Monsanto: The Ethical Implications Of Biotechnology

For thousands of years, nature and human manipulation has continually shaped the variety of foods we consume as well as the processes used to control their production. These foods and ingredients are genetically different from what they once were. The science behind modern food processing and modification uses methods created by biotechnology. Generally, genetic modification is the manipulation of an organism’s genome using biotechnological processes and technologies. It involves the removal, addition, or modification of an organism’s genes in order to create a new organism. What results, is an organism that is mutated for safe consumption, protection against disease caused by pathogens, or enhanced to improve yields, quality, and nutrition. Although there are many positive things resulting from genetically modifying foodstuffs, the potential implications of this engineering can often be controversial. Some argue the benefits are far greater than any imagined drawbacks, while others see its necessity. (Possible rewrite)

Biotechnology is the “exploitation of biological processes for industrial or other purposes” (Basic Biotechnology). Although biotechnology is important to the fields of medicine

Robert T. Fraley insists these issues demand that we, proactively, take care to produce food sustainably, use water more efficiently, and engineer plants to resist bugs and disease. Monsanto is an agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology company. It was founded in 1901 by pharmaceutical industry veteran, John Francis Queeny. Its first products were food additives. The company pioneered the application of the biotechnology business model to agriculture in the 1970s ["Monsanto's March]. Additionally, the company is responsible for products such as RoundUp, Agent Orange, DDT, and PCB’s. Other products include mass produced LEDs, clothing detergent, AstroTurf, genetically modified crop seeds, compounds used in modern medicine,