified-Food-and-Foreign-Aidhttp://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-flavonoids.htmhttp://www.everynutrient.com/healthbenefitsoftangerines.htmlhttp://www.kathleenbarnes.com/healthy-eating-and-drinking/genetically-modified-foods-spell-dangerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisgenesishttp://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/strange-fruit-could-genetically-modified-foods-offer-a-solution-to-the-worlds-food-crisis-1668543.htmlhttp://www.biotech.iastate.edu/biotech_info_series/bio8.htmlhttp://www.beyondveg.com/kinro-g/transgenic/fruit-1a.shtmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenehttp://thegogreenblog.com/genetically-modified-fruits/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food#Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangelohttp://worldmysteries9.blogspot.com/2009/02/7-intriguing-genetically-modified.htmlhttp://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/item.shtml?x=52221http://www.ethicurean.com/2009/07/08/gurian-sherman/http://www.blisstree.com/articles/genetically-modified-food-pros-and-cons/http://www.okspecialtyfruits.com/aas-genetically-modified-fruit.phphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenesis

Bibliography cont.http://sustainablefoodcenter.wordpress.com/glossary-of-terms/http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/GEM/ambassador/What_is_sustainability.htmhttp://www.csiro.au/resources/WhatIsGM.htmlhttp://www.gm.org/gm-foods/making-vegetables-fruits-healthier-through-gmhttp://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/genetically-modified-food-the-benefits-and-the-risks-849080.htmlhttp://www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/23358.aspxhttp://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/pusztai.htmlhttp://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.phphttp://www.ealing.gov.uk/services/community/health/food_matters/food_sustainability/http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/consumers/gm-ge/http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Genetically_Modified_Fruitshttp://webecoist.com/2009/09/01/10-more-intriguing-genetically-modified-fruits-veggies/http://www.prevention.com/cda/article/oranges-grapefruits-tangelos-oh-my/29fd20c111587110VgnVCM20000012281eac____/news.voices/in.the.magazine/march.2008.issuehttp://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/foodsafety/http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Nutritional-Benefits-of-Hesperidin&id=390974http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1456847/pluot.htmlhttp://www.best-whole-food-nutrition.com/whole_food_articles/Genetically_Modified_food_pros_cons.htmhttp://mb-soft.com/public2/gene.htmlhttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/62799.phphttp://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/grocery_shopping/fruit_vegetables/http://www.plantea.com/genetically-modified-foods.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Breeding_transgenesis_cisgenesis.svg