The Use Of Genetically Modified Organisms, And Do The Benefits Outweigh The Potential Risks?

“Sixty to seventy percent of all processed foods available on store shelves contain genetically modified ingredients”, according to George Erdosh and Marcia Amidon Lusted in “To GMO or not to GMO? Genetically engineered food has strong advocates and harsh critics.” Genetically modified organisms can be found in most conventional foods processed in the United States, and genetic modification of crops is extremely common on classic Minnesota farms. Crops such as corn and soybeans or even papaya and zucchini are viable for genetic modification. In fact, the definition of (GMO) as reported by Alex K. Rich and Tom Warhol, authors of “Genetically Modified Foods: An Overview,” is, “food in which, at some point during the production process molecules and proteins are chemically altered to give the food more nutrients, a better appearance, and a longer shelf life.” As a matter of fact, a majority of all the foods found at the grocery store are genetically altered. However, many people do not know what genetic modification really is, or that the idea has been around for many years. GMOs are used to control pests and weeds. Therefore, through changing the genetic makeup of the plant, modifications allow for advancements of new technologies that account for the applicability of specific chemicals, as opposed to dated Non-GMO farming techniques.

For thousands of years, humans have been genetically enhancing other organisms through the process of selective breeding. Polls indicate alarm over the contamination of everyday foods. Americans are especially concerned about Genetically Modified Organisms. So, are they good or not? According to NewsELA, PRO/CON: Is it time to label GMO foods? GMO foods? Andrew Pollackmay's "Genetically Engineered Crops are Safe, Analysis Finds", and Janet Renee's "Benefits you get from a GMO" they talk about the merits and the demerits of GMO crops. GMOs are plant or animal products that have been reengineered in a lab. Scientists use the DNA of bacteria,

Genetically modified crops are an incredibly important issue that everyone should be aware of since it is something we are exposed to at a daily basis. Genetically modified crops also known as GM crops or Biotech crops has been one of the most heated debates of issues within our society. The debate about the safety, concerns and disadvantages of GM crops have raged since the mid 1990 's but this is due to the lack of knowledge of the general public. Many people are unaware of what the GM crops actually are and what they offer. Genetically modified crops are plants that are used in the agriculture and have been modified to initiate a new trait to plants that does not happen naturally in the species. These plants are modified using genetic engineering techniques to enhance desired traits. GM crops are made when genes of commercial interest are transferred from one organism to another.() There are many methods used for the production of GM crops but the two primary used for plant insertion are gene guns and agrobacterium tumefaciens. There are also three types of modifications which are transgenic, cisgenic, and subgenic plants. However, there are a number of issues that surround this controversial topic such as environmental, health, and economic concerns. Even though there are some worrying facts about GM crops people don 't realize the advantages or the ways it has helped humans as well as animals. There are many reasons why GM crops are proven

Because of the success of transgenic crops like Bt corn, the usage and availability of GMOs has increased exponentially. The number of GM crops produced in the United States grew from 1.45 hectares in 1996 to over 29 million in 2000. This accounts for about 70% of the total GM crops grown in the world (European Commission 2). Similar patterns have emerged from other agriculture-intensive countries like Canada, Argentina, China, and Brazil. Large percentages of products like soybeans (68%), cotton (50%) and corn (28%) are now

Genetically Modified Organism or GMO is an organism that has been altered genetically. There are many possibilities for altering an organism such as growing conditions, quantity, or even scientific breakthroughs. Many choose a side over this heated debate, whether GMOs are safe or if they are harmful to humans. Currently about two-thirds of all items in the supermarket is GMO(Corn The Miracle Crop). GMO promise increase crop yields, lower costs, and less herbicides and pesticides. Altering the organisms genetics could negatively affect the organism resulting in an unstable product. Researchers have found that an unstable product can result in poor crop production, decrease in nutritional value, toxic and

With numerous developments plaguing agricultural production, the implementation of Genetically Modified Organisms, commonly referred to as GMOs, is best suited to be used in food manufacturing. It is estimated that by the year 2050, global food production must increase by seventy percent. However with current practices in place and the limited expansion of farmland due to urbanization, such production rates are nearly impossible to achieve. The use of Genetically Modified Organisms seems to be among the only feasible options to rapidly increase food production and thus aid in this crisis which plagues even though most developed countries, such as the United States. Specifically in the United States, the use of Genetically Modified Organism

The origin of GMOs started in 1982 by an experiment done by the United States Department of Agriculture, in which they changed the genes of a tomato plant. Commercial use of Genetically Engineered crops began in 1996 (Fernandez-Cornejo et al. pg 7). While developing Genetically Modified Organisms, scientists and researchers characterized the types of Genetically Engineered crop traits into

The term GM food are most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. Genetically modified plants have been widely publicised as the future in agriculture. Many believe that it may help improve crop harvests and farm productivity by developing genetically modified crops that can either resist pests or chemicals. But despite the promise that GM crops may offer, there are still doubts that linger among a number of people as well.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) have since established protocols for GM foods.

In 1996, the first commercial genetically modified seeds were planted in the United States. The first modified seeds were developed with the hopes that they would produce a higher yield of crops. The plants that grew from these seeds were less susceptible to drought, pests and fungi and were engineered to resist the herbicidal or weed-killing chemicals that farmers sprayed on their land. They were touted as a farmer’s dream come true and farmers praised their untested properties. The seeds and plants that were developed to keep pest insects away were either genetically altered so

With all these advancements in genetically modified organisms, we are on our way to what is becoming known as the Second Green Revolution. The First Green Revolution refers to the successful practices in farm production around the 1950s and 1960s. With higher rates of investment in crop research, infrastructure, and market development, the production of cereal crops was able to triple with only a 30% increase in land area cultivated (Pingali, 2012). This second revolution refers to the use of GMOs as the new innovation that will lead the way to even better advancements in agriculture. The use of GMOs is being adopted and promoted by many developing nations and affluent philanthropists. One such example is Bill Gates who is a big proponent of using GMOs to cure world hunger. He has personally donated millions into researching GMOs for this reason

Bt-corn is an example of a genetically modified organism, or in other terms a GMO. A GMO is an organism that has been genetically altered through molecular techniques alerting small parts of its genetic material. The main purposes for the use of GMO products is to increase its protection to pest, pesticides, or to just improve the overall quality. They have even come so far to resist the crops to drought and/or frost. The process of GMO’s has been done to many organisms, such as potatoes, corn, sweet corn, soybeans, and many more. The FDA is the organization that regulates GMOs, and considers the products resulted from GMOs is equivalent in nutrition than that of traditional crops. In the 1980’s, we discovered that pieces of an organism could

These days people often hear the word genetically modified organism (GMO). It is an organism whose genetic material has been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals. GMOs are the source of genetically modified food which is used to produce a variety of goods other than food. Genetic engineering researchers promise the following benefits that GM food will bring: increase crop yields, lower cost of herbicide, and adapt to global climate change. Therefore GM food is believe to solve the problem of hunger due to the ever increasing global population, especially in third world. In this essay I am going to focus on the genetically modified corn in Canada produced by Monsanto and provide reasons why

The development of genetically engineered foods began in the 1900s, and has been in United State markets since 1995 (Bredahl 18). The most widespread genetically modified foods are oil, maize, cotton, and soybeans (Cunningham 11). Transgenic foods were products created to increase benefit and lower prices (Whitman 2). Genetically modified foods are essential to enrichments of crops (Tan 3). It helps reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides in plants, enhances taste and quality, lower maturation time,

The fact is that the vast majority of people in the U.S. have eaten genetically modified foods, or foods that have ingredients that have been genetically modified. The U.S. is the largest producer of genetically modified plants, with countries in Europe and Asia showing more reticence to rely on this type of food processing (Ronald, 2010). Researchers have shown the roughly 10% of all crops in the world have been genetically modified in some way. This may seem difficult to believe, but genetic modification in some form is an art that dates back thousands of years. In ancient times, crop growers extracted seeds from plants that grew well or which were particularly robust, and abandoned the plants that failed to grow properly in harsh conditions. When conducted over the course of countless generations, this creates a version of genetic modification that has improved agricultural processes and improved the lives of farmers around the world. By relying on genetic modification, crop