“The science of GM food is a miracle. The abuse of GM food by corporations is a tragedy.”1 In 2011, the World Health Organization stated in Africa the average percent for malnourished children under 5 years of age was 22%.2 Malnourishment stems from economic, social, and environmental issues throughout Africa. The introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) crops in Africa is debated as a possible solution to the food crisis. The Infection-Malnutrition cycle shows how the food crisis is complexly interrelated to infection. Removing malnutrition will break the cycle thus, stimulating progress in disease control, social reform, and economic prosperity. Invented in 1983 and first commercialized in 1995, GM crops are defined as, “foods derived from organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally, e.g. through the introduction of a gene from a different organism.”2 This review covers the chemistry behind modifying crops genetically, research on the health issues of GM food, the negative risks, corporation/monopoly danger, and the benefits/plan on the introduction of transgenic crops to Africa.
Transgenic foods are created through a new genetic engineering process involving the splicing of mRNA in an organism and replacing part of the genome with an alternate gene pool. The objective of GM food was to create a more nutritional, animal resistant food to be mass produced in a cost effective manner. For example, transgenic rice now has a higher content of β-carotene and iron bioavailability.10 As genetics became involved in food, customers began demanding the labeling of GMO on products in the market. America still does not have labeling on their packaging, and it eliminates the consumers “f...
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...re Technology Foundation, 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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15. Null, Gary. "Seeds of Death: Unveiling the Lies of GMOs." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
16. "About FDA." Meet Michael R. Taylor, J.D., Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine. FDA, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2014
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