Pros And Cons Of Gmos: Humans, Wildlife And The Environment

GMOs, Humans, Wildlife and the Environment Mankind has been, since their beginning, insatiably fascinated by the world in which they live. This innate fascination has led to the discovery of many useful insights into the mechanism and applications of nature, although not without risk. Genetically modified organisms represent one such useful insight and application of nature. In this essay we will examine several widely acknowledged risks genetically modified organisms (GMOs) pose to the individual, wildlife and the environment. And why this should suggest the exploration and pursuit of less intrusive solutions to some of the problems GMOs where designed to address.
One, significant, way genetically modified crops or plants pose risks to the

As a result of restricted access, no truly independent research can be legally conducted on many critical questions regarding the technology, its performance, its management implications, IRM, and its interactions with insect biology. Consequently, data flowing to an EPA
Scientific Advisory Panel from the public sector is unduly limited" (Technology, 2009).
Strict proprietary regulations inhibiting the publication and sharing of research completed on genetically modified plants and crops make independent, scientific corroboration difficult. Such a stance could potentially, negatively, impact human and environmental safety. In light of this concern, Monsanto, a leading biotechnology company, implemented an “academic research license” (ARL) measure which allows proprietary information to be shared with academic researchers with few informational restrictions (Monsanto, 2009). While this effort may seem like an amenable solution to the problems of inadequate research and information sharing, it may be too-little, too-late as “…there are now, approximately, 4.4 billion acres of genetically modified crops growing world-wide” (James, 2015), making a reparative response, to unforeseen complications, logistically

Pesticide resistance occurs when weeds, which reduce crop yield, develop an immunity to agricultural herbicides. This immunity, spurred by the overuse of herbicides as a consequence of engineered crop immunity, has created the so-called, superweed - a weed resistant to commonly used herbicides like glyphosate. As a result, “millions of acres of U.S. farmland are now infested by super weeds” (UCS, 2015), effectively nullifying the benefits of GMO crops and “costing American farmers and estimated one billion dollars annually” (Koba, 2014). Biotechnology companies have proposed a solution to the problem of superweeds which involves designing a new line of herbicide-resistant crops which confer plant resistance for less-used, yet increasingly toxic herbicides like dicamba. This is problematic because it would require the use of increasingly toxic amounts of existing or alternate herbicides, which correlate with increased health risks for humans and wildlife. A recent study confirms this danger when it says, “Heightened risk of public health impacts can be expected in the wake of more intensive herbicide use, especially applications later in the season on herbicide-resistant crop varieties” (Benbrook, 2012). This increased use of herbicides has already devastated one species that we know of; the Monarch Butterfly. The