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3 benefits of genetically modified organisms
Negative effects of genetically modified food
Negative effects of genetically modified food
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Genetically Modified Food
Genetically Modified Wheat
Wheat is hugely important in the world's food supply. About 600 million tonnes of wheat is produced each year. That adds up to 90 kg for every person on earth. Septoria, Fusarium and common bunt are fungal diseases that often cause problems for wheat growers. These fungal diseases can spread rapidly when conditions are mild and moist. These are just some of the things that effect wheat. The Growing of wheat also has a large impact on the environment and the cycles of matter because of the large usage of fertilizers and pesticides. Faster growth, more nutritious wheat, and better tasting food are just some of the characteristic that can be improved in genetically modified food.
Genetic engineering opens the door to new methods for managing Fusarium and other fungal diseases. Scientists have developed genetic approaches to conferring resistance to fungal diseases and are testing their effectiveness on wheat. Field trials have proved very successful in many countries, including countries in Europe, GM wheat plants are resistant to fungal infection and thereby produce grains won’t be laden with dangerous toxins.
Crops can be modified to be resistant to specific herbicides; this makes it much easier to control troublesome weeds. Farmers can simply apply the weed killer to a crop field, killing the unwanted plants and leaving the food crop unaffected. For example, GM oilseed rape the source of canola oil is resistant to one of the chemical that are widely used to control weeds. The same process can now be done with genetically modified wheat crops hence this will save time and money that has previously be needed to be spent.
One of the harder things to get right in ...
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... and efficiently through the diet. Over-Use of Herbicides
The planting of herbicide-resistant crops might encourage farmers to use weed killers more freely, since they could then be applied indiscriminately to crop fields. As a result, the excess could be carried away by rainfall to pollute rivers and other waterways. The chemicals may poison fish and other wild animals and plants, and could get into human drinking water as well.
Resistance to Herbicides
Crops can be modified to be resistant to specific herbicides, making it much easier to control troublesome weeds. Farmers can simply apply the weed killer to a crop field, killing the unwanted plants and leaving the food crop unaffected.
Better Tasting Foods
Foods can be engineered to taste better, which could encourage people to eat more healthy foods that are currently not popular because of their taste.
Crops today are thriving, and farmers can owe it all to the pesticides they use. If no pesticides were used, then insects would destroy crops, feeding off of their leaves and produce until hardly anything is left. According to corncommentary.com, Without the use of pesticides and fungicides, most fruit and vegetable crops would suffer a 50-90 percent loss due to uncontrolled insects and disease organisms. Despite what most people believe, even organic growers use pesticides on their crops that have been approved for such organic growers. Even they know that the wrath of insects and other disease organisms would destroy their plants and their profit they would have made from those plants. Also, without things such as weed killers, people would have to till the soil around their crops by hand. On large scale farms, this would take a huge amount of people to complete a task like this. The weeds would have to be pulled up, by their roots to ensure they wouldn’t grow back rapidly. On top of that, the crop would have to be routinely checked for weeds, as they grow fast and of many. The amount of money it would take to pay all the workers, and how often they would need to be paid for their work, is not owned by any farmer. Pesticides, herbicides and fungicides are what help keep our crops protected and healthy. Without them, we would be in deep
Pamela Ronald, a plant geneticist, presented a Ted Talk “The case for engineering our food”, Ronald points out that engineered genetics for our plants is not harmful, yet better for our environment and health. “Now, genetic modification is not new; virtually everything we eat has been genetically modified in some manner”(Ronald).
The development of synthetic foods is a movement. There are many nutritional issues, both around the world and in this country, and synthetic foods is a viable solution to our problem. People are obese, overweight, diabetic, or malnourished because healthy food is too expensive. Synthetic foods have the ability to change the workforce, restructure our culture toward more productivity, and increase American life quality. By supporting synthetic foods, we are supporting
Genetically modified foods have a huge impact on our environment. One way that genetically modified foods are hurting our environment is that process can involve the exchange of genes between two totally different species. People are actually putting scorpion toxin into corn and fish antifreeze into tomatoes (De Greef). These changes in the plants make the plant able to with stand the attack of pests and weather, but it is still possible that the plant’s DNA will cross and make bad toxins. If a farmer plants a crop that has the resistance to herbicides, drought, cold, and pests those plants can eventually cross with weeds and then the farmer will end up with weeds that are resistant to everything too. Then the scientists will end up having to make the plants stronger to fight off the weeds, then the weeds will get stronger, and the cycle will keep on going. Another argument for the ban of...
Genetic modification (GM), also known as genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technology, is a process that involves combining DNA, and later inserting the newly recombined DNA into cells to be expressed through protein synthesis. The use of this technology in food can result in both positive and negative consequences. Genetic modification of food can aid first world countries by improving the economy and increasing food supplies, and third world countries, by resolving the issue of nutrient deficiency. In spite of that, genetic modification of food can also have negative effects. These include disruption of the food chain and biodiversity, the production of new, unfamiliar allergens, and even economical decline. Currently, genetically modified food is permitted for use and importation in Australia (Benefits of gene technology, n.d.), which raises the question, whether the genetic modification of food can only have positive outcomes for today’s consumers.
...ortation of plants, fruits, vegetables, and animals. Indiscriminate pesticide use kills the good with the bad. Long term and wide spread pesticide use poisons underground water sources, which, in turn, poison plants, animals, and humans. And, finally, by our uninformed actions, new super races of pests continue to evolve and create even greater dangers than the original.
The term GM foods or GMO (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques (Whitman, 2000). These plants have been modified in the laboratory to offer desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. Also, genetic engineering techniques have been applied to create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and accurately. For example, this is done by the geneticist isolating the gene responsible for drought tolerance and inserts it into another plant. The new genetically-modified plant will now have gained drought tolerance as well.
In conclusion, the application of genetically modified food has a lot of pros and cons. There is so much disagreement about the benefits and risks of GM because there are so many different views surrounding it. This issue is very important today because it will change our future. How would the world be when every single living creature will be in some aspect genetically modified? Would we be more resistant to illness? Or would we be weaker and more vulnerable to diseases? Would this be the beginning of the mutant era? Regardless of the answers to these questions, we will need to consider the implications of genetically modified foods.
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a cause of continuous debate. What would be the purpose of producing genetically altered food? Many argue that GMOs could prove to be very beneficial, the use of GMOs could lead to advances in medicine, and agriculture, and they could also prevent famine in poor underdeveloped countries. Genetic modification offers many benefits: pest control, disease resistant crops, drought resistant crops, no use of insecticides, nutritional beneficial foods, and less contamination. This is only a short list of the many benefits offered by the used of GMOs. With so many benefits why are we opposed to such a miracle? (NERC 2005)
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.
It is evident that the majority of American farmers utilize biotech seeds, because of the risks that the insect resistant and herbicide resistant traits help reduce. GMO's make the life of a farmer much easier as they do not have to worry about rushing to spray herbicides, to keep weeds out, or worrying about insects damaging crops and having to spray pesticides. For instance, Brian Scott a farmer in Indiana, when corn root worms starts indulging on his organic crops, the worms will cause a significant damage before he can react accordingly and eliminate the problem with the use of chemicals. These corn root worms won't affect Scott's insect resistant GMO corn because the pesticide is always in the plant. In addition, the GM corn was created only to harm a small group of insects and this allows for other beneficial insects to survive and assist the crops, since Scott did not have to spray pesticides. Farmers use GM crops mainly because of a reliability issue, not only are biotech plants easier to maintain, but they are less likely to cause a devastating loss. To a point where even insurance companies will provide farmers with lower premiums. Troy Rausch, another Indiana farmer, states "... when you're delayed by a couple weeks by rain like we were this year, the GM traits come in awfully handy for weed control". The GM traits are of much benefit to Rausch as they eliminate the need for him to utilize his time and combat against pesky weeds. The use of GMO's in the agricultural space eliminates many risks that would be common in conventionally bred
As time has progressed, there has always been an overarching need for high amounts of crop production throughout the world. With the rapid rate of population growth, the need for crops and other sources of nutrients is only increasing. In order to meet these high demands and increase yields, farmers and other agriculturalists have started implementing the use of pesticides. These chemical mixtures are being used in order to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate any pests from destroying growing crops. However, using pesticides on crops can create massive amounts of pollution, negatively affect an individual’s health, and can spark biodiversity loss within an ecosystem. According to Michael C.R. Alavanja, “Over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used within the United States (US) each year and approximately 5.6 billion pounds are used worldwide”. With all this in mind, it is clear that pesticides should not be made available to farmers and agriculturalists, and should
Genetically modified organisms can be plants or animals that have been genetically altered to produce or express a desired characteristic or trait. By genetically altering organisms such as crops, we can eliminate the use of pesticides by making the crops resistant to insects. We can also produce crops that are resistant to floods and droughts. Furthermore, with the use of molecular genetics, we are able to produce foods that are rich in nutrients and supplements. People in developing countries may not be fortunate enough to have a full course meal that contains nutrients from all four basic food groups. However, GMOs can with a little modification provide all the amino acids, vitamins, and minerals included in a good diet by simply consuming a genetically modified staple crop such as rice. In addition, by producing crops that are resistant to harsh environmental conditions as well as pests, we would see a rapid increase in the production of food thereby reducing and or!
Genetic engineering increases the agricultural economy, the yields of agricultural produce, and also causes negative effects on the ecosystem. Genetic engineering enhances plant resistance to drought, salinity, disease, pests and herbicides. The aim is to try and enhance the growth, productivity, nutrient value, and chemical composition of the plants. Chemicals are constantly being developed or improved to enhance the competitiveness and adaptability of crops, and to kill the parasites and weeds that plague the agricultural sector. . This however is not always good as the plant and the pests then become resistant to these new chemicals, defeating the purpose of it being used.
Farming practices that do not use pesticides/herbicides are slowly becoming introduced bit biologically created pesticides are not nearly as productive as found in preliminary testing. Biotechnology has shown to have successfully resisted pests in plants that were destroyed by pesticides but still hasn’t proven itself as a better alternative. William Liebhardt Ph.D. is an Agricultural Specialist at the University of California, Davis and he says, “When you start spraying with pesticides, you disrupt the natural balance that exists in nature. As a result, you end up killing beneficial insects, then insects that were not a problem become problems and this happens repeatedly” requiring more and more spraying.