Asian Research Thesis Index

Abstract

Many genetically modified crops have been developed and made available for human and
animal use since 1990s. The technology permits cross-species modifications,
consequently, it allows an enormous selection of new characters. The utilization of
genetically modified crops for animal and human consumption is likely to grow in the
future. However, reception of genetically modified crops is often met with criticism and
debate in the society. The issue that whether the genetic alteration can lead to
unintentional consequences in terms of feed quality or nutrient composition of the grain is
of great importance. The present research aimed to investigate the effects of feeding a
GM-maize diet to broiler chicken at different doses. A total of 40 chickens were procured,
vaccinated and acclimatized to the environment. In this feeding study of 60 days,
chickens were randomly divided into four groups with 10 replicates in each group. Diet of
control group labeled as D1 contained 50% non-transgenic maize and 50% commercial
diet. Second group labeled as D2 was fed 50% transgenic maize and 50% commercial
diet. Third group was labeled as D3. Its diet contained a low dosage of transgenic maize
i.e. 40% transgenic maize and 50% commercially available diet and 10% of
non-transgenic maize. Group four was termed as D4 and its diet was a mixture of 30%
transgenic maize, 50% commercial diet and 20% non-transgenic maize. Feed
consumption and animal body weight increased normally throughout the trial. At the end
of the trial, samples were collected for morphological, biochemical, histopathological and
molecular tests and the results showed no significant difference among the groups.
Transgene detection in the tissue samples of vital organs showed absence of transgene

fragment. Expression profiling of growth-related genes showed no difference in the
relative expression among different dietary groups. All these diagnostic tests demonstrate
that use of transgenic maize does not have any unintended consequences.

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