All organisms are made up of building blocks called cells. Some organisms are made up of one cell - unicellular, while others are made up of many cells - multicellular. While most bacteria are made up of one cell, humans have around 100 trillion cells!

The cells of animals and plants have a "control centre", which we refer to as the nucleus. Most of the genetic material of cells is actually found here.

This material is made up of multiple long linear strands, which contain many thousands of genes. Genes are responsible for the specific characteristics of an organism.

Research and development have led to a better understanding of the science of genes. In fact, scientists have managed to artificially alter the genetic material of certain organisms. This leads to GMOs - genetically modified organisms. GMOs may be viruses, bacteria, fungi, plants and animals, with the exclusion of human beings. Techniques used to create GMOs involve the taking out of a single gene from an organism and inserting it into another organism, in order to produce certain desired traits in the GMO. For instance, one can create a plant that is resistant to a specific pest or disease. The transfer of genetic material is possible between related and non-related organisms.

Mepa is one of the competent authorities regulating the use and release of GMOs. More information on GMOs can be found on the Mepa website at http://www.mepa.org.mt/gmos-intro .

Should you require more information, please contact nature.requests@mepa.org.mt.

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. Malta together with many other countries around the globe is carrying out a number of initiatives to celebrate life on earth and the value of biodiversity for our lives.

We are all invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth: biodiversity.