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"GMO" Stands for Genetically Modified Food which stands for genetically modified organism, refers to any organism whose DNA has been modified using genetic engineering technology.
According to the World Health Organization, "Foods produced from or using GM organisms are often referred to as GM foods.
In the food industry, GMO crops have had genes added to them for various reasons, such as improving their growth, nutritional content, sustainability, pest resistance, and ease of farming.
Genes encoded for desired features, for instance an improved nutrient level, pesticide and herbicide resistances, and the possession of therapeutic substances, are often extracted and transferred to the target organisms, providing them with superior survival and production capacity.
Genetic modification significantly accelerates this process by using scientific techniques that give the plant the specific desired trait.
In the early 1900s and various advancements in genetic techniques through the 1970s it became possible to directly alter the DNA and genes within food.
For example: Scientists modified bacteria to produce chymosin, which was also able to clot milk, resulting in cheese curds. Genetically modified microbial enzymes were the first application of genetically modified organisms in food production and were approved in 1988 by the US Food and Drug Administration.
selective breeding, in which organisms with desired traits (and thus with the desired genes) are used to breed the next generation and organisms lacking the trait are not bred, is a precursor to the modern concept of genetic modification
The first genetically modified animal to be approved for food use was Aqua salmon in 2015. The salmon were transformed with a growth hormone-regulating gene from a Pacific Chinook salmon and a promoter from an ocean pout enabling it to grow year-round instead of only during spring and summer.
The first genetically modified food approved for release was the Flavr Savr tomato in 1994.
China was the first country to commercialize a transgenic crop in 1993 with the introduction of virus-resistant tobacco.
In 1995, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Potato was approved for cultivation, making it the first pesticide producing crop to be approved in the US.
PROCESS:
The first step is to identify a useful gene from another organism that you would like to add.
The gene can be taken from a cell or artificially synthesised, and then combined with other genetic elements, including a promoter and terminator region and a selectable marker.
using microinjection, where it can be injected through the cell's nuclear envelope directly into the nucleus, or through the use of viral vectors.
In plants the DNA is often ,using electroporation. a single cell is transformed with genetic material, the organism must be regenerated from that single cell. In plants this can be acheived by using tissue culture.
Generation:
The first crops developed were used for animal or human food and provide resistance to certain pests, diseases, environmental conditions, spoilage or chemical treatments (e.g. resistance to a herbicide).
The second generation of crops aimed to improve the quality, often by altering the nutrient profile.
Third generation genetically modified crops could be used for non-food purposes, including the production of biofuels, and other industrially .
As of 2018, the commercialized crops are limited mostly to cash crops like cotton, soybean, maize/corn and canola and the vast majority of the introduced traits provide either herbicide tolerance or insect resistance.
