Let's Talk About GMOs

Overview

Do you recognize this famous fictional bird?
If you've read The Hunger Games, you know this bird and the powerful symbol it portrays in author Suzanne Collins' wildly famous series: (Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay). 

In the movie “The Hunger Games,” the Capitol (a term used to refer to what we would call the government) produced genetically enhanced birds called jabberjays to spy on rebels. Unexpectedly, these birds bred with mockingbirds, creating a new hybrid bird called the mockingjay. The Capitol did not intend for this to happen, and the bird became a symbol of rebellion.[nytimes.com]

So what does Katniss Everdeen's mockingjay have to do with genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?
Author James Gorman writes about a movement in his report: Do-It-Yourself Biology. Maybe the mockingjay isn't so far-fetched after all.

Learning Objectives

• Be able to explain what a GMO is and how it is created.
  
• Consider some pros and cons of the DIY-Biology movement.
• Take a stand on GMOs and share your view.
  

Introduction

What is a GMO anyway?

Definition
GMO (genetically modified organisms) - are living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering, or GE. This relatively new science creates unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacteria and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

Explore and Decide

Read: DIY Biology, on the Wings of the Mockingjay. What do you think?

1. Fiction writer and biologist, Joan Slonczewski said: "Now anybody can do a start-up." Could this be true? Why? Why not?
2. Would there be potential problems with people developing living creatures? Think about it and come up with an example.
3. Read some of the "Reader's Comments" to this article and be ready to share in your own words, a question that a reader posed.
   

Read: Amateurs Are New Fear in Creating Mutant Virus

1. Do you think GMOs can help solve health issues?
2. Should there be restrictions on the use of GMOs in food and medicine?
3. What about ethics? Is there a right or wrong way to use GMOs?

Read: The Truth About GMOs

1. Were you aware that some foods have been genetically engineered?
   
2. What do you think about GE foods? Are they safe? Unsafe? Why? Why not?
   

Share your view

Write a short essay (300-350 words) and discuss the idea of using GMO technologies. State your personal views and give reasons for your choices. Be sure to use at least one quote or reference to the reading and video from this lesson. Post your essay to the Discussion Forum titled: "My View on GMOs."

Post your short essay by Friday, 11:59 p.m.

What would you create?

If you had the technologies to engineer a living thing, what would your project be? Prepare a short proposal using a free presentation tool like emaze.com or prezi.com for your project. Make sure you address these three things:

• What your creation would be called -- size, shape, color?
  
• What it would be used for - will it solve a problem?
• Who will it be available to - governments? individuals? teachers? parents?

Submit your presentation (no more than 5 slides) by Sunday, 11:59 p.m.