How genetic modification can help Nigeria in food production, health, industry

Agricultural biotechnology has improved crop protection by enabling the use of fewer pesticides creating a sustainable way to practice agriculture and protect land as a natural resource.

The built-in protection for crop plant against insects and their diseases has significantly reduced the need to use conventional insecticides which have broad spectrum with no specificity.

It in turn reduces environmental contamination and the risk it confers to humans. For example, the approval and commercialization of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt.) crops like cotton, canola and maize proves the enormous advantage GMO crops can do for the world.

The toxins used are specific, beneficial insects are not affected and chances of evolutional resistance building are significantly low.

According to Shelton et al, in 2002, the effective controls of pest, insects and weeds have produced an indirect effect on the increase of yields with added unexpected benefits such as reduction of specific fungal mycotoxin in Bt. maize.

Farmers are able to make more profit with cheaper methods of pest control. Barwale, et al in 2004 said the use of Bt. crops will positively affect the livelihood of small farmers by improving their net incomes, decreasing the cost of purchasing chemical, as they are getting biological control in the transgenic seeds used for farming.

The improvement of food quality by genetically modified crops has an added benefit of improving nutrition. For the developing world where the main diet is rice, the production of ‘golden rice’ with beta carotene to meet the required vitamin A requirement is a benefit towards reducing vitamin A deficiency in children.

GM crops are the most scrutinized and regulated crops rendering them safe. Applications are clean and neat proving to be more sustainable for our resources.

Bt. genes are available and proven safe as a bio-pesticide and allows the exploitation of plant biotechnology for agricultural biotechnology.

The improvement of crops by agricultural biotechnology creates the advantage of utilising less land for farming which in turn reduces erosion and helps with biodiversity in the ecosystem.

For industrial purposes, there is the use of biological methods to optimize industrial processes which Includes research for new enzymes (proteins that remove oily and protein-based stains)

In medication, the production of medicines and pharmaceutical products for treating or diagnosing disorders.

Designing organisms to manufacture antibiotics and vaccines, rngineering genetic defects through genomic manipulation, use in forensics through DNA profiling, production of human insulin from non- human sources.

Others are production of hormones like Interferons, Cytokinins, Steroids and human growth hormones, gene therapy for prevention and control of diseases like hemophilia cystic fibrosis, Development of vaccines and antibodies for rabies, HIV, etc.

Human insulin is being produced using genetic engineering technique known as humulin and it is used for the treatment of diabetes that has low sugar level in the blood.

Interferon interfere in transmission of viral genome from one cell to another and it also inhibits the cell division of abnormal cells. o Interferon produced using the recombinant DNA technology is used to treat cancer patients. o Interferon improved the quality of life of cancer patients