Genetically Modified Food : Harmful Or Grateful?

Genetically modified foods can be good and bad for humans and the economy. For example, if you do not cook an genetically modify foods it can cause us humans to become deathly ill. If the soil is not treated before the genetically modified seed is placed into the ground it can damage the soil and the earth around it.

Genetically modified foods have contributed to better foods in terms of food quality and human health.

Many will argue that Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) are not safe for human consumption, however they are almost inevitable for our everyday food consumption. Some argue that the recent increase in gluten intolerance is caused by GMO foods (Argument against). Other state that the risk to humans by GMO’s is relatively small (The GMO”). The bottom line is what people put into their bodies is a personal choice and a person should be able to easily tell if a product has been genetically modified or not.

What is genetically modified (GM) food? These are foods whose DNA have been artificially altered in some way to produce foods with unique qualities not found in nature. For example, onions that don’t make you cry when they are cut. Whenever you go to the grocery store or eat a restaurant, chances are you’re eating GM food without even knowing it. It’s in the ingredients we buy and fed to the animals we get our food from. What you may also be unaware of are the health and safety concerns, along with the lack of labeling identifying GM products. What’s more disconcerting is GM crops have the potential to change our ecosystem forever. This is a social issue that affects us all, because we all have to eat.

In todays society, people are more concerned about what they put into their body. They eat healthy and maintain a stable diet, but unknown to a number of these people is their food may have been tampered with in the form of Genetically Modified Organisms or, for short, GMO's. Genetically Modified Organisms are plants or animals whose DNA has been altered to favor a certain characteristic or trait which is already in the DNA. This includes enhancing the DNA in plants to make them bigger, invincible to pests, or invincible towards weeds. Although, the reason why GMO's are a controversial topic is because of lack of knowledge. Genetically Modified Organisms are risky and potentially to dangerous to be handling because of the unknown side effects

Michelle Schoffro cook, PhD, DNM, Clinical Nutritionist. Michelle states that “according to research published in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Scientists found that the genetically-modified corn was linked to liver and kidney damage in animal” (Schoffro). In other words what Michelle is saying is that there is proof that GMOs could cause some damage to the animal’s organs. These so called GMOs are modified genetically so that they can produce their own pesticides and therefore they are immune to any plague. Studies show that some of those pesticides are toxic to humans. Some of those toxins are the Bt-toxin and Roundup Ready which are now found in corn, cotton and soybeans. These two pesticides have been linked to severe health risks. Studies conducted on animal have shown that GMOs can cause damage to their liver, kidney, and the male’s reproductive organ damage and spleen damage. This should make us wonder, if these modifications on the food have a drastic effect on animals, then we must assume the same thing could happen to us. In the same matter, now that these pesticides and toxins are built in the plants they cannot be washed off, which means that they are being consumed. This leads us to the conclusion that we are eating a food that could kill

“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

Furthermore GMO’s also cause a lot of issues for the environment. These crops and their herbicides can harm birds, insects, marine life, and soil organisms. They pollute water and the environment. Most genetically modified crops are herbicide tolerant which means that farmers are able to use herbicides to control the growth of weeds and not damage their own crops. Between 1996 and 2009 US farmers have used 283 million pounds of herbicide. Round up is actually the biggest seller. This creates weeds that are resistant to herbicide and causing farmers to use even more toxic chemicals every year. Therefore GM foods contain residue of toxic

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.

However, one of the leading discussions about why GMOs are put in such a negative light is based around the insecticide Roundup (Cassidy, Emily). A confirmed carcinogen within roundup is called glyphosate. Roundup is used by many people including mass-production farmers. If the risk for users to have cancer is so drastic, why use the product? Chiefly, because it works. Roundup is successful in controlling unwanted weeds for what are called Roundup Ready crops. They’re able to survive the harsh chemicals of the spray, but weeds and other unwanted growth is not. The dangerous chemicals from Roundup have been known to stick around in the delivered crops, which are GMOs. This may be where a lot of the negative stigma of GMOs comes from, because it is 100% true that Roundup is unhealthy. But if farmers don’t use Roundup, what’s the issue with the Roundup resistant foods? If there is no negative effect on humans consuming the foods, then there isn’t much of an issue with their

In the past few years, society has been made more aware of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Because of this, GMOs are being replaced in diets with more natural and organic options. GMOs have been researched and found to cause adverse effects on human health because of the gene splicing, or genetic alterations that are done to create them through genetic engineering. Before this issue became an issue, many people were eating processed and even healthy foods without understanding what chemicals and toxins they were actually putting into their bodies. GMOs are infused into food without awareness because one never really understands what all those unpronounceable words, label GMOs, really are. Due to recent research, it has been found that genetically modified organisms are harmful and can lead to increased risks of disease and cancer.

What if people could create an organism that was stronger than it was previously? More resistance to diseases, poisons, and that could thrive in a hostile environment? That is what scientist are creating with GMOs (Genetically Modified Organism) but mostly with plants that farmers produce for food such as corn or soybeans. Scientist can create modified organism when they pick an organism (such as corn) and then have certain changes introduced into their DNA using genetic engineering. It is different from breeding because instead of getting random genes, scientists are putting the desired gene directly into the plants’ DNA. Genetically modified foods are a controversial topic throughout most of the country but most Americans would be

Another crucial way in which humans are harmed from genetically modified foods is obesity. Obesity stems from an abnormal diet with high calorie-dense foods which results in above average body fat. It is associated with increased risk of disease such as cardiovascular failure and liver cancer, disability and incapacitation from excess weight on the joints and bones, and even death from complications arising from the obesity – not the obesity itself. People are consciously ignorant about the foods they eat. “Obesity is the sixth most common disease worldwide. Approximately 1.1 billion adults and 10% of children are considered obese” (Haslam). Obesity is a chronic

    Humans have been intentionally changing the genetic properties of animals and plants for centuries, through all the standard breeding techniques of the use of radiation and chemicals to create random mutations, some of them turn out to be useful, for example Genetic Modified (GM) Foods. What is Genetically Modified (GM) Foods? GM foods are foods that are derived from organisms that have been genetically engineered. Also they are called genetically engineered (GE) or transgenic crop that are generally made of a genetic marker. GMO have a very long history. In fact, they have been around for thousands of years. So perhaps the conflict over their safety shouldn't be about whether they are safe for humans to consume, but rather how they will impact long term.Even though Genetically Modified Foods (GMF) would increase food costs, these can improve yields for farmers, provide nutritional benefits,and help to alleviate the increasing global population of third world countries.

A Genetically Modified Organism or GMO is an organism whose genome has been altered by the process of genetic engineering so that its DNA contains one or more genes not normally found within. These genetically modified organisms are a relatively new phenomenon in the United States, introduced in 1994. However, beginning in 2014 these chemicals could be found in 90% of corn, cotton, and soybeans produced in the United States. The looks and taste of genetically modified organisms may seem inviting but are the health risks really worth it? In my opinion, I believe that while genetically modified organisms do have positive feel and comfort they pose a large health risk to all who choose to consume them.