Genetically Modified Organisms And Its Effects

Over the past few decades a new controversy has arisen in the scientific community: should Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) be used in modern society. There are generally two sides to this debate: one being in favor of GMO use and the other against it. Pro GMO activists believe that GMOs can help address hunger issues and help reduce use of pesticides/insecticides while Anti-GMO activists state that it is a threat to the agriculture industry, and should be banned. Both sides have several valid points, however GMO’s are even more complicated from initial glance, and may not be as dangerous as some believe.

Last winter, strolling the streets of Paris with my father, we stopped at a grocery store to purchase some groceries. As I was looking through the produce section, I noticed that the berries I eyed were much smaller than the berries I typically buy from grocery stores in America. I pondered the reason for this and I was determined to find out. Later that evening I browsed the web and learned that berries are smaller in Europe due to many factors such as containing preservatives and not being GMOs. I thought to myself, what is a GMO? GMO stands for genetically modified organism, meaning that the organism’s genes have been played around with through genetic engineering. Today, GMOs play a role in the world environmentally, economically, and

Recently, there has been controversy on whether GMOs are favorable, or synthetic and faulty. Although, many are not actually informed properly about what GMOs actually are. A GMO is a genetically modified organism, in which its DNA is taken and implanted into another plant or animal. Filmmaker, Jeremy Seifert, is quite precarious on the subject, considering there is not much we really know about these genes. Jeremy says “I suddenly felt uneasy about the food we were eating,” (Seifert). We are unaware of the health and safety risks that come with the use of these genes on everyday food items. It is evident that there is a mass amount of positives and negatives. However, the powerful weight of the negatives seem to have a larger impact than the positive ideas within it.

GMOs (or “genetically modified organisms”) are living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering, or GE. This relatively new science creates unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacteria and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

GMOs are one of the most disputed areas of science, genetic engineering is used in many careers, but even though medical utilization such as GM insulin are accepted, the controversy heats up when it comes to agriculture. Why is that, Why is the same thing treated so differently? Lets try to get to the bottom of this and explore the facts, the fears and the future of GMOs.

“GMOs, or “genetically modified organisms,” are plants or animals created through the gene splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This experimental technology merges DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms of living things whose DeoxyriboNucleic Acid (DNA) has been changed by humans using the techniques of genetic technology. The tool for creating a GMO is called the recombinant DNA technique. Which is combining strands of DNA that come from different sources to create a new DNA molecule that has a dissimilar combination of genes which occurs naturally. The newly created DNA is then inserted into a living organism such as plants, animals or an egg or sperm that will result in a genetically modified organism. Genetically modified (GM) crop plants, such as

A Genetically Modified Organism, or GMO, is best defined as living organisms whose DNA has been manipulated (“GMO Facts.”). These organisms have been shown to have overwhelming damage on our era. Food should not be genetically modified because it causes harm to the environment and shows a health risk to the general public.

Scientific discoveries are made every so often and are constantly changing the way we live. The particular discovery of recombinant DNA has revolutionized our lifestyle and the world surrounding us. In 1935, Russian scientist Andrei Nikolaevitch Belozersky discovered DNA, and a few decades later, in 1973, recombinant DNA was created. This concept involved creating man-made DNA by combining genes of interest from foreign DNA. From then onwards, the applications of this scientific practice has altered science and medicine in an unimaginable way. After analyzing the potential uses and safety of this method, the FDA approved the first GMO in 1982; it consisted of using E. Coli to produce insulin. In 1994, GMOs were introduced to the grocery stores

A GMO is an organism whose genome has been altered by techniques of genetic engineering so that its DNA contains one or more genes not normally found there. GMO’s are believed to be beneficially in delivering higher crop yields, drought, bug and pesticide resistant crops, enhanced nutritional content of particular food products and improved flavor. These are some of the most notable features of genetic modification. Herbicides are substances that are toxic to plants and are used to destroy unwanted vegetation along with pesticides that are substances used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals that were also developed when finding ways to use technology and chemicals in genetic modification. Genetically modified organisms are created through genetic engineering.

An acronym that has become seemingly ubiquitous throughout the supermarkets, food advertisements, and food labels, GMO has swept the nation. So, what exactly does the acronym GMO mean? The term GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. The definition of a Genetically Modified Organism is any organism whose genetic material has been modified or altered, especially through genetic engineering techniques. The genomes of various organisms, from single-celled microbes to multicellular plants and animals, can be purposely transformed using recombinant DNA technology. The transgenic organisms are used mainly in the production of pharmaceuticals, gene therapy, and agriculture. These modifications are also,

The 1990’s ushered in more than Gameboys and a Nebraska – Florida State college football rivalry. It was also a mad-scientists’ delight with the introduction of Dolly, a cloned sheep, and genetic engineering of food. Hoping to create a powerful agricultural tool, chemical companies set out to rearrange the building blocks of life and came back with genetically modified (GM) crop varieties that resist herbicide applications and produce insecticide during the growing process. Whether you are for, against, or indifferent to GM ingredients in your food, consumers should be informed on the questionable practices behind growing GM crops and they have a right to know what they are eating through food labeling.

The goal of most genetic engineering is to increase crop yield and to improve the nutritional content or taste of food. (Powell). Efforts to increase crop yield and nutritional content stem from concerns over feeding an ever-increasing world population (Yang). The first successful GMO was created in 1973, and since then science has developed many techniques which allow for the genetic engineering of a variety of crops ("GMOs: Good or Bad for People and the Environment?"). There are four basic steps to create a GMO: identify a trait of interest to be inserted into the organism, isolate the trait of interesest, insert the desired gene into the organism and finally propagate the newly made GMO (Powell). The process of inserting the genetic trait is of special interest in the context of health risks. The most common method of delivering a new genetic trait to an organisms’ DNA is by way of proteins from various bacteria which “invade the seeds and alter plants by inserting pieces of their own DNA into a plants’ genome.”. Cells are treated with heat or electricity to force them to accept the new genetic material (Powell). Many concerns have been raised over this popular method regarding how this changes the nutritional content of the organism and allergies that may be created as a reaction to the bacterial

With 92% of corn, 94% of soybeans, and 94% of cotton being genetically modified and with upwards of 75% of processed foods containing GMOs according to the Center of Food Safety, GMOs are clearly a very important topic. According to Whole Foods, GMOs or genetically modified organisms are organisms whose DNA has been altered. The reason for the creation of GMOs was for the purpose of increasing plant productivity by engineering them to resist certain diseases, produce their own pesticides, etc. and is mostly prevalent in North America (“GMO”). According to the Genome News Network, in 1973, Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen were the first to accomplish the direct manipulation of genes using genetic modification (“Genetics”). Because of GMOs are such a new technology, there has been some debate over the safety of GMOs. Genetically Modified Organisms have been considered to be controversial; however, they have had an overall positive impact on the world.

Much of the public concern surrounding the safety of GMOs stems from the process of actually creating them. This is admittedly not a natural process, which is a surefire way to raise critic’s eyebrows in doubting their safety. However, there is no evidence that supports these myths. The Committee on Genetically Engineered Crops, The National Academy of Science, and the Board on Agriculture and Natural Recourses all agree after extensive testing and observation that there is no additional harm in the consumption of GMO food. The research conducted in animal studies, as well as chemical analysis of the crops, show no indication that GMOs are negatively affecting human health. The next allegation hurled at GMOs is that they may have