Should We Be Afraid of GMOs? Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, is an organism whose genetic makeup has been modified through genetic engineering. The organism's DNA is slightly altered to either make it bigger, healthier, or even more resilient. GMOs could combat many of the worlds problems like world hunger and the use of harmful chemicals. One benefit of GMOs is that plants are made to be more insect resistant. Cotton, which is the world's fifth largest crop in market value, loses 15% due to insects. A bacterium in the soil, known as Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, kills insects when it is digested by them. This is due to a certain protein that the bacteria produces disrupting the insects digestive system. This bacteria is sold …show more content…
One is the obvious reason that it just produces more food. The other, less obvious reason, is that with the rising population, we will have less land to use for farming. Genetically modified plants could even be engineered for something as simple as tasting better. One argument against the use of GM plants could be the fact that through pollination the genes could transfer to other plants. While this could be a legitimate problem scientists have already thought about this. They have created a certain property called a “terminator gene” which causes the second generation of seeds to be sterile (Genetic Use 1). This would prevent the genetically modified plant from spreading through the environment or into different crops. Genetically modified plant seeds can be patented and require a license. If GM plants are found on a farmer's field without a license that farmer could be fined. While this could lead some people to worry about GMOs, the terminator gene within the seeds makes the argument invalid, because there will never be that large of an amount of seeds from other farmers genetically modified crops. Another reason GM plants are a good thing is because they could be genetically engineered to last longer, which could help with shipping food to places where food is less abundant. An example of this, comes from Calgene's Flavr Savr tomato, which was created in 1994, that ripened and decomposed slower than a normal tomato (Genetically Modified Food
There are two types of GMO; herbicide tolerant and self-generating insecticide. “The herbicide tolerant variety are designed to survive high doses of toxic weed killers” (Must-Avoid Foods: Linking GMO to Toxicity and Disease, 2012). When the toxic weed killers get used on these crops, some of the toxins end up in the weed in the food. What is alarming is that the toxic weed killers are actually linked to birth defects, cancer, and hormone disruption (Must-Avoid Foods: Linking GMO to Toxicity and Disease, 2012). The self-generating insecticide such as corn, produces their own insecticide in each and every cell (Swanson, Genetically Modified Organisms and the deterioration of health in the United States, 2013). When insects eats the corn or any other food with the insecticide, Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) toxin, the insecticide breaks open the stomach of insects in order to kill them. Although this supposedly applies only to insects, studies have shown that the BT-toxin can also break the wall of
GMO’s have a long history. A debate about how safe GMO’s are and how much consideration went into the determination of the short and long-term effects both for us as humans and the environment that we live have been questioned for years. GMO’s or genetically modified organisms, is when an organisms DNA is manipulated through genetic engineering. Whether it be to cross breed plants or to produce larger, better crops and it has been happening for
However, I think that process that have gone in practice with GMOs are a problem and should be changed. GMOs are often grown as monocultures. Instead, there should be multiple GMO variations of the same crop, which helps insure that the crop will survive. Furthermore, companies should not be able to copyright their crop because it allows them to sue farmers whose harvest has been contaminated with a copyrighted seed. Copyrights
A GMO is an organism whose genome has been altered by the techniques of genetic engineering so that its DNA contains one or more genes not normally found there. Behind this loaded definition hides many secrets and a lot of pernicious lies unforeseen by the general public. The deleterious ramifications and the spine-chilling potential power caused by GMOs is something worth taking a look at. There is an abundance of serious consequences our generation and our future generations hold because of GMOs, and if we do not take action soon we may run out of time.
The nutritious value of gmos are equal to if not more than that of their counterparts. Plants that have been modified can be more nutritious and can be better for you. Rice, potatoes and soybeans are crops that have been tested to make the food that we consume better for us. Vitamin A is one reason for modifying plants. Children can go blind by not consuming enough Vitamin A . Scientists have been able to modify bananas to have more Vitamin A so the rate of blindness will go down. The number of people who die from lack of Vitamin
GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms) have also been created to be resistant to insects allowing them to fend off insects and their harmful consumption of the crops. Other potential uses for GM is to eradicate and prevent birth defects, increase animal size for more meat, for consumption, anti-fungi fruits, altered colours for flowers and using GM for the use of providing organ transplants for humans.
GMOs make up about 70-80 percent of the foods Americans consume. GMO stands for genetically modified organisms, which is the end product of taking genes from one species and putting them into another species in order to achieve a new characteristic. Some characteristics obtained by this process are disease resistance, drought tolerance, and added nutrients. Although GMOs are intended to increase crop yields, they can also have some bad effects on society.
You might know what GMOs are or at least you have heard about it, but for them, who do not know what GMOs are, Genetically Modified Organisms also known as (GMO), are those whose DNA is modified by implantation of a variety of bacteria or other organisms. Those changes are made not only to prevent pests attacking crops but also to make them grow fast among other alterations. It is well known that GMOs has been a polemical issue since its appearance, for many people it could be beneficial as it could help to feed the world, for others, consuming GMOs could become in a big risk since any process that threatens Mother Nature creates chaos.
Although the job of a farmer is said to become easier and in the long run increase the amount of people purchasing their crops, it can eventually take a negative turn once more and more of the population becomes informed on the use of genetic modification. Once consumers have become aware of the possible health issues or negative aspects to these GM crops, they may refrain from purchasing crops that are GM, leaving farmers with a much more difficult job. If the population becomes further aware of the issue, it can already be too late for farmers as their soil has been contaminated and seeds have been purchased leaving them without a consumer which means a loss of income,sales and employment. The difference in these views on the issue is the main reason why certain farmers are skeptical on the use of GMO’s. Once more laws are passed over time, there is an increasing risk for every farmer currently involved in the production of these
Generating more supply is one of the main benefits of genetically modified food. A well-known advantage of GM crops is their ability to produce higher yields than ever before (The 1). According to studies done at UC Santa Cruz, greater yields help farmers use their land efficiently, with minor use of pesticides (Benefits 1). Plants that are modified produce more crops with the same amount of land as non-GM plants, benefitting farmers. In fact, developments in agriculture and upcoming of GM crops have increased produce, and decreased the cost of production (Statement 1). If GM products are allegedly safe, why not produce more and save money? According to Stacy Finz, student at UC Berkley, genetically modified corn has produced 34% more than conventionally grown crops in the Phillipines (Finz 1). This benefits agricultural companies and consumers by generating
Some of the advantages of GM foods are that they are better for the environment. GMOs are adapted in such a way that many plants don’t require pesticides or other chemicals that impact on the earth. GMOs increase the flavour and longevity of the fruit. Another advantage which is probably in the best interest of society is that fact that it often decreases price of products and often becomes more affordable. Although research and testing is not cheap, once it is on the market the prices of your normal GM foods are substantially more affordable. With all the advantages comes the counter, disadvantage. GM foods often cause cross contamination where pollen from genetically modified foods are also contaminated. When GMOs are around other plants often the pollen can drift over to the wrong plants and create plants that have resistance to the conditions that were meant for the crops to be resistant to. Essentially GMOs potentially have the
An advantage of using GM foods is that genetically modified foods will reduce production costs and make food more affordable for consumers. Genetic modification to crops has improved the yield by allowing them to grow in high or low temperatures, become resistant to diseases and insects and enable plants to grow in extreme environments (Freedman D.H., 2013). This reduces the amount of resources (water and fertilizer) needed to cultivate these crops and combined with its higher yield, will make crops cheaper and more affordable.
Genetically Modified Organism or GMO’s, is a direct human manipulation of a organism's DNA in the laboratory. There are different ways you could make GMO’s in the laboratory, gene gun and selective breeding are two effective ways of making genetically modified organisms, but the most used method is a agrobacterium method. Agrobacterium is a earth bacteria that causes a sickness. The bacteria transfer the sickness by genes that the scientist, like me, want to cells in a plant. Selective breeding begins by we, scientists, choosing which characteristics we want in a specific animal that we want to change. Following we breed together a male and female that has those characteristics, it should be of the same type of animal. From the children’s produced we select that ones that show the characteristic that you were looking for the most, and breed them together. We then repeat breeding the ones that show the most characteristics, this will hopefully result into getting a animal which has got
Genetically modified crops have shorter maturation periods, meaning they can be harvested much faster and in shorter intervals. Therefore farmers can produce more crops in shorter time frames and increase their profitability
Genetically modified plants provide many advantages to the environment although there are many concerns that have arisen. The first advantage to the environment is that GMOs can be modified to have a resistance to pests and disease which reduces the need for chemical treatments (such as pesticides). This