title: Genes, genome and Gestalt.
abstract: According to Gestalt thinking, biological systems cannot be viewed as the sum of their elements, but as processes of the whole. To understand organisms we must start from the whole, observing how the various parts are related. In genetics, we must observe the genome over and above the sum of its genes. Either loss or addition of one gene in a genome can change the function of the organism. Genomes are organized in networks of genes, which need to be well integrated. In the case of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), for example, soybeans, rats, Anopheles mosquitoes, and pigs, the insertion of an exogenous gene into a receptive organism generally causes disturbance in the networks, resulting in the breakdown of gene interactions. In these cases, genetic modification increased the genetic load of the GMO and consequently decreased its adaptability (fitness). Therefore, it is hard to claim that the production of such organisms with an increased genetic load does not have ethical implications.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética e Morfologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, 70910-900 Brasília, DF, Brazil. grisolia@unb.br
authors.forename: Cesar Koppe
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Grisolia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D026688:Bioethical Issues; D016678:Genome; D005863:Gestalt Theory; D006801:Humans; D030781:Organisms, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats