GM crops could provide more food or food with an improved nutritional…

The idea

Genetic modification inserts a gene from one organism into a crop plant, giving the plant a new characteristic. A GM crop could yield more food because the plant may grow faster, resist pests or survive drought, so less of the harvest is lost. Alternatively, the crop could have improved nutritional value: golden rice is a GM rice containing added genes that let it make beta-carotene, which the human body converts into vitamin A. This matters where diets are based mainly on plain rice and vitamin A deficiency causes blindness.

What earns the marks

• State that genetic modification involves transferring a gene from one organism into a crop plant so the plant gains a desired characteristic.
• Explain that a GM crop could give more food if it grows faster, resists pests or survives harsh conditions, reducing crop losses.
• Explain that improved nutritional value means the crop contains a new substance that benefits human health, such as a vitamin or its precursor.
• Use golden rice as the named example: genes are added so the rice grains make beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A.
• Link the benefit to people whose diet is mainly rice, where extra vitamin A can reduce deficiency diseases such as night blindness.
• Recognise that GM crops are a biotechnology application and that their use involves both potential benefits and ethical, environmental or economic concerns.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Saying GM crops simply contain more vitamins without naming the added gene or the substance produced.

  Put it right by stating that the inserted gene lets the plant make beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.

• Confusing genetic modification with selective breeding.

  Put it right by explaining that GM transfers a specific gene between species, whereas selective breeding chooses existing individuals to reproduce.

• Claiming golden rice is naturally high in vitamin A; correct this by stating that it is a GM variety engineered to produce beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.

Exam tips

• Read the command word: if asked to explain, give the gene, the substance made and the health benefit in a linked chain rather than a list.
• Use golden rice as a precise example, naming beta-carotene and vitamin A, because a named example earns credit more reliably than a general claim.
• If asked to evaluate, give at least one benefit and one concern, and make clear which point you are making rather than mixing them together.