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An essay on gmos
The good the bad and the ugly of gmos
The good the bad and the ugly of gmos
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Introduction What is Genetically Modified Organism? Plant Biotechnology is continuing its development within modern day science. With the increase understanding of scientific studies has led the improvement of plant productivity, quality and health. This understanding also contended potential issues on plant growth (Monsanto 2011). Plant biotechnology uses genetic engineering, which is the process of manipulating genes through isolation and reintroducing the DNA into the cell. This gave birth to Genetically Modified Organism, which are organism according to Dr. Steve Windley, MD, whom structure is manipulated. Modifying these organisms could control what they react and don’t react to, such as resistance to herbicides or it could improve the nutritional content. The other effects may be growth, or a slew of a numerous effects that could go unnoticed for years The History of Genetically Modified Organism. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...s.html (accessed April 14th, 2011). North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research. Biotechnology. October 2006. http://www.aboutbioscience.org/pdfs/Plant_Biotechnology.pdf (accessed April 15th, 2011). U.S Food and Drug Administration. Plant Biotechnology for food and feed. April 12th, 2011. http://www.fda.gov/food/biotechnology/default.htm (accessed April 13th, 2011). Umezawa T, Fujita M, Fujita Y, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K, Shinozaki K. "Engineering drought tolerance in plants: discovering and tailoring genes to unlock the future." PubMed, 2006: 22-113. United States Department of Agriculture. Plant Biotechnology. June 9th, 2010. http://www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/biotech/in_focus/biotechnology_if_plant.html (accessed April 14th, 2011). Univeristy of Nebraska-Lincoln. Types of Drought. 2012. http://water.unl.edu/web/drought/typesofdrought (accessed November 27, 2012).
Modern biotechnology was born at the hands of American scientists Herb Boyer and Stain Cohen, when they developed “recombinant deoxyribonucleotide, (rDNA), [1] for medicinal purposes. Subsequently, biotechnologists started genetically engineering agricultural plants using this technology. A single gene responsible for a certain trait, from one organism (usually a bacterium) is selected altered and then ‘spliced” into the DNA of a plant to create an agricultural crop consisting of that...
Carter, E., Theodorou, M., and Morris, P. 1997. Responses of lotus corniculatus to environmental Change I. effects of elevated CO2, temperature and drought on growth and plant development. New Phytologist. 136: 245-253.
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.
Pamela Ronald, a plant geneticist, presented a Ted Talk “The case for engineering our food”, Ronald points out that engineered genetics for our plants is not harmful, yet better for our environment and health. “Now, genetic modification is not new; virtually everything we eat has been genetically modified in some manner”(Ronald).
The another devastating abiotic stress which is considered to be highly responsible worldwide for decreasing yield and quality of crop productivity is drought (Lambers et al. 2008 ; Moghadam et al .,2011; Mohsen Pourgholam et al.,2013 ; M. Farooq et al., 2012; Abolhasani and Saeidi, 2004 ; Monjezi et al., 2013).It harms plant growth and development and reduces crop growth rate and also affects biomass accumulation. Generally, in crop plants drought severely affects the cell division and expansion, elongation of root, leaf size, proliferation of root and inhibition of shoot growth (Sharp & Davies 1989; Spollen et al.,1993;Yamaguchi et al.,2010). Furthermore ,it also badly hampers all kinds of plant functions and physiological and biochemical traits such as mineral elements, carbohydrates, free radicals, ions, hormones, lipids, and nucleic acids (HongBo et al., 2005; Yasar et al., ; Moghadam et al .,2011,Mohsen Pourgholam et al,2013) .The transportation of nutrients from the roots to the stem severely get affected by drought as the rate of transpiration is reduced and damage of active transport and membrane permeability take place (Viets, 1972; Alam, 1999; Yasar et al ). Simultaneously, due to decrease in soil moisture, problem occurs with the low distribution of absorbed nutrients by the plant roots in the soil (Alam, 1999; Yasar et al ). More importantly, drought leads to rise in generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to energy accumulation in stress condition of plants (Smirnoff 1993; Asada 2006; Waraich et al.,2011).Drought diminishes photosynthetic carbon fixation primarily through restraining the entrance of CO2 into the leaf or by reducing metabolism (Smirnoff 1993; Loggini et al., 1999; Ap...
18 Apr. 2013. . "Genetically engineered foods: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 5 July 2012.
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.
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.
In this day and age, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have become a topic of large interest in the media. GMOs are defined as an organism whose genetic structure has been altered by incorporating a gene that will express a desirable trait (Dresbach et al. al. 2013). Often times, these traits that are selected are either beneficial to the consumer or producer. Currently, GMOs are being created at a higher rate than ever before and are being used in the foods that we eat.
There are several benefits of genetically modified foods. The world population has reached to seven billion people and it is predicted to become double in the next 50 years. Ensuring an adequate food supply for this booming population is going to be a major challenge in the years to come. Genetically modified foods can make it possible to meet this need in a number of ways such as strong plants, improved nutrition, high crop yields, reduced allergenicity, medical benefits, healthier farm animals, environmental benefits, food safety improvements, and economic benefits. Genetic engineering has been successful in producing plants with increased pest and disease resistance, while retaining high yields, taste, and processing attributes. Fo...
“Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S.” ERS/USDA Data. Web. 12 May 2012. .
Lemaux, P.G. (2006). Introduction to genetic modification. Agricultural Biotechnology in California Series, 8178. Retrieved from http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8178.pdf
Genetic engineering enhances plant resistance to drought, salinity, disease, pests and herbicides. The aim is to try and enhance the growth, productivity, nutrient value, and chemical composition of the plants. Chemicals are constantly being developed or improved to enhance the competitiveness and adaptability of crops, and to kill the parasites and weeds which plague the agricultural sector. . This however is not always good as the plant and the pests then become resistant to these new chemicals defeating the purpose of it being used. The new chemicals which are produced to kill these strong pests and weeds may be more harmful to other plants and remove nutrients within the soil in turn reducing the yield of agricultural crops. The benefits of these characteristics are seen in Argentina according to Pelletier (2010) as they use glyphosphate resistant soybean which allowed the comeback of this crop, as the so...
Keener, K., Hoban, T. and Balasubramanian, R. 2014. Biotechnology and its applications. [online] Available at: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/foodsci/ext/pubs/bioapp.html [Accessed: 11 Apr 2014].
Biotechnology helps in protecting the environment,It provides crops with protection from viruses and insects by reducing the number of pesticid...