Chapter 1
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
and Their Potential in Environmental
Management: Constraints, Prospects,
and Challenges
Gaurav Saxena, Roop Kishor, Ganesh Dattatraya Saratale,
and Ram Naresh Bharagava
Abstract Increasing environmental contamination with highly toxic chemicals is
warning us to find sustainable technologies to protect the environment and human
health, which is a key challenge of the current scenario. A variety of physicochemical technologies are currently being applied presently to decontaminate the environment to safeguard the environment and human health. However, these
technologies are costly and chemical-consuming, thus causing secondary pollution
and, hence, are not environmental-friendly. As an alternative approach, bioremediation technologies using microbes and plants and their enzymes are currently viewed
as eco-friendly and most sustainable technologies due to their self-sustainable and
low-cost nature. But sometimes bioremediation technologies are get limited by low
degradability/accumulability of microbes and plants, respectively. To overcome
these limitations, genetic engineering approaches are highly decisive to design the
transgenic microbes and plants for the enhanced biodegradation and
biodetoxification of environmental pollutants for sustainable development. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) offer great potential for environmental remediation, and hence, in this chapter, we focused on the applications of GMOs in the
environmental management with risks involved, constraints, and challenges faced by
researchers in the release of GMOs for field applications.
Keywords Environmental pollutants · Genetically modified organisms ·
Environmental remediation · Transgene · Genetic engineering
G. Saxena · R. Kishor · R. N. Bharagava (*)
Laboratory for Bioremediation and Metagenomics Research (LBMR), Department of
Microbiology (DM), Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (Central) University, Lucknow,
Uttar Pradesh, India
G. D. Saratale
Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang-si,
Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
R. N. Bharagava, G. Saxena (eds.), Bioremediation of Industrial Waste for
Environmental Safety, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3426-9_1
1
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
and Their Potential in Environmental
Management: Constraints, Prospects,
and Challenges
Gaurav Saxena, Roop Kishor, Ganesh Dattatraya Saratale,
and Ram Naresh Bharagava
Abstract Increasing environmental contamination with highly toxic chemicals is
warning us to find sustainable technologies to protect the environment and human
health, which is a key challenge of the current scenario. A variety of physicochemical technologies are currently being applied presently to decontaminate the environment to safeguard the environment and human health. However, these
technologies are costly and chemical-consuming, thus causing secondary pollution
and, hence, are not environmental-friendly. As an alternative approach, bioremediation technologies using microbes and plants and their enzymes are currently viewed
as eco-friendly and most sustainable technologies due to their self-sustainable and
low-cost nature. But sometimes bioremediation technologies are get limited by low
degradability/accumulability of microbes and plants, respectively. To overcome
these limitations, genetic engineering approaches are highly decisive to design the
transgenic microbes and plants for the enhanced biodegradation and
biodetoxification of environmental pollutants for sustainable development. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) offer great potential for environmental remediation, and hence, in this chapter, we focused on the applications of GMOs in the
environmental management with risks involved, constraints, and challenges faced by
researchers in the release of GMOs for field applications.
Keywords Environmental pollutants · Genetically modified organisms ·
Environmental remediation · Transgene · Genetic engineering
G. Saxena · R. Kishor · R. N. Bharagava (*)
Laboratory for Bioremediation and Metagenomics Research (LBMR), Department of
Microbiology (DM), Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (Central) University, Lucknow,
Uttar Pradesh, India
G. D. Saratale
Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang-si,
Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
R. N. Bharagava, G. Saxena (eds.), Bioremediation of Industrial Waste for
Environmental Safety, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3426-9_1
1