Argumentative Essay On Genetic Engineering

Matthew Parker
English II Pre-AP
1st Period
5 March 2014
Genetic Engineering: The Key to Our Survival
Think of a world where there is no hunger, a world where cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other dreaded diseases no longer hinder human lives. Think of a world where people can choose exactly what their children will look like and how athletic they will be. This may sound like science-fiction, but recent advances in scientific technology may be able to end world hunger and cure children of genetic disorders, before they are even born, and all of this is possible with the beneficial processes of genetic engineering.
As the population of the Earth continues to grow exponentially, resources will begin to deplete faster, especially food, and the

Genetic engineering allows foods to stay ripe longer, contain more nutrients, have higher yields, and many other benefits that could save millions of lives. When foods stay ripe longer, they are able to be shipped to underdeveloped countries to feed starving people. This also allows uneaten food not to be thrown out as quickly, which lowers waste and saves resources. Also, increased nutrients can help people by giving them the required nutrients in smaller amounts of food. Think of the enriched foods as vitamin pills, because they contain lots of essential nutrients, in a small “capsule”. The higher yields allow us to grow more food in a smaller area which is very useful as the urban areas continue to expand. We will not be able to end world hunger completely, but genetic engineering is a large step forward. Many genetically engineered plants of today are disease or pest resistant which allows farmers to use less chemicals on the plants which makes the plants “ as safe or safer than conventional or organic foods”(Entine 1). The herbicide resistant plants also allow farmers to have no-till cultivation systems which has “saved nearly one billion tons of soil per year”(“GM Crops and the Environment”

The use of genetically engineered plants has also been attributed to financial gain for large corporations that produce herbicides, because farmers can use lots of herbicides without hurting the plant. Also, as more herbicides are used, there is the possibility that undesirable plants such as weeds, will build up a resistance to herbicides and then the genetically engineered plants are useless. Other opposition has come from the fear of plant genes that a person is allergic to being spliced into a plant which could cause an allergic reaction if the new plant is consumed. Although this is just a possibility, many people are still concerned. Another issue is that splicing genes may make foods illegal for certain religions, such as a food may be considered non kosher after its genes are tampered with. None of these negative side effects have been proven to be true, so until then, genetically modified foods are safe to consume. Genetic engineering is not only beneficial to humans in agriculture, but directly as