Genetically modified? That alone should be a cause for alarm, and have you wondering, what exactly is in this that I am eating? Yet every day millions of American’s choose to load up on food filled with GMO’s, and not even know it. First we must understand what GMO’s are. GMO’s are any organism whose genetics has been altered using genetic engineering. We should not be tampering with nature, and should try to grow organically as much as possible. There has not been enough research on GMO’s to know the potential long term effects it can have on us, so this is why GMO’s should be banned.
GMOs are created by inserting DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals into a "target species" to create desirable traits. Most food today is modified to be resilient against pesticides and/or herbicides like Roundup. The first and only genetically modified food approved by the FDA for human consumption was the Flavr Savr tomato, which was slipped on grocery store shelves in 1994. Scientists at Calgene Inc. altered...
To some people, this sounds like a good benefit to genetically modified foods. Others, however, have found that these facts simply don’t help them in the long run. Large portions of people probably don’t know this, but the majority of food produced in the United States is actually genetically modified food. Side effects that people have brought up are health problems that seem to occur from ingesting the genetically modified foods. Another issue with genetically altered food is that they have attributed to higher pollution of pesticides. Lastly, people dislike genetically modified foods because they see there is less regulation on them from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) than there are on other products put in the market (The Issues).
Are genetically modified foods safe? Genetically modified foods are crop plants created for human or animal consumption using molecular biological techniques. These plants have been modified to enhance certain traits like increased resistance to herbicides or improve nutritional content. This process traditionally has been done through breeding, but is not very accurate. Scientists have been using biotechnology to implant the gene that makes the plants act the way they want them to. Genetically modified foods have advantages and disadvantages on the environment and advantages and disadvantages on society. We have to weigh the positives and negatives to see if genetically modified foods are healthy for us and if we really need them.
Genetically modified foods or GM foods are foods that have been changed to improve the size of the product and to progress the efficiency of food production. Genetic engineering can be done on both plants and animals and are processed to make the desired characteristics that are required for selling. Genetically modified food has become a controversial topic because people have different viewpoints on which type of food is better for their health. Many protests were created to ban genetically modified foods because of the harm that it caused to the people and the environment. Although people have different opinions towards this topic, there are numerous advantages and disadvantages in producing and consuming genetically modified foods.
The history and the different ways of genetically modifying the GM foods started very recently, extending to only the past 50 years. The genetics all began when a monk discovered that all creatures are made up of genes. GM started with two different ways of genetically modifying organisms. Cisgenesis, the process of scientists taking genes from an animal or plant and altering the genes of an organism in the same species, was the first way. Transgenesis, the process of taking the genes of one animal or plant and putting those genes into an organism of a different species, was the second way. When scientists want to put those genes into an animal or plant, they have to use special gear. The scientists usually use either a syringe, a special gun, or even a virus with the gene encrypted into the code of the virus to implant the new modification (“Genetically Modified” n.p.). When researchers first used the technology to genetically modify food, the goal was to combat world hunger. Scientists first modified the tomato to be able to make the skin thicker so that it would have a longer storage life. Scientists soon discovered there was already an organic tomato in existence that possessed the same qualities, so the...
Genetically modified (GM) food is created from organisms that have had specific modifications introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. In molecular biology, genetic engineering is specified as ‘the direct manipulation of genes for practical purposes’ (Campbell & Reece, 2005: 384).
Genetic modification is a scientific way to enhance crops. The article “Genetically Modified Food” explains this by saying; “A genetically modified (GM) food is a result of recombinant DNA biotechnological procedures that allow the genetic Makeup of an organism to be modified. This can be accomplished by incorporating genes from other organisms of by rearranging genes already present” (Schneider 1). The genes used in the GM plants either comes from other plants of the plant itself. This means nothing going into the plant is from an unnatural source. “Statement by the AAAS Board of Directors On Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods” says, “Modern molecular genetics and the invention of large- scale DNA sequencing methods have fueled rapid advances in our knowledge of how genes work and what they do, permitting the development of new methods that allow the very precise addition of useful traits to crops…” (American Association 1). In traditional breeding there is a guess and check mentality w...
Genetically modified foods can have many positive effects on the world. We can use fewer pesticides by inserting a pest resistant gene into the gene of plants. Farmers use many pesticides over and over to keep the insects from eating their crops. This is usually a high costing process and time consuming. When the plants receive water the excess water runs into another source of water and when that happens it picks up the chemicals that the pesticide had left on the soil. By injecting a gene into a crop to make it resistant to the pesticide we can use fewer pesticides and clean up the contamination that they cause, we can save money, and we can also harvest more crops. Weed killers is also a problem but there reason and solution is the same thing as the pesticides. Another positive is that you can protect plants from diseases. Many fungi, viruses, bacteria can cause a plant to die. Genetically we can modify a plant so that if a plant became intertwined with a virus it could still survive, and when you can protect the plant you will increase your chances for a healthy harvest. Another way to increase your food supply is to take a gene that can help a plant survive cold weather, drought or salinity tolerance. When you have a frost many plants die from being in the cold, or when you have a drought. So again we have another reason to save money and crops from being wasted. For many places when you have a bad harvest the price of the fo...
It’s hard to know for certain when GMOs were introduced to the US. GMO foods are such a natural part of our life now, but it’s quite easy to remember when food was simple. If you have ever listened to your grandparents talk about stories from back in the day, they will tell you all about when they had to grow there own food. They would plant the seeds, tend to the crop, and have a nice harvest at the end of the summer. According to Mail Online “The first commercially grown genetically modified food crop was a tomato created by California Company in the early 1990s.”This is when every thing began to go south for us.
With an ever increasing world population, massive third world hunger, and with an estimation that a child dies for every two seconds world-wide from starvation; this does not even take into account the number of people who are mal and undernourished, there is a great promise in the use of this technology to benefit not only the farmers, but also societies worldwide. We have been able to genetically modify plants so that they may be more resistant to insects, so that there is less pesticidal toxins sprayed. We have designed plants that require less water, less soil nutrients, preserving precious recourses. We have designed plants with higher yield, shorter seasons, plants that need less land to grow; we are said to be living in a time where we have the healthiest, most well-tested plants in the history of this
As many would say gmo food should be continued but some may argue that it shouldn’t. GMO or Genetically Modified Organisms are foods that are being modified by their DNA. Some of these DNA’s may cause serious allergic reactions and we never know what we eat since these food are not labeled. We need to know if we are eating foods that are being modified. You would never know if something they put in the food would harm your health.GMO foods should continue to be sold but they would have to label them. Just because something is better it doesn’t mean everyone would prefer it.
First of all having researched genetically modified foods and the effects that they can have on human health I must say that it has made me realise that I am against genetically modified foods and the idea that they are artificially made rather than naturally grown using traditional methods. It is not necessary to look far beyond what I am about to say to realise just how bad genetically modified foods are. In our society today it is becoming more difficult to know what we are consuming as farmers and scientists continue to alter the way in which foods are made and grown. The main issue is that there is lack of information that clarifies the effects of genetically modified foods and as a society we are unaware of the means and methods used to produce these foods. According to Professor Bevan Mosely who states that “when we use these methods, we don’t know what part of the chromosome that the new gene is being introduced ...
In addition to this, crops that have pesticides genetically engineered into them can be entirely insect resistant. This will cause farmers to spend less money on pesticides while increasing profit and thus will boost the economy. Also, this will reduce the number of chemicals that will pollute the air and impact the world less.
According to scientists, genetically engineering crops contributes to their quality. Crops that have been genetically modified to have a particular trait can decrease the amount of herbicides needed for growing that crop. Additionally, genetically modified (GM) crops can help third world countries, where malnutrition is common. For example, to help diminish nutrient deficiencies in developing countries, “plans were underway to develop a golden rice that also has increased iron content”(Whitman 2). In addition, GM crops can be modified to be able to “withstand the environmental challenges of drought, disease, and insect infestation” (Swenson 1). Growing GM crops can also result in fruits and vegetables that stay fresh for a prolonged period of time and taste better.