Abstract
Ph.D. (Biochemistry)
Genetically modified (GM) crops were first introduced in the 1980s for the production of medicinal
products. Since then, areas designated to GM crops have expanded drastically, with the GM crops grown
to enhance agricultural productivity, improve agricultural practices, and as a tool to address potential
pressures that will be faced by the agricultural sector and to address the issue of food security. Currently,
cultivated GM crops include cotton, maize, rapeseed and soybean, carrying agronomic traits such as
herbicide tolerance and insect resistance.
Following the genetic modification of crops, three possible outcomes can be anticipated: these outcomes
include the GM crop produced being equivalent to its untransformed counterpart, the GM crop differing
from its untransformed counterpart with several well-defined characteristics, and the GM crop differing
from its untransformed counterpart with a multitude of complex characteristics. In cases where the GM
crop is equivalent to the untransformed counterpart, no further testing is needed. In instances where
several well-defined and characterised differences are found between the GM crop and the
untransformed counterpart, safety assessments are performed targeting these differences. The
assessments will determine the impact of these unintended and unexpected alterations of the intended
enhancement of the GM crops. However, methods currently used to assess GM crops have been found
to be lacking, since they only focus on environmental and product-specific risks. Further evidence is
essential, as part of GM crop safety assessment, on the molecular characterisation of these crops. This
evidence is based on the potential impact of the transformation event, integration of the transgene into
the host plant, as well as unintended alterations such as altered gene expression that may occur to the
host plant. These events may assist in the further detection of potential dangers of the GM crop. As a
result of these highlighted gaps, a project was formulated to study the unintended genomic alterations
that may occur during and following the production of a transgenic plant...