GMO Research Paper
“GMO seeds are used in 90 percent of corn, soybeans and cotton grown in the United States,
according to the Center for Food Safety”(Mandel). However, you might wondering what are
GMO’s. GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism, meaning that the organism’s genetic
material is altered, changing one or more traits that it has like the color, taste, shape, what it
produces, or how it works. These make GMO foods beneficial, because they provide more
nutritional value to fight malnutrition, reduces crop failure from insects while keeping the good
one’s alive, and reduces the needed work to maintain the crops.
With GMO’s people will be able to get more
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Now people in
other places around the world that suffer from not getting the nutrients they need, can grow or
get food that are packed with the needed vitamins with GMO foods. This can help the children or
people living in poor conditions get more out of their food.
Now that crops can be genetically modified even more, it can reduce the amount of crop failure from insects, while keeping the crop safe and killing only harmful insects. For example
“plants engineered to produce BT endotoxin, which is only harmful to insects and will only kill
pests that try to feed on the crops. This protects other insects in the environment that may be
useful, because farmers no longer have to spray and pesticide, it's built into the plants”(Fucile).
Therefore plants not only will be protected from harmful insects they pose no threat to the good
insects that don't dine on the crop, so pesticides are not needed to be sprayed in the fields. This
will also help water streams to be cleaner and protected by harmful chemicals in pesticides that
run off into water streams or
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These GMO crops not only use pesticides they use less
land, so less water, less time, and space is needed to maintain crops like corn, wheat, cotton, and
etc. For businesses or companies could get more money by growing these crops with low
maintenance level, and profit, from these beneficial crops.
GMO foods are beneficial, because because they provide more nutritional value to fight
malnutrition, reduces crop failure from insects while keeping the good one’s alive, and reduces
the needed work to maintain the crops. With evidence, it shows that making genetically modified
organisms, can help malnutrition, by packing the crops with vitamins, it can reduce crop failure
from insects, without any pesticides, and keep the maintenance level of the crops low. This means that GMO foods can have a beneficial outcome when grown, and will help people not
in the United States, but around the world.
Works CIted
Vaesa, Janelle.“GMOs: Benefits and Negative Effects of Genetically Modified Food.”
Decoded Science, 19 July 2013, www.decodedscience.org/gmo-food-pro-and-con/23179.
Accessed 3 November
The Bt pesticide stands for Bacillus Thuringiensis. Scientists transferred the Bt gene into the corn to create a crop that produces its own pesticides. As the corn matures, it grows stronger poison, and as insects such as the corn borer eat fatal amounts, the Bt corn destroys the intestines (Burnham).... ... middle of paper ...
that it 's in due to human activities.. First with the vertical farming, “crops can be produced all
If crops were affected by droughts, disease and insects, having destroyed many acres across America’s Midwest region, the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) would not be beneficial in regenerating new crops. Genetically modifying foods (GMOs) “are plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding” (nongmoproject.org). Most research done has concluded no positive benefits in using GMOs. There are serious health risks associated with eating GM foods based on scientific research done around the world. The purpose of GMOs are to increase production of crop yield and reduce pesticide use but research says otherwise. If farmers wanted to continue using GMOs to produce crops, labeling should be mandatory to allow consumers to have a conscious choice whether or not to eat GM food. Through research it has been proven that the use of GMOs to increased production of crops during a time of drought or disease have no benefits, just risks.
Conventional farming practices are responsible for many negative health and environmental issues. One of the main issues is the creation of monocultures in the farming environment. Specifically growing the same species of plants or animals in mass quantities without variation every season is not natural. Monocultures do not exist in nature (Pollan 67). Nature practices diversity and for good reason. In nature and organic farming, if there is a threat to one species, there are others to balance the decrease in the threatened species. Conventional farmers and the modern food industry argue that planting the same crop year after year is convenient and profitable because it cuts down on the different types of farm equipment necessary in production, and initially, in the types of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers needed. However, in this unnatural environment, tremendous amounts of pest...
The most wonderful activity a human being can experience is new flavors and foods. For example, the first time a person tastes a delicious juicy piece of prime rib or a delightful hamburger with cheese and ham, his world is never the same. However, since the beginning of the twentieth century, the production of food has been supplemented by science. This has triggered an angry dispute between the people who support the advances of biotechnology and people who love nature. In order to understand the controversy, we have to know the meaning of genetically modified foods. With new technological advances, scientists can modify seeds from a conventional seed to a high tech seed with shorter maturation times and resistance to dryness, cold and heat. This is possible with the implementation of new genes into the DNA of the conventional seed. Once these "transgenes" are transferred, they can create plants with better characteristics (Harris 164-165). The farmers love it not only because it guarantees a good production, but the cost is also reduced. On the other hand, organizations such as Greenpeace and Friends of Earth have campaigned against GMO (“Riesgos”) because they think that they are negatively affecting the earth (Gerdes 26). Both the advocates and the opponents of genetically modified foods have excellent arguments.
...and to resist disease and pest include but are not limited to: tomatoes, potatoes, papaya, peas, and squash. (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.
Plants are grown under controlled and sterile conditions which reduce the risk of being exposed to pests, pathogens and diseases.
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
Instead of using pesticides in farming a better alternative would be biological control. This is when a natural predator is released into the crop growing area as a result the number of pests can be reduced.
Would most people eat a hamburger if they knew that the cow that provided the beef possessed genes from a sheep? How about bacon that came from a pig with sheep traits? More likely than not, they would refuse to consume such products, denouncing them as unsafe and irresponsible. Protests over these animals with mixed genetics would probably begin. This genetic tampering has been occurring in plants for years, but the majority of consumers do not think twice about purchasing products derived from these genetically engineered plants. While some may claim that the benefits of these genetically modified plants outweigh the negative effects, it becomes apparent that the crops cause more harm than good. Genetically engineered plants should not be produced because of the harm they cause to farmers, because of the harm they cause to the environment, and because of the harm they cause to people.
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!
... a “natural pesticide” against, in this situation wheat, the crop-killing bug. This is the advantage that family farms have.
The global population in the year 2050 is expected to be nine billion and the agricultural demand is expected to double. With the current population already over seven billion people, there are hunger issues all around the world (“New” par. 1). How are we going to deal with food shortages in the future? With less land to work with, strains on the soils, and the lack of water, it is getting harder for the farmers of the world to support our growing population. These complications are making it harder for farmers to produce quality, affordable food. To help the crops grow better, farmers use fertilizers and chemical sprays to enhance growth and control the weeds. Farming in the United States is a relevant business because it supplies people with food, provides people with jobs maintaining the used equipment with the new equipment being much more expensive, and it provides research for more efficient ways on how to feed the world.
Biotechnology helps in protecting the environment,It provides crops with protection from viruses and insects by reducing the number of pesticid...