Issues in Biotechnology:

The Way We Work With Life

Dr. Albert P. Kausch

life

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OnCampus
Live
BCH 190, MIC 190, AFS 190, NRS 190, PLS 190
OnLine BCH 190
A Sweeping General Survey on Life and Biotechnology
A Public Access College Course

The University of Rhode Island

Issues in Biotechnology:
Biotechnology, Our Society and Our Future

Issues in Biotechnology:
The Way We Work With Life
Dr. Albert Kausch
Kimberly Nelson

BCH 190

Section I. The Mechanics of DNA: What is Life?

Section II. The Applications of Biotechnology

A Sweeping General Survey on Life and Biotechnology

A Public Access College Course

The University of Rhode Islandlife

Issues in Biotechnology:
The Way We Work With Life
Dr. Albert P. Kausch

life edu.org
Part II

The Applications of
Biotechnology
A Sweeping General Survey on Life and Biotechnology
The University of Rhode Island

Agricultural Biotechnology
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Lectures 13 and 14

Issues in Biotechnology:
The Way We Work With Life
Dr. Albert P. Kausch

life edu.org

Agricultural Biotechnology
Part I Where Does Our Food Come From?
Part II DNA-based Biotechnology
And Modern Agriculture
Part III. Issues, Controversies and Concerns
a. Setting the Stage about Food and Agriculture:
b. Issues, Controversies and Concerns
c. The Organic Food Debate
Part IV. The Ethics
of Agriculture
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Part V. Renewable Energy and the Future of Humanity

Issues in Biotechnology:
The Way We Work With Life
Dr. Albert P. Kausch

life edu.org

Agricultural Biotechnology
Part IIIc. Issues, Controversies and Concerns
The Organic Food Industrial Complex

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Crop Plants
Conventional farming
Organic farming

Organic farming
No Synthetic Pesticides
No Synthetic Fertilizers
No GMOs

Is Organic Food
Better for You?

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Is Organic Food
Better for the
Environment?
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Is Organic Food
Safer?

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Is Organic Food
Better for You?

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Conventional Foods
Processed Foods
Organic Foods
Natural Foods
Whole Foods

Are Organic Foods Really Better For You?

What Consumers really want is good, clean, safe food.
Is that too much too ask?
Organic Foods promise safety from pesticides.
No synthetic fertilizer
No GMO
Natural Foods

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Organic farming
No Synthetic Pesticides
No Synthetic Fertilizers
No GMOs

Our goal of no-GMO ingredients

in our Whole Foods market brand
and 365 products is focused on
accessing ingredients derived from
non-genetically modified seeds.
Unfortunately, absolute "GMOfree" guarantees cannot be made on
any manufacturer's product. Not
only is it impossible to test every
container of product, but currently
there is no system in the United
States to guard against drift from
farmers using GMO seed that could
potentially contaminate non-GMO
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crops.

Is Organic more nutritious?

Sixty-eight percent of the respondents in a recent US poll said a
product labeled "USDA Certified Organic" would
indicate the food was safer than non-organic foods.
Sixty-seven percent believe the label would indicate food of
higher quality than non-organic foods.
Sixty-two percent believe the label would mean the food is
more healthful for consumers than non-organic food.
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Are organic foods more nutritious?

The head of the U.S. Organic Trade Association recently had

to admit organic food was no more nutritious than any other
food and that organic food standards had nothing to do with
food safety.
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Is Organic Food
Better for the
Environment?
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Is the Organic solution viable for

sustainable world agriculture?

Organic Advocates Argue: Wiser Land Use.

Less Pesticides. More Biodiversity.
Sustainable Agriculturists Argue.
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Is the Organic solution viable for

sustainable world agriculture?

Critics argue:
Feeding Humanity From Organic Fields
Would Mean Cropping Twice As Much
Land As We Currently life_edu
Plant.

Gene transfer to other crops or wild plants.

Change in herbicide use patterns
Squandering of valuable pest resistance genes
Poisoning of wildlife
Creation of new or worse viruses
Un-assessable long term risks

Are There Unknown Risks

to the Environment?
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Pesticides
Kill
Insects
Indiscriminately
A butterfly beats its wings
in the Amazon
and changes the weather
in Chicago.
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In 1962, Carson wrote: A truly extraordinary variety of

alternatives to the chemical control of insects is
available. Some are already in use and have achieved
brilliant success. Others are in the stage of laboratory
testing. Still others are little more than ideas in the
minds of imaginative scientists, waiting for the
opportunity to put them to the test. All have this in
common: they are biological solutions, based on
understanding of the living organisms they seek to
control, and of the whole fabric of life to which these
organisms belong. Specialists representing various areas
of the vast field of biology are contributing
entomologists, pathologists, geneticists, physiologists,
biochemists and ecologistsall pouring their knowledge
and their creative inspirations into the formation of a
new science of biotic controls

Is Organic Food
Safer?

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Organic vs.
Transgenic

Wild-type corn
variety with
secondary
fungal infection

Bt corn resistant to
corn borer damage,
resulting in less
secondary fungal
infections.
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What the public wants

is safe food that is good.

So while the organic standards may attempt to

ensure freedom from pesticide residues, the freedom
of organic foods from vermin, mycotoxins and other
contamination may be less certain.

Mycotoxins
Organic farmers are more likely to let their crops suffer rodent and
insect damage, which leads to more fungal infections and more
natural toxins in the food.
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Perhaps New Organic

Food Standards Could
Use Warning Labels
Organic Products Are
Not Necessarily Tastier,
Healthier Or
Pesticide-Free
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Organic agriculture is not a

food safety claim (FDA)
Organic means only that the farmers use organic fertilizer instead
of chemical fertilizer and "natural" pesticides such as copper
sulfate (broadly toxic) and sulfur (a soil contaminant).

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Price Comparison
Conventional vs Organic

Price Comparison
Conventional vs Organic

Price Comparison
Conventional vs Organic

Why is Organic Food So Expensive?

Sustainable
Agriculture
Is Organic Production Viable on a Large
Scale?
Are GM crops a Threat to Biodiversity?
Does Local Food Production Really lower the
Carbon Footprint?
Does Organic Food really lower your exposure
to pesticides?
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22. It is interesting that all life on this planet uses information

in the form of either DNA, RNA or both; that the same bases
are used; and, that the genetic code is almost always the same
using three of those bases to code for one of twenty amino
acids. (And its the same twenty amino acids!) It is also
interesting that RNA uses the base Uracil in place of Thymine.
The sequence GATTACA in DNA will code for what sequence
in RNA in a Genetically Modified plant?
a. CUAAUGU
b. TATTACU
c. CTAATCT
d. TGCCUAG
e. TUGGTCU

23. Genetic engineering of crop plants is controversial

because:
a. Uncertainty about safety and Regulatory issues
b. Big science, big companies Crossing the line and a
Distrust of Science
c. Environmental concerns
d. Globalization, Right of choice (labeling) and Food culture
issues
e. All of the issues shown play a role in the controversy

24. Organic Farming promises

a. Only no synthetic pesticides
b. Only no Synthetic Fertilizers
c. Only no GMOs
d. No synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers and no
GMOs
e. Food that is safe without food borne diseases like E coli.

25. Organic Foods are know to be better for you since

a. They have been shown to have quantitatively higher levels of
proteins compared with their conventional counterparts
b. They have been shown to have quantitatively higher levels
of vitamins compared with their conventional counterparts
c. They have no GMOs which have been demonstrated to have
negative effects on human health
d. They are only grown from heirloom varieties that have not
been robbed of their inherent nutritional value the way
conventional crops have been.
e. They are safer than their conventional counterparts
regarding food borne diseases like E coli.

Sustainable Agriculture

Responsible Land Management Practices

Water Use Efficiency
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Maarten J.
Chrispeels,ed.
Director
San Diego Center for
Molecular Biology
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Issues in Biotechnology:
The Way We Work With Life
Dr. Albert P. Kausch

life edu.org

Agricultural Biotechnology
Part IV. Issues, Controversies and Concerns

The Ethics Of Agricultural Biotechnology

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