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Genetically Modified Organisms ( Gmos )

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As much as food is a cultural obsession nowadays in America, food, safety, and public health is something that has not always been a priority within the development as a nation. The Food and Drug Administration, which ensures that the food and drugs we ingest are “safe, wholesome, and sanitary” was only created in 1906 (FDA, 2014) as a byproduct of Upton Sinclair’s book (which was released the same year) “The Jungle”, which had exposed the meat packing industry for misconduct and unhygienic conditions for both workers and the meat being packaged and purchased by consumers. Since then, advances in technology—specifically DNA—has allowed for the development of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). GMOs are living organisms that have had …show more content…

His efforts had paved the way for genetics to continue to advance. However, that being said, it was not until 1980s court case, Diamond vs. Chakraborty, which determined that a GMO could be patented, and potentially sold (Diamond vs. Chakrabarty 1980). This patent didn’t become active until May 1981 and almost immediately a year after, in 1982, genetically engineered insulin was approved by the FDA to be used for Diabetic patients. (Goel and Parashar 2013, p.170) Insulin is a chemical produced in the livers of sheep and cattle, and genetically engineered Insulin had allowed the medical fields to harvest this source without hurting the animals that produced it naturally, thus cutting out the “middle man”. This was the first instance in which the public had experienced Genetically Modified Organisms being utilized within the public health system. Since then, developments in agriculture had allowed for GMO crops to be harvested and sold on grocery store shelves. In 1994, the first GMO crop, a tomato genetically modified to have a longer shelf life, and bruise less quickly and easily had hit the world by storm, influencing the production of all crops after. From the 1990s to the early 2000s, the use of GMOs in our food production was a normal occurrence, and one

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