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Background On Genetically Modified Organisms Essay

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Background on Genetically Modified Organisms As the human population continues to rise, the demand for sustainable food resources and associated costs also increase. There is a definitive need for development of innovative solutions to sustain the population as our natural resources diminish. Escalating issues of world hunger have motivated scientists to look into maximizing output by creating methods such as genetically engineering plants or animals to increase yields and grow better quality produce in shorter period of time (Dimayuga 2014). Figure 1: Genetically Modified Organisms infographic (Kids Right to Know 2016). GMOs are organisms with a modified genetic material (Du 2014). This process is done by genetically engineering (GE) the organisms through the use of recombinant DNA which allows transfer of genetic material from one species to another (Du 2014). This technique allows for the production of crops with cost-effective and favourable qualities such as pesticide and herbicide resistance. One of the original intents for this technology was to aid farmers by creating herbicides-resistant seeds in order to increase their yield, decrease costs and the amount of pesticides sprayed while still effectively destroying unnecessary weeds (Dimayuga 2014). This should have been beneficial to the environment, however the introduction of these GM plants has led to increased pesticide resistance which ultimately requires additional use of pesticides. Another, unintentional

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