The Genetic Modification Of Today 's Plants

The agriculture industry is the most important industry in the world. The agricultural industry is the most basic industry. Humankind has improved the agriculture for thousands of years. Scientists are researching the way to produce more food with a less natural source. The scientists found out that they can manipulate the plants’ genes. Which let the farmers to use less natural source and less time to grow the crops. This kind of organisms are called GMO (genetically modified organism). There are many advantages and disadvantages for growing GMO crops. There are a lot of arguments in the world on whether we should keep using GMO products or we ban GMO products. There are two articles arguing on the genetically modified organism. Jonathan Latham wrote an article named “GMO Dangers: Facts You Need to Know” which is claiming GMO products are dangerous, genetically manipulated plants are resisted to herbicide, and the purpose of the crops are for research only. On the other hand, Anthony Shelton and David Shaw wrote an article named “Green Genes: Sustainability Advantages of Herbicide Tolerant and Insect Resistant Crops” the authors of this article claim that genetically manipulated plants are not harmful, it is beneficial that the plants are resisted to herbicides, and the purpose of GMO is to foster more sustainable production system. Also, they believe GMO will bring many benefits.

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.

The issue of genetically modified foods, is Farmers can't harvest seeds. Fundamentally, farming is a simple process: plant seeds, grow crops, harvest crops, and gather seeds from the plants for the next season. Sadly, GMO companies like Monsanto take this last step away from farmers and raise expenses even futher by forcing the farmers to continually buy the premium-priced GM eeds every growing season. In fact, as was shiwn in the Bowman v. Monsanto court case, it is illegal in the US for someone growing a Monsanto crop to harvest the seeds and use them later. The Nowman case went all the way to the unanimously found guilty of patent infringement after he purchased and used second generation Monsanto seeds.

GMOs harm the environment because some of the animals in the wild use the genetically modified food. They would die of starvation or they would get sick because of all the chemicals mixed in with crop or food produced. The people producing the gmo foods would ruin the food chain because the animals would have to adapt to eating other foods or would die of starvation. They can harm the food for birds and other animals. Gmo foods use more chemical pesticides and herbicides. Bees produce honey for us and if the bees were to pollinate gmo flowers they could die because of all the pesticides inside of the flower. Having gmos means less weed flowers or normal flowers in general and by knowing we would have less flowers means less nectar would be

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

Gmos are bad for the environment. Insects are at risk butterflies and bees and countless other bugs are being killed from these crops. Newer more stronger species are going to over run other species and will go extinct. GMOs are polluting are water resources. Animals are showing organ damage and other parts of the body being damaged. Humans are problems like nutritional consequences, unintended effects, and GM

Genetically modified organisms can be crops or animals. There can be a few health benefits from this process. Theresa Phillips in “Genetically Modified Organisms” states “some benefits of genetic engineering in agriculture are increased crop yield, reduced costs for food or drug production, reduced need for pesticides, enhanced nutrient composition, and food quality, resistance to pests and disease, greater food security, and medical benefits to the world’s growing population” (Phillips, 2). “A number of animals have also been genetically engineered to increase yield and decrease susceptibility to disease.” (Phillips, 2) In “Genetically Modifies Foods: Harmful or Helpful” by Debra B Whitman also states some health benefits “pest resistance, herbicide tolerance, disease resistance, cold tolerance, drought tolerance/salinity tolerance, nutrition, and pharmaceuticals” (Whitman, 3-9). GMOs may have health benefits, but they also come with some risks.

Did you know that 95% of the nation 's sugar beets, 94% of soybeans, 90% of the cotton and 88% of feed corn today are genetically engineered. According to the Institute for Responsible technology, Genetically Modified Organisms are the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. Today in the United States there are seven major genetically altered crops including Maize, Soybean, Cotton, Canola, Sugarbeet, Alfalfa, Papaya, and Squash. GMO’s came along by farmers having flaws with a crop, like if a tomato had a beetle every year and the farmer was spending large amounts of money on pesticides every year. Then a biotechnology company comes out with a tomato that produces its own natural pesticide, you would be nuts to continue in the old ways.

Top Ten Reasons to Avoid Them.” on naturallysavvy.com, GMO crops and pesticides also have an environmental impact. They pollute the air, water, and soil. Glyphosate, marketed by Monsanto as the herbicide ‘Roundup’, is in effect, an antibiotic, which can destroy soil quality and potentially impair the plant's nutritional value as well. Cross-pollination between GMO and non-GMO crops is common as well, and can destroy natural plant varieties in the wild. Many believe that pesticides and GMO crops can relieve farmers of crop-destroying insects and plants, that’s not exactly true. The truth is, farmers are now battling with superbugs and superweeds resistant to pesticides. They're damaging crops and farm equipment and costing the farmers more money in having to apply heavier doses of toxic

Genetically Modified Organisms actually do have favorable qualities among producers. First lets identify the reasons as to why farmers and many companies are hopping on the GMO bandwagon. A proposed benefit of GMO foods is that they have the potential to produce higher crop yields, which could essentially feed more people in underdeveloped parts of the world (geneticallymodifiedfoods.co). GMO’s are also seen as a more economical option because of the reduced need of pesticides and herbicides, which should increase the farmers profitability margins, saving them money in the long run. Another proposed benefit of genetically modified food is the ability to improve food quality. Take bananas for instance, many bananas that are imported into the United States

Genetic engineering is a controversial, powerful and the uprising topic in the field of biology. Genetic engineering is also refereed as recombinant DNA technology as it includes the alteration of genes in living organisms to get the results that favour human kind (NewScientist, 2006). The technology is used in agriculture, medicine and food sciences. Various kinds of genetic alterations are possible which include the inserting of genes of one specie to another to get the required traits and the unwanted traits can be removed by excluding the gene of that specific trait (Efsa, 2015). Transgenic organism produced in the

As I stated previously, GM crops yield more product than conventional crops. This is because they have been altered to use water more efficiently and to avoid the use of pesticides. On the other side, conventional crops need to be sprayed with pesticides which are absorbed into the crops and also create a run-off of toxins where as GM crops do not. The run-off from conventionally grown crops then causes pollution and leaks into the water, poisoning the water supply, and there’s no telling what the pesticides are doing to your body. For example, Monsanto, a company known for sustainable agriculture, created a new type of soybeans which have been genetically modified to not be affected by their herbicide product “Roundup”. A farmer will then grow the soybeans which will only require one application of the weed-killer instead of multiple applications, which will in turn reduce the production cost and limit the dangers of agricultural waste run-off. Crops have even been modified to resist diseases such as blight, grey mold, bunts, and powdery mildew. These are diseases which either kill the crops or stunt their growth. By using GM

Those who denounce genetic engineering often say that GM crops are untested, and the negative effects they spur just haven’t been discovered yet. An article from Livestrong.com says, “There’s a danger that modified genes can turn out to be harmful for human health and that the body could develop antibiotic-resistant genes in response to transferred genes” (Agadoni). Agadoni brings up a fair point: genetic engineering is still a relatively new science,

One of the strongest arguments supporting GM foods is that they can get the plants to produce higher yields. This is extremely beneficial as it means less seeds will have to be planted to produce the same amount so farmers will have more space to grow. GM foods will be imperative if our population continues growing at its current rate while maintaining the same diet, because the demand for global livestock feed will double by 2050 (Dearden & Mitchell, 2016). Roughly 40% of global crop calories are used as livestock feed and that number will only grow with the population. With traditional crops, this would be unattainable, simply because there would not be enough room to simultaneously support a population that size and grow all its food. Another argument that supports GM foods is that some GM crops have been modified to produce their own toxin while others have resistance to certain herbicides. The use of GM crops requires less amounts of pesticide being used which is both beneficial to the environment and our health. Their usage can help the environment because using less pesticides which contaminate soil, water, and other vegetation, will decrease the impact of the chemicals in the pesticide which the ecosystem faces. Regarding our health, a benefit which has been observed in some GM crops is the reduction of occupational exposure to pesticide related illnesses amongst farm workers (Huang et al., 2006). Furthermore, the ability to alter the nutritional content in foods is

Many of our crops today are what you would call genetically engineered. This means that certain plants are taken to a lab where specific genes are genetically enhanced with desired traits such as resistance to herbicides, insecticides, drought, and even improved nutritional content. While that may sound like a win for everyone such as the farmers as well as the consumers, there are many disadvantages that not only affect our health, but our environment as well as the economy. With several facts that have been shown, the good in GE crops should not outweigh the bad and in the end, we may be solving a problem now, but creating a much bigger one for our future.