By Ella, Caitlin and Laura 
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.
Facts
What you may not
realise is that genetic
manipulation of fruit
and vegetables has
been around for
thousands of years…
Dutch selectively bred white carrots to
be orange as a tribute to their royal
family, the house of orange
The Pink grapefruit is a clone of one mutant
grapefruit that was accidentally pink
The potato used to be poisonous but has
now become a household vegetable
the wheat was once just a scrawny wild
grass.
What are the health
benefits??
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…
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
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
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.
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
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.
Conclusion
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.
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