Enviropig Introduction

Sarah Spier, Presenter Author

02/22/2016 Added

1017 Plays

Description

This video is an introduction to the Enviropig website. It provides background information and the main issues that lead to the Enviropig project. For more information visit the Enviropig website: https://ge.unl.edu/enviropig/

Searchable Transcript

Search:

[00:00:03.110]This video will give you an introduction
[00:00:05.010]to the story of Enviropig: Solving Environmental Contaminant
[00:00:08.950]Issues Using Genetically Modified Organisms.
[00:00:13.310]Let's start with the problem.
[00:00:15.010]Animal agriculture is a major contributor
[00:00:17.370]to the increased amount of phosphorus in the environment.
[00:00:20.370]And that is because it is found in animal manure.
[00:00:23.310]If you've ever worked in agriculture,
[00:00:24.910]even been around agriculture,
[00:00:26.610]you probably understand that animals produce
[00:00:29.230]a large amount of this manure.
[00:00:31.190]So, this is a large environmental concern
[00:00:33.870]when it comes to disposing all this phosphorus
[00:00:35.850]that comes from the manure,
[00:00:37.210]as this phosphorus can be led into other areas
[00:00:39.830]of the environment through run-off.
[00:00:42.630]So, what is the impact of increased
[00:00:44.070]environmental phosphorus?
[00:00:46.550]Well, one process that occurs is called eutrophication,
[00:00:50.250]and this can lead to major issues.
[00:00:52.310]Eutrophication is an excess of nutrients,
[00:00:54.690]typically nitrogen or phosphorus,
[00:00:56.710]which are common agricultural elements.
[00:00:59.690]And what happens is, these elements are found
[00:01:01.910]in a body of water, and they increase
[00:01:03.950]the amount of nutrients in this body of water,
[00:01:06.210]which then increases plant growth.
[00:01:08.811]Once all these plants grow at an excessive rate,
[00:01:11.110]they die out and then decomposers must come
[00:01:14.270]and do their job by breaking down this plant tissue.
[00:01:17.130]Well, the decomposers need to use a lot of oxygen
[00:01:19.510]to do this, so the biological oxygen demand increases,
[00:01:23.450]which then leads to a decrease
[00:01:25.050]in the available dissolved oxygen.
[00:01:27.610]So, there's less oxygen available for the other
[00:01:29.910]aquatic organisms living in that body of water.
[00:01:32.770]And this can lead to a stagnant body of water,
[00:01:35.050]as many aquatic organisms die out.
[00:01:38.670]Here is an example of a small scale look
[00:01:41.190]at eutrophication.
[00:01:42.830]As you can see, where the ducks are swimming
[00:01:44.510]there is very murky water.
[00:01:46.210]This is the dead plant tissue that has floated to the top.
[00:01:49.510]You can also see in this circle
[00:01:51.030]that there is a dead fish.
[00:01:52.790]And this is just a very small example
[00:01:54.750]of what can occur.
[00:01:55.990]This fish probably died due to lack of oxygen,
[00:01:59.070]and when this occurs at a large scale,
[00:02:00.530]it can lead to major problems.
[00:02:03.150]So, how it gets to this large scale is
[00:02:05.250]the eutrophication occurs in waterways
[00:02:08.930]like this stream here.
[00:02:10.430]Let's say, for example, this stream is somewhere
[00:02:12.550]in the Midwest, and it eventually makes its way
[00:02:14.490]to the Mississippi River.
[00:02:16.230]Well, that's a very large body of water
[00:02:18.090]that can make a big impact.
[00:02:19.530]And when the Mississippi River meets
[00:02:21.630]with the Gulf of Mexico, it can lead to examples like this.
[00:02:25.370]This is the tip of the Florida peninsula,
[00:02:27.350]and you can see that a lot of this water's very murky,
[00:02:30.310]and kind of has a fog through it.
[00:02:32.250]This is actually dead plant tissue,
[00:02:34.370]and this is an example of large-scale eutrophication.
[00:02:37.410]So, the problems that can arise from this
[00:02:39.291]are the economy is affected, because the fishing industry
[00:02:41.750]is really hurt.
[00:02:42.930]A lot of the fish they're going after are dying out.
[00:02:45.731]Biodiversity is also affected because a lot of organisms
[00:02:48.790]that rely on this oxygen now cannot find it.
[00:02:52.450]And another big issue is the smell that occurs
[00:02:54.990]once these animals die.
[00:02:56.711]And this can be very noticeable if you're on the coast.
[00:03:00.630]And if you've ever lived on the coast
[00:03:02.010]where this is a problem,
[00:03:03.390]you may have noticed the smell before,
[00:03:05.250]and it can just be very unpleasant for the environment.
[00:03:09.270]So let's take a step back and see why this occurs.
[00:03:12.110]What is happening in animal physiology
[00:03:13.830]that makes this large amount of phosphorus?
[00:03:16.910]Well, animals produce a lot of this phosphorus
[00:03:18.970]because they lack the ability to break down phytate.
[00:03:21.730]They cannot utilize the phosphorus in their feed.
[00:03:24.611]And pigs and poultry are large contributors to this.
[00:03:28.131]So, how do we solve this problem?
[00:03:30.070]We introduce a gene that reduces phosphorus in pig waste,
[00:03:33.650]creating Enviropig.
[00:03:36.150]This gene creates phytase that helps breaks down
[00:03:38.870]the phytate in animals' feed.
[00:03:41.870]The phytase occurs in the saliva, better breaks down
[00:03:44.830]this phytate, and then there's less phosphorus in the waste.
[00:03:49.290]So, how do we get to the solution?
[00:03:51.470]The first step is to develop a gene that decreases
[00:03:53.890]phosphorus in manure, and that is the Enviropig gene.
[00:03:57.370]Then, using transformation processes, we alter the pig DNA,
[00:04:02.050]then we breed the transgenic pigs that have been transformed
[00:04:06.170]and we test for successful transformation.
[00:04:09.590]You can learn about all these steps
[00:04:11.570]by checking out the rest of the Enviropig website.

Enviropig Introduction

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments

Related Channels

Enviropig Introduction

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments icon comment

Related Channels

Comments