This presentation focus on the impact of genetically modified organism and plants on the biodiversity.This deals with the focus on the health related issue and environmental causes.Hope this presentation will be helpful to you all.Thanks

2. • Are also known as genetically modified or GM crops.
• A transgenic crop plant contains a gene or genes which have been
artificially inserted instead of a plant acquiring them through
pollination.
•The inserted gene sequence (transgene) may come from another
unrelated plant, or completely different species.
•Throughout history all crops have been genetically modified from
their original wild state by domestication, selection, and control of
breeding over long periods of time.
• Genetic engineering speeds up the process and increases the variety
of genes which can be inserted into a particular plant.

3. •Was under trial and error for almost 9900 years.The first genetically
modified plant was produced in 1982, using an antibiotic-resistant
tobacco plant.
•The first genetically modified crop approved for sale in the U.S., in 1994,
was the FlavrSavr tomato, which had a longer shelf life, as it took longer
to soften after ripening.
• As of mid-1996, a total of 35 approvals had been granted to
commercially grow 8 transgenic crops and one flower crop of carnations,
with 8 different traits in 6 countries plus the EU. In 2000, with the
production of golden rice, scientists genetically modified food to increase
its nutrient value for the first time.

5. • improved nutritional quality
• increased crop yield
• insect resistance
• disease resistance
• herbicide resistance
• salt tolerance
• biopharmaceuticals
• saving valuable topsoil
• ability to grow plants in harsh
environments
ADVANTAGES OF GM CROPS

6. DISADVANTAGES OF GM CROPS
• Damage to human health
• allergies
• horizontal transfer and antibiotic resistance
• eating foreign DNA
• changed nutrient levels
• Damage to the natural environment
• crop-to-weed gene flow
• leakage of GM proteins into soil
• reductions in pesticide spraying: are they real?
• Disruption of current practices of farming and production in developed countries
• crop-to-crop gene flow
• Disruption of traditional practices and economies in less developed countries.
• Lack of research on consequences of transgenic crops.

8. Out Crossing/Horizontal gene flow:
If GM plants pass their new traits on to wild relatives,
those relatives could be changed in a way that could make them play a
different ecological role, potentially enabling them to out-compete other
species.
Toxic to living things:
• Non-target effects.
• Identifying a resistant gene and targeting its product to appropriate
plant tissues so that it acts only against the pest,without adverse effects
on friendly organism,is challenging.
• Targeting the pest without undesirable side effects is a potential problem
for all methods of control,whether chemical or biological.

9. • Lands which carry a specific “Bt” gene produce a toxin that kills insect pests
that feed upon them.
• Bt is used as a natural insecticide in organic agriculture.
• A controversy arose about whether pollen from Bt plants could harm
beneficial species (such as the monarch butterfly). However, a series of follow-
up studies concluded that under field conditions the risk of harm to monarch
butterfly caterpillars from Bt maize pollen is very small, particularly in
comparison with other threats such as conventional pesticides and drought.
Bt Toxin:

10. Persistent or Invasiveness of Crops:
• It is important to determine whether newly introduced traits make a crop more
likely to be more persistent(weedy) in agricultural habitat or more invasive in
natural habitats.
• If a crop species have very few weedy charecteristics,the addition of one
or a few genes would be unlikely to cause weed problem.
• In the absence of the herbicide application,GM herbicide-tolerannt crops are
no more likely to be invasive in agricultural field or natural habitats than their
nonGM counterparts.

11. Reduced efficiency of pest,disease and weed control:
• Changes in agronomic practice with the introduction of GM crops
have potential impact on the environment which include the use of
broad-spectrum herbicides.
• Glyphosate tolerance was considered to be highly unlikely to evolve in
weed species.Another example are ryegrass inAustralia and horseweed
In United States.
• Pest resistant to GM Bt crops has been used by the ‘high –dose refuge’ strategy,
where resistance to Bt in insects is controlled by recessive gene,the presence of
refuge plants reduces the probability of the evolution of insects with resistant to
Bt toxin.
• Next generation of GM pest-resistant is likely to contain insecticidal gene,In
Cotton sGk two insecticidal gene cry1A and CpT1(cowpea trypsin inhibitor) is
being planted in China.Also other varieties are have been developed.

12. Effects on Soil and Water:
• It is sometimes argued that the use of herbicides will increase
with the widespread introduction of GM herbicide tolerant crops
and that this will contribute to the contamination of soil and water
and have undesirable effects on plat and animals.
• In US small but significant decrease in herbicide use has been reported
Since by the introduction of the GM soyabeans.
• Furthermore the Canola council of canada, reported the result of a study
that shows that the herbicide tolerant oilseed rape eliminated the use of
>6ooo tones of herbicide in the 2000 growing season.

15. Intellectual Property right:
• Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the intellect for which
a monopoly is assigned to designated owners by law.
• Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are the protections granted to the creators
of IP, and include trademarks, copyright, patents, industrial design rights, and
in some jurisdictions trade secrets.
• Artistic works including music and literature, as well as discoveries,
inventions, words, phrases, symbols, and designs can all be protected as
intellectual property.

16. Why GM Crops are banned in Nepal?
In Nepal, the NationalAgro-biodiversity Policy 2063 prohibits GM crops.
From environmental point of view, GM seeds are not friendly at any cost.
Therefore, it is, rightly, called seeds of destruction.

17. Conclusion:
The Knowledge gained over the past few years show that GM crops have
been grown commercially indicates that the impacts on biodiversity are positive
on balance. By increasing yields,decreasing insecticide use, increasing the use of
more environmentally friendly herbicides and facilitating the adoption of
conservation tillage,GM crops have already contributed to increasing
agricultural sustainable.

18. • http://www.greenfacts.org/en/gmo/3-genetically-engineered-food/5-gene-
flow.htm#1p2
•http://www.gmocompass.org/eng/safety/environmental_safety/166.biodiversity_t
hreatened_genetically_modified_plants.html
• http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/bi430-fs430/Documents-2004/7B-
MIN%20TILL%20AG/dale-nat-biotech-rev-envGMO-2002.pdf
• http://www.agrobio.org/bfiles/fckimg/Carpenter%20-
%20Impacts%20of%20GM%20Crops%20on%20Biodiversity.pdf
References:
• http://setopati.net/blog/82/