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Documente Cultură
– GM white mushrooms
have had a gene? that
normally causes them to
go brown altered so it no
longer functions. These
mushrooms take longer
to go brown, prolonging
their shelf-life.
– GM bacteria have
been developed that
have had a gene
for insulin added to
their genome. These
bacteria produce
large quantities of
insulin as they grow,
which is then
extracted and used
by people
with diabetes to
control their blood
sugar levels.
The Acer1 gene is
thought to be involved
in skin diseases like
psoriasis. GM mice
have been made where
the Acer1 gene no
longer functions to
study what it
normally does. These
mice have hair loss
and are less able to
control heat and water
loss from their skin.
• The genomes of organisms
change naturally over
time, for example:
– when organisms mate,
offspring get bits of
DNA from both parents
– mutations arise as a
result of mistakes when
DNA is copied
– environmental factors
like UV radiation can
create changes in DNA.
• These changes to the DNA
are not ‘genetic
modifications’ as they
happen naturally.
to France and Germany,
other European
countries that placed
bans on the cultivation
and sale of GMOs
include Austria, Hungary
, Greece, and
Luxembourg,
Switzerland. Poland has
also tried to institute a
ban, with backlash from
the European
Commission.
• In January 2005, the Hungarian government
announced a ban on importing and planting of
genetic modified maize seeds, which was
subsequently authorized by the EU.
• In February 2008 the French government used the
safeguard clause to ban the cultivation of MON810
after the chairman of a committee set up to evaluate
biotechnology, said there were "serious doubts"
about the safety of the product.
• In 2009 German Federal Minister announced an
immediate halt to cultivation and marketing of
MON810 maize under the safeguard clause.
• In January 2013, Poland's government placed a ban
on Monsanto's GM corn, MON 810. It launched a
communication campaign with farmers, announcing
they will now be strictly monitoring farms for GM
corn crops. Poland is the eighth EU member to ban
the production of GMOs.