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GM foods is a complex issue and one that is hard to untangle even for the aware and interested. This interactive workshop will get teachers to explore the ethics of GM foods and give them the basis of a SAC and other class activities to give students the tools to critically analyse information they will be exposed to on this topic and to think beyond just the technical aspects of the science
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Frankenfood
GM Foods:GM Foods:Beyond the mediaBeyond the media
GM foods solve world hunger
www.technyou.edu.au
DNA and genes
• All living things share at least some genes.
• This is how related you are to....
• A chimpanzee: 96%
• A mouse: 80%
• A fruit fly: 66%
• A cabbage: about 40%
Number of genes between humans differ between 0.1-.05%
GM crops approved for human consumption in Australia
• Cotton (linters, oil)
• Corn
• Soy
• Sugarbeet
• Potato (potato starch)
• Canola (oil)
GT techniques
• Agrobacterium
• Biolistics
• Electroporation
• Biomarker technology
Cellulosemicrofibril
Hemicellulose
Lignin
5-6% increase in digestibility = 27% increase in milk production.
Research by Molecular Plant Breeding CRC
Digestibility Analysis of Transgenic plant
54
56
58
60
62
64
66
68
70
CK CK2 CK3 CCRhp1 CCRhp2 CCRhp3
IVV
DM
D(%
)
TransgenicControl
Research by Molecular Plant Breeding CRC
Active voices versus majority voices
= The majority of the public are in the middle= The majority of the public are in the middle
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Support for GM foods and cropsLowLow HighHigh
GM food crops: trends over time
Significant increase in awareness and positive perceptions of GM food crops since 2005.
7685
64
83
71
5448
73
2315
30
13
23
4247
24
16 4 6 5 5 3
0
20
40
60
80
100
2005 2007 2005 2007 2005 2007 2005 2007
Awareness Useful Risky Acceptable
%
Don't know
No
Yes
Base: rotated questions CATI 2005 (n=537) 2007 (n=266)
Agree/disagree, acceptable/unacceptable
• GM rice with increased nutrition (eg. iron, Vitamin A)
• Pest resistant cotton (contain bacterial genes)• GM pasture, wheat, etc with drought tolerance• GM rice with human genes
The big questions
• What are the risk/benefits (scientific and social)?• How can the risks be managed? • How acceptable or not are these risks when
compared with the potential benefits?• What is safe?• What is natural?• What is long-term?
