With today’s extraordinary advances in the field of sciences, more and more efforts are being spent on increasing the quality of human life on Earth. Scientists have now applied what they have learned in the study of genetics to help modify and improve the properties of plants and organisms that we can benefit greatly from. Genetic engineering can be beneficial for humanity in the modern age as they are considered safe, able to support the demand of resources by the ever-increasing human population, and provide potential cure to many incurable diseases and possible life extension.
Genetic engineered products that have been approved for use in the international market are all considered safe. In 1995, genetically
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The American Association for the Advancement of Science also declares that consuming foods containing ingredients that are derived from GM crops doesn't pose more risk than consuming the same foods containing organic ingredients from crop plants created by modern breeding techniques. On the contrary, Giles Eric Seralini of France was rebuked after publishing a study named Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize in which he found that Roundup Ready corn; a type of genetically modified corn created by Monsanto Company inc. caused grotesque tumors in lab rats. Multiple respectable scientists that wrote one of the most respected scientific journal in the world Nature found many problems with Seralini’s results. In his study on GM crops, Seralini used Sprague-Dawley lab rats that are known to be highly prone to tumours even when GM food wasn’t a part of their diet. A documented study done in the past on these strain of rats has found that 70 to 76.7% of the male and 87 to 95.8% of female had cancer throughout their lifespan under normal circumstances. The only supporters of Seralini’s study came from the two anti GM groups that funded his studies on Gm food (The French Committee for Research and Independent Information on Genetic Engineering
The concerns regarding the health risks of the genetically engineered food came to light in the early 1990s. At this point, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was tasked with advising the public and the public regarding the health risks of GMO foods. However, the White House was bent on promoting the GMO foods and thus staged a conspiracy for FDA to falsify the information and claim that GMO was similar to conventional foods pertaining the health standards (Smith, 2007). This was contrary to the suggestions by many FDA scientists that GMO foods could be having serious health risks that could not be easily detected and thus called for further research in future. Afterward, the biotech companies were found guilty of hiding very vital information regarding the health impact of GMO foods. The health concerns were based on the fact that GMO foods had traces of bacteria and viruses forced into their DNA something that has never been in the human food supply (Swanson, 2014). The research that followed should that GMOs poses huge risks to the health of the consumers including allergies, toxins, nutritional problems, and new diseases. Some of the health conditions correlated with the GMOs is the autism.
Scientists continue to find new ways to insert genes for specific traits into plant and animal DNA. A field of promise—and a subject of debate—genetic engineering is changing the food we eat and the world we live in.
(Visual aid)According to Mike Adams, author of an article for Huffington Post in 2012 titled New GMO Study: Rats Fed Lifetime of GM Corn Grow Tumors, in a study that has been labelled “the most thorough research ever published into the health effects of GM food crops,” researchers fed rats the same kind of GM corn that is used in our potato chips and corndogs, and measured the results against a control group over their lifetime. The researchers found that “The animals on the GM diet suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage. The researchers said 50 percent of males and 70 percent of females died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the
It is incredible to see how far genetic engineering has come. Humans, plants, and any living organism can now be manipulated. Scientists have found ways to change humans before they are even born. They can remove, add, or alter genes in the human genome. Making things possible that humans (even thirty years ago) would have never imagined. Richard Hayes claims in SuperSize Your Child? that genetic engineering needs to have limitations. That genetic engineering should be used for medical purposes, but not for “genetic modification that could open the door to high-tech eugenic engineering” (188). There is no doubt that genetic engineering can amount to great things, but without limits it could lead the human race into a future that no one
“A scientific study published last year concluded that eating genetically modified corn (GM corn) and consuming trace levels of Monsanto’s Roundup chemical fertilizer was linked with rats developing shockingly large tumors, widespread organ damage, and premature death” (Adams). This study was published in 2012 and is also criticized by corporate GMO trolls who argued that scientists should not show pictures of rats with large cancer tumors caused by GMOs because the pictures scare consumers into being afraid of GMOs. Roundup is a chemical fertilizer that is produced by Monsanto and the reason why it is harmful is because Monsanto adds pesticides in their chemical fertilizer to keep their crops from being eaten by insects. The evidence provided earlier is significant because the pesticides are a hazard that
Dr. Gilles-Eric Seralini and his team of researchers conducted a 2-year study to see if rats (the same kind used in Monsanto’s research) would show any ill effect from consuming GMOs over a long duration. These rats were split into three groups; the first group ate GMO feed, the second group ate non-GMO feed, the third group ate non-GMO feed that had been sprayed with pesticides. In this study, Dr. Seralini noticed that the group with the GMO diet was the only group that was affected. This diet led to tumors in the breasts of female rats, as well as tumors in the breasts of a smaller amount of male rats. The male rats experienced kidney failure and a change in the color of their testicles, from pink to dark purple (Seralini). Male and females had difficulty reproducing healthy offspring, some of which had suffered from mental illness similar to Autism. Many of the rats showed a decrease in organ health and density, leading to a shorter life expectancy. In rare cases, the rats would even grow hair within their mouths. Dr. Seralini has suggested that GMOs may be increasing the rate of
Thesis : Children’s genes should be left untouched unless there is something terribly wrong, such as a sickness or disease.
In the year 2050, a young boy nervously rehearses what he’s going to say as he approaches the cheerleader he’s been too nervous to approach for the past month. But as he draws near, a jock pushes his books out of his hands. He’s teased, being the school wimp. They call him names like “undesirable”, “god-child”, and “in-valid”. Of course nobody cares for a less-than-perfect child whose genetic makeup was left to fate.
Author Chuck Klosterman said, “The simple truth is that we’re all already cyborgs more or less. Our mouths are filled with silver. Our nearsighted pupils are repaired with surgical lasers. We jam diabetics full of delicious insulin. Almost 40 percent of Americans now have prosthetic limbs. We see to have no qualms about making post-birth improvements to our feeble selves. Why are we so uncomfortable with pre-birth improvement?” Despite Klosterman’s accurate observation, there are reasons people are wearisome toward pre-birth enhancement. Iniquitous practices such as genetic engineering could lead to a degraded feeling in a child and conceivably end in a dystopian society, almost like the society Adolf Hitler had in mind. In the minds of
What if you could design your child before it was even born? What if you could cut out any life threatening diseases, make sure that your child is not susceptible to smoking addictions or alcoholism, and then make your child genius? Would you? Are you asking yourself how this could be done? Have you ever considered human genetic engineering?
Genetic engineering, the process of using genetic information from the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of cells to fix or improve genetic defects or maladies, has been developing for over twenty years. When Joseph Vacanti, a pediatric surgeon at Children’s Hospital, and Robert Langer, a chemical engineering professor at MIT, first met as researchers in the 1970’s, they had little knowledge of the movement they would help found. After they discovered a method of growing live tissue in the 1980’s, a new science was born, and it races daily towards new discoveries and medical breakthroughs (Arnst and Carey 60). “Tissue engineering offers the promise that failing organs and aging cells no longer be tolerated — they can be rejuvenated or replaced
Genetic Engineering has developed by very rapidly over the past twenty years. It is also one of the most controversial topics to go through the United States. From the research gene therapy to the cloning of different animals, genetic engineering can save lives while at the same time, endanger them as well. There are many pros and cons which are being heavily debated by political, scientific, and many other organizations. Most are centered on the idea of using Stem cells as a way of curing diseases.
He reasoned that there were certain rules by which these characteristics were inherited. He guessed that each plant must possess some sort of unit that specified its characteristics. In fact, each must have two units, one from each parent plant. If the plant inherited two different units, then one would override the other. This was called the dominant unit, and the one that was overridden was called the recessive unit. Mendel's theories were not discovered till 1900, and it began the science called genetics , the study of a physical inheritance. From this name, Mendel's units were changed into genes.
Genetic Engineering GENETIC ENGINEERING Within a short period of time, genetic engineering has turned into one of the biggest growth areas in scientific research .It appears regularly in the media although the general public have no idea the meaning. It is currently one of the most sensitive areas of ethical debate.1 Genetic engineering however is a variety of techniques used to transfer a desirable gene from one organism to another, where it can be expressed. This means that the required product can be synthesised within the new organism.
Over the years, new innovations, ideas, and emerging technologies have transformed our society and our daily lives. These new discoveries have not only been developed to help make our lives easier, but to also help us live longer and stronger lives. Living in a world that continues to evolve, creates opportunities for new innovations and breakthroughs to arise within our society. Genetic engineering is just one of many examples of the advancements that young, intelligent minds have developed throughout the years. Genetic engineering is defined as “isolating a desirable gene” and injecting it into a plant or organism to produce “a desired characteristic” (Nutrition & Weight Control for Longevity, 2005). This biological technology has provided many advancement opportunities “for several industrial sectors such as agriculture, food manufacture and pharmaceuticals” (Rastall, 2002). Along with everything else in life, genetic engineering has some upsides and downsides. Today I am going to discuss the positive and negative outcomes that genetic engineering is recognized for in the agricultural industry.