Ethical Concern and Genetically Modified (GM) Crops
Are Genetically Modified (GM) crops safe for environment? Might organisms and environment be harmed by GM crops?
According to the World Health Organization (2014. 1), "Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as organisms (i.e. plants, animals or microorganisms) in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination. The technology is often called 'modern biotechnology ' or 'gene technology ', sometimes also 'recombinant DNA technology ' or 'genetic engineering '. Foods produced from or using GM organisms are often referred to as GM foods.” Many organic crops farming farmers are against cultivating of GM crops because of the threat to farm land and environment however, biotechnology companies and GM crops growing famer desire to have profit and consumer look for low price. Thus, the debate over the environmental impact of genetically modified GM crops is growing. Although GM crops negatively affects on some organism in environment, they reduce the use of pesticides and increase crop yield.
Genetically Modified insect resistant crops produce the toxic substances as a results it effect non-target organism and entire ecosystem. Biodiversity has significant role to balance environment as biodiversity decreases interaction between species decrease and ecosystem and food chain affect adversely. Some weeds are source of food for
Genetically modified crops are an incredibly important issue that everyone should be aware of since it is something we are exposed to at a daily basis. Genetically modified crops also known as GM crops or Biotech crops has been one of the most heated debates of issues within our society. The debate about the safety, concerns and disadvantages of GM crops have raged since the mid 1990 's but this is due to the lack of knowledge of the general public. Many people are unaware of what the GM crops actually are and what they offer. Genetically modified crops are plants that are used in the agriculture and have been modified to initiate a new trait to plants that does not happen naturally in the species. These plants are modified using genetic engineering techniques to enhance desired traits. GM crops are made when genes of commercial interest are transferred from one organism to another.() There are many methods used for the production of GM crops but the two primary used for plant insertion are gene guns and agrobacterium tumefaciens. There are also three types of modifications which are transgenic, cisgenic, and subgenic plants. However, there are a number of issues that surround this controversial topic such as environmental, health, and economic concerns. Even though there are some worrying facts about GM crops people don 't realize the advantages or the ways it has helped humans as well as animals. There are many reasons why GM crops are proven
Genetically Modified Organism or GMO is an organism that has been altered genetically. There are many possibilities for altering an organism such as growing conditions, quantity, or even scientific breakthroughs. Many choose a side over this heated debate, whether GMOs are safe or if they are harmful to humans. Currently about two-thirds of all items in the supermarket is GMO(Corn The Miracle Crop). GMO promise increase crop yields, lower costs, and less herbicides and pesticides. Altering the organisms genetics could negatively affect the organism resulting in an unstable product. Researchers have found that an unstable product can result in poor crop production, decrease in nutritional value, toxic and
It has been shown that some GM crops can be less nutritious and possibly toxic in comparison to natural food. Because of this, many large countries such as Japan have put bans on GMO containing foods. GM foods are not labeled in the US and other countries so consumers are not monitored for health conditions that may result from long term use. Some reports have also linked GMO to possible cancers. In addition to the health effects, GMO crop technology can affect smaller farmers and our environment. GM crops are too expensive for the smaller farmers to grow, forcing the smaller farms into debt or off their land. This hurts the economy, as farms are disappearing while large GMO food companies are taking over. In addition, the initial drop in herbicide use on GM crops that was reported has now been followed up with a large increase in use due to the resistance that has developed, and farmers have had to use more and more powerful chemicals on crops. These chemicals are toxic to people, livestock and may possibly contaminate the
It’s been debated many times about GMO’s negative impact on the environment. The introduction of GMO’s has been exposed to many ecosystems throughout world, bringing a wide concern towards the impact of it. “GM crops are commercially available and planted on more than 40 million hectares across six continents” (FAO). “Activists, worried about GMOs being released into the biosphere, have destroyed test plots in at least four continents. (FAO). Another big concern about GMO’s negative impact upon the environment is that the pollen from GM crops, and trees can contaminate nearby crops and wild plants. Varieties of corn in Mexico have been found to have some contamination with in it, along with many others. This can cause many major changes to varieties types of crops out there, not just corn itself. It alters the DNA within the crop causing them to grow differently.
the rise in advanced technology, Genetically Modified Foods were engineered and created. Not only were they new in the sense that it provided an easier source of growing, but it also brought ,with it, a new controversy across the world. Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) are created by moving a gene from one animal to another. An example of this would be moving the gene of an Icefish to a tomato to give the tomato a longer shelf life. GMOs were intended to help increase food production and help foods last longer however, GMOs have become very controversial because of their potential health and environmental effects. GMOs could have detrimental effects on the population and on the Earth.
Not just plants but also animals also are in danger from genetic modification. Butterflies suffer from GMOS; they are doubly in danger from the terminator seed pollen and the herbicide laden plants. Bats also
Technological advancements have resulted in the creation of genetically modified organisms. According to the article The GMO Age Begins, the creation of these organisms dates back to the 1970s. This science has been around for many years now and can be used to improve the agriculture industry. Genetically modified organisms are the results of scientists extracting certain genes from one organism and entering them into another organism so that the modified organism may obtain new traits, as stated in the movie GMO OMG. According to this same movie, GMOs aim to make plants resistant to diseases and have the ability to survive in harsh weather. Instead, genetically modified foods have negatively impacted the world. Scientists should stop genetically modifying foods because GMOs are the prime reason why resistant weeds exist, they contribute to the pollution in the world and to health problems found in humans.
Many varieties of genetically engineered crops have been designed to decrease the need for chemicals, particularly pesticides. Herbicide-tolerant varieties are among the most widely used type of genetically-modified crop, which enables farmers to use a single herbicide to eradicate weeds rather than rely on a cocktail of pesticides and herbicides. Eliminating weeds in this fashion also decreases the need for soil tillage, which can negatively impact soil ecology. (Ford,
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) is one of the most important issues around the world. Genetic engineering is a process where scientists take genes from one species and force it into the DNA of other species. GMO has long been in practice to breed select individuals of a species to produce offspring of the desirable behaviors. It is used in conventional livestock production, crop farming and even pet breeding. It involves combining elements of DNA from different sources to create a new DNA molecule that has a different combination of genes than original, which occurs naturally. There are some scientific methods for producing GMOs; for instance, recombinant DNA technology and reproductive duplicating. Recombinant DNA technology involves the addition of one or more individual genes from an organism of one species into the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of another; On the other hand, reproductive duplicating technology generates descendants that are genetically identical to the parent by the transfer of an entire donor nucleus into the enucleated cytoplasm of a host egg (Genetically modified organism). In recent years, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have replaced our diet with genetically altered foods, which have undesirably affected human health as well as local communities. GMOs have raised subjects over their own benefits in the way that they are resistant to disease, help humans suffering from famine, produce greater yields, and improve the nutrition of foods.
For many years, the environmental community has had strong feelings about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and/or genetically modified (GM) crops. Those in agriculture biotechnology also have very passionate emotions about GM crops as well. The environmental community, typically against, and the agriculture biotechnology field, typically for GM crops make the topic very polarizing. The environmental field have reasonable concerns about herbicide and insect resistant GM crops. These concerns include the possibility of evolutionary resistance in non-target organisms, and the flow of genes from GM crops to wild species. On the other hand, the agriculture biotechnology field have logical reasons to support herbicide and
Even though genetically modified organisms have benefits for humans and they happen to be designed to benefit living beings, they have lots of environmental impacts. In genetically modified plants, toxics are inherited to prevent bees, butterflies, and birds from destroying the plants. Bees are very important for crops in the process of pollination. Some pests get adapted to these toxics, but then also there legacies do not go away. GMO’s also create changes in our ecological systems by not using old rich seeds; which prevents weed flowers and nectar for pollinators. Injected toxins into plants decrease soil bacteria; which is very critical for organic farming. Metabolism and growth rate of many organisms is changed due to
Genetically modified organisms are crops that have a gene from one organism inserted into the DNA sequence of another organism in order to gain beneficial traits (McWilliams 351). Beneficial traits that may result from the genetic modification of crops include herbicide resistance, insect resistance, or drought tolerance (McWilliams 351). The concept of genetically modifying food is a concept that makes many people skeptical about what is being done to the food that they eat. After careful research, it is evident that there are many potentially harmful aspects of genetically modified organisms. The negative aspects of genetically modified organisms include adverse health effects, their inability to solve world hunger, heavier use of pesticides and herbicides, loss of biodiversity, damage to the small farming business, the fact that the companies that control them have become too powerful, and inadequate labeling practices.
Genetic engineering is a complex environmental health issue that presents several benefits and risks to both consumers and the environment. Genetic engineering is a technique used to produce genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are genetically altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination (WHO, 2014). In other words, genetic engineering is an unnatural cell invasion technology. This technology is used to grow genetically modified (GM) plants, which are then used to produce GM crops. Genetically modified plants for food consumption include those engineered for herbicide tolerance, those engineered for insect resistance, and those engineered for viral resistance (Baite, 2003). The most common GM food crops include soybeans, corn, cotton, canola, potatoes, and tomatoes (Bonetta, 2001). Genetic engineering is used to express a gene that is not found naturally in the plant or to modify endogenous genes (Key, Ma, & Drake, 2008). For example, this technology can be used to engineer resistance to abiotic stresses, such as drought, extreme temperature, and biotic stresses, such as insects and pathogens which would normally be harmful to plant survival. In addition, this system can be used to enhance the nutritional content of the plant to combat malnutrition in developing countries. Genetic engineering was initially established to increase farmers’ crop yields, but has now shifted to be more of a benefit to consumers and those suffering
According to a range of documented evidence that has been collected by scientists over the years, agricultural biotechnology is a safe and beneficial technology that supports both environmental and economic sustainability. Many farmers choose to use bio or GM crops over non-GM crops as they increase yield and lower the endlessly growing production costs (Bio.org, 2014). Due to biotechnology and genetic modification, many herbicides and pesticides have been replaced with smaller amounts of safer chemicals that do the same but have less of an impact on the environment (Bio.org, 2014). In the last few years genetically modified crops have become highly debated but with an ever increasing global population and massive third world hunger GM foods need to be considered more. (Classes.soe.ucsc.edu, 2014)
GM can be used to improve the quality of foods as well as increase the