Genetically Modified Organisms in Food
Tomatoes, soy beans and McDonald’s French fries- what all of these things have in common? They are all some of the most commonly genetically modified foods on the market today. With scientists in the race to invent newer and better everythings, genetically modified organisms, or “GMOs” have become a hot topic of research in just the past 10 years. By using the genetic information from one organism, or the “DNA” and splicing it with the DNA of another, scientists can make food crops grow bigger, stay fresh longer, or even create their own pesticides. In this case however, and often with any case involving genetic modification, the technology has exceeded the practicality of this innovation. Genetically modified foods have no place in everyday agriculture because of the threat they pose to humans, the environment, and the future of traditional agriculture.
Plants have been genetically manipulated for thousands of years. Even in the earliest cases of civilized agriculture, people saved seeds of high yielding crops to replant each season (Shannon 1999). Lately, however, with genetic engineering being the hottest and most controversial side of science, many companies such as biotech are now tampering with food crops to get results that the early farmers could have never imagined.
This seems to be scientific child’s play in comparison to all of the recent media attention the cloning of sheep and even human cloning has received. Much of this genetic experimentation with the cloning of mammals and similar species can be linked to a high stakes game of chicken, where scientists are trying to do more and more daring things before people actually take the final step and clone a human. Likewise ...
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... foods will be toxic after they are produced other than trial and error, making humans experimental ginnie pigs. The world has enough food in circulation and does not need more food or more efficient food. This science is best left to mystery for the sake of our bodies, as well as our environment.
References
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4. Pollack, A. We can engineer nature. But should we? The New York Times. 2000 Feb 6: A3.
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6. Genes and development [Scientific journal]. Vol 11, Number 16: 1999
Food is an essential part of everyday life without it one could not survive. Every day we make choices on what we put in to our bodies. There are countless varieties of food to choose from to meet the diverse tastes of the increasing population. Almost all food requires a label explaining the ingredients and the nutritional value allowing consumers to make informed decisions on what they are consuming. However, many may not be considering where that food is coming from or how it has been produced. Unfortunately, there is more to food than meets the eye. Since 1992, “ the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled, based on woefully limited data, that genetically modified foods were ‘substantially equivalent’ to their non-GM counterparts” (Why to Support Labeling). GM food advocates have promised to create more nutritious food that will be able to grow in harsh climate conditions and eventually put an end to world hunger in anticipation of the growing population. There is very little evidence to support these claims and study after study has proven just the opposite. GM crops are not only unsafe to consume, but their growing practices are harmful to the environment, and multinational corporations are putting farmers out of business.
The word GMO stands for Genetically-Modified Organism and can also be referred to as Genetically Engineered foods, Genetically Modified Foods, and Biotech. Genetically engineered foods are created when one desired trait is isolated and introduced to another plant by inserting the certain gene. The process, considered genetic breeding, and is much more precise than the regular breeding. While GMOs have been in food for 20 years, currently, the controversy and genetically engineered farms are larger than ever. 82% of Americans want GMOs labeled, but majority fail to understand them (Swanson). 90% of all US grown corn, canola, soybeans, and sugar beets have DNA bits from the lab (Woolston). The United States is the top GMO growing country with 70 million hectares of land dedicated to these farms. (Lee). These modified crops and plants for human and animals are created mainly for withstand herbicides or to produce an insectide. “No GMO traits are on the market for bigger yields, drought resistance, enhanced nutrition or any other consumer benefit” (Burnham). Overall, GE foods’ main purpose is to save money for large corporations.
The genetic engineering of foods has, in one sense, been in existence for hundreds of years. The first time Gregor Mendel bred different varieties of pea plants to observe the various traits present in their offspring, the concept was born. Today, genetic engineering has developed into one of the most complex and advanced fields of scientific thinking, all the while provoking many questions and acquiring many opponents along the way. While there are compelling arguments presented for each side of the issue, the simple fact is that genetically modified (GM) foods are a reality, especially in the United States, as they are already present in many products that are consumed on a daily basis. Just as the market for GM foods has increased, the level of opposition has increased as well, even up to the point of terrorist action against producers, growers, and sellers of genetically modified foods. So the question is posed, will GM foods be the future or the failure of our agricultural system?
The past twenty years have seen rise to a new burgeoning scientific field: genetically modified foods. During the plant breeding process, geneticists interfere with the reproduction and modify the genes of the new seedling by introducing a fragment of DNA from another organism that possesses the desired trait. With genetic modification, scientists can increase the pest, herbicide, cold, and drought tolerance so that the crop can survive in harsher climates. In some cases, the nutritional value can even be increased (Ulrich 9). Despite the obvious benefits of more nutritious foods and crops that are hardier and more resistant to harsher climates, there are some concerns surrounding GM foods. Each new alteration can cause an unforeseen allergic reaction, negate the effects of antibiotics, or potentially cause some adverse effects to the environment (Falkner 101). Every newly developed GM food must be tested on a case by case basis as there is no universal method that determines the safety of all modified components. As a result, long term effects of ingesting food with altered material are unknown.
... engineered plant varieties have been developed (Plant Genetic Engineering).” Genetic changes in a particular plant or animal might render it harmful to another organism higher up in the food chain and this effect may build up to destroy the entire food chain in which that plant plays a role.
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.
GM crops also benefit the economy and assist in feeding more people. While we struggle with feeding our population, “The population will continue to grow” (Calandrelli 1) For instance, genetic engineering in agriculture can minimize the cost of producing food. Thus, GMO’s in crops can result ...
Genetically Modified Organism was introduced to the public approximately fourteen years ago. Genetically Modified Organism was brought about through Plant Biotechnology, which has been researched for centuries. Farmers’ crops are everything to their business, and wanting to preserve their product is top significance. A solution to the numerous possibilities of hindrance genetically modified organism was spawned. Traditional breeding included different processes, such as sowing seeds from the resilient plants in order to produce a new generation. Farmers would grow plants with higher yield and resistance to pests, naturally alternating the genetic makeup of plants. Consequently, a vast majority of plants today bare resemblances of their lineage (Biotechnology Industry Organization 2010). Plant biotechnology allows breeders to sel...
Genetically modified foods are a controversial subject in today’s society. A genetically modified food is the result of biotechnological procedures that allow the genetic makeup of a food or organism to be altered in some way. They benefit the human race in many ways but they also pose many risks to the health of humans and the good of the environment. There is currently not enough proof to ensure the safety of these genetically modified products. Consuming these genetically altered and more processed foods can lead to increased
Although genetically modified organisms haven’t been around for long, they have progressed a great deal since they were first introduced. Before altering genes was discovered, farmers in the 1800s would selectively breed their livestock to produce bigger offspring of cows or chickens. Modern genetic engineering is built off of the foundation of Gregor Mendel and his work done to pea plants in the 1800s. Mendel bred the pea plants based on color and favorable traits. The idea of breeding plants was in order to create plants with favorable outcomes, for
Jacobson, Stephen L. “Biotech: Scourge or Savior?.” Nutrition Action Health Letter 36.6 (2009):2. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 July 2011
In recent years, many new breakthroughs in the areas of science and technology have been discovered. A lot of these discoveries have been beneficial to scientific community and to the people of the world. One of the newest breakthroughs is the ability to clone. Ever since Ian Wilmut and his co-workers completed the successful cloning of an adult sheep named Dolly, there has been an ongoing debate on whether it is right or wrong to continue the research of cloning (Burley). Recently, in February 2001, CNN conducted a poll that stated, 90% of American adults think that cloning humans is a bad idea (Robinson). Even though the majority of Americans are opposed to human cloning, there are many benefits that will come from the research of it. Advancements in the medical field and in the fertility process will arise from human cloning. These advancements make cloning very beneficial to the human society.
Genetically modifying organisms is far from a recent undertaking. Guiding and reshaping animals and plants to make them more desirable, has been a facet of humanity for more than 14,000 years (Kingsbury). The very act that changed human race forever, our transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers and herders, was a form of gene manipulation. Domestication of plants and animals is the simplest form of controlled reshaping of an organism’s genes, through artificial selection. That means that individuals that had similar traits were bred together to propagate and emphasize desired characteristics. However, genetic engineering as in the direct manipulation of an organism using biotechnology, was first attained by Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen in 1973 (Arnold). All they did was insert a gene into a bacterium, to make it resistant to a particular antibiotic. Little did they know that their microscopic act would instigate the whole controversy-engulfed issue of GMOs or genetically modified organisms (Genome News
GMO activists insist that engineered food products are enriched with nutrients and provide more nutrition than non-engineered foods. Examples include enrichment of rice with beta-carotene to combat vitamin A deficiency and modification of soybean oil and canola oil to decrease polyunsaturated fats and increase monounsaturated fats (Kramkowska, Grzelak, & Czyzewska, 2013, p. 414). GMO supporters also praise pharmaceutical crops in which plants are engineered to mass-produce proteins to be used in human drugs. Field tests are currently under way for manipulation of a safflower vari...
Jones, J. D. (2011). Why genetically modified crops? Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0345