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Gmos : Genetically Modified Organism

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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 …show more content…

In 2011, more than 66 million hectares of GMO plants were grown throughout the world. These plants were “engineered to produce a bacterial toxin lethal to some insects but harmless to people,” (Carrington 1). By altering the plant’s genes, scientists were able to design the plant in a way so it could control the pest population without the need of using as many chemicals in comparison to pesticides. Therefore altering the plant’s genes proves a method for controlling pest populations because it reduces the amount of harmful chemicals that are used. Pesticide use is dangerous to the environment because of the pollution involved. Studies have found that farmers using GMO seeds use 37% less pesticides, and since “these seeds don’t need to spray as much pesticide, which means less pesticide ends up washing off the fields and into streams” (Horowitz 2). Ultimately, pesticide pollution can endanger entire ecosystems and even threaten human lives. By significantly reducing pesticide use, there would be less dangerous chemicals to threaten local environments. As well as reducing pollution, GMO replacement of pesticides helps increase populations of pest predators. Carrington states that GMOs have the “added benefit of looking after the predators that could have been killed by the pesticides” (2). By substituting GMOs for pesticides, which kill more than just the targeted pest, farmers can help

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