A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques (i.e. genetically engineered organism). GMOs are the source of medicines and genetically modified foods and are also widely used in scientific research and to produce other goods. Our study focuses on genetically modified foods like plants and animals and how does the public in the GCC countries. Genetically modified foods or GM foods, also genetically engineered foods, are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is sometimes also called bioengineering or biotechnology.
All these terms refer to making artificial
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Experts estimate that 8 percent of children 6 years old and younger and 1 to 2 percent of adults have food allergies, which can cause severe, and sometimes life-threatening, reactions. For example, there are up to 15 different proteins in soybeans that people are allergic to and the major one, P34, is responsible for 75 percent of the allergic reactions. The risk is that the consumption of GM products leads to the possibility of formation of cancer neoplasm in intestines. The main environmental problem with genetically engineered food plants and animals is that, when they escape into the wild, they permanently disrupt ecosystems which are the products of billions of years of evolution. Another potential problem area is viruses. By their very nature, viruses invade the genetic material of their hosts and often break apart and recombine using part of the host's genetic material to create new viruses. The viruses will then spread and, because they could not have been naturally produced, there may be no natural defenses against them and they may cause widespread death of certain plants or animals, or even of humans. Genetically engineered foods create specific ethical problems for those of various faiths. For example, religious vegetarians, such as Hindus and Buddhists, want to be able to avoid fruits and vegetables with insect, animal or humans genes in them. Because …show more content…
Direct effects are seen on organisms that feed on the crops. Wider effects are manifested on food chains produced by increases or decreases in numbers of other organisms. The combination of some GM crops with long-lasting herbicides was bad for biodiversity, using other GM crops without these herbicides increased biodiversity.
On our planet, 18% of the land mass is used for agricultural production. It is absolutely essential that the yield per unit of land increases beyond current levels. The human population is still growing and 70,000 km² of agricultural land are lost annually to growth of cities and other non-agricultural uses; Consumer diets in developing countries are increasingly changing from plant-based proteins to animal protein, requiring greater amount of crop-based foods. If the rights to these tools are strongly and universally enforced then the potential applications of GM technologies are unlikely to benefit the less developed nations.
Possible effects of GMOs on the environment is