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The Pros And Cons Of Genetically Modified Organisms

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The Encyclopedia Britannica defines Genetically Modified Organisms as an “organism whose genome has been engineered in the laboratory in order to favour the expression of desired physiological traits or the production of desired biological products.” (Fridovich-Keil & Diaz, 2018, para. 1). Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO’s, can refer to the genetic modification in animals or agricultural purposes. The long held practice of modifying the genotypic traits can be traced back to prehistoric times, in which farmers would select the most fruitful crops. For instance, teosinte was domesticated over 10,000 years by humans from a small grass to form modern maize (Genetic Science Learning Center, 2013). Ancient farmers would select the maize with …show more content…

The evidence that highlights this the most is the Pew research study in which scientists from the American Association for the Advancement of Science or AAAS for short, were surveyed on their opinions, issue by issue in different scientific topics. It covers different relevant topics, including topics on food safety of genetically modified foods. In the survey, 88% of the scientists surveyed considered genetically modified foods safe, conversely, only 37% adults in the general population agree. The number increases among biomedical scientists to 91% when asked if they consider GM foods safe to eat (Pew, 2015). These results mirror the analysis from Blancke’s (2015) piece. The percent disparity between the public and scientists may be indicative of unfamiliarity in scientific literature among the common population. Additionally, when comparing the results of all of AAAS scientists and the biomedical scientists, the disparity decreases, but it still exists. This most likely correlates with the familiarity of literature among both groups. In general, biomedical scientists would be more well versed in the data as Bioengineering is a field that is related to their own, consequently the results seem to be …show more content…

(2012). The aim of the study was to observe the health effects of genetically modified maize fed that was treated with the herbicide RoundUp over a course of two years. The study had a sample of two hundred Sprague Dawley rats that where split up into groups of ten which were fed different levels of concentrations of RoundUp. The results were rats infested with tumors and kidney failure. The paper includes macabre images of the treated rats of very large tumors, which we're widely spread throughout the media. This very misleading as the paper failed to include images of the control group rats for comparison. Séralini’s methodology was source of criticisms among the scientific community. A central criticism was that the type of rat Séralini et al. used is predisposed to develop tumors at a high rate as they continue to age. This made it difficult to separate the experimental “noise” from the results, especially with the small sample size. Séralini et al. claims that the pesticides produced these tumors were called into question because it was possible that the the tumors were produced because of the natural predisposition of Sprague Dawley rats to develop cancer tumors and not due to the pesticide. With the nature of Sprague Dawley rats in mind, it was important to design a

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One of the main reasons many people do not support GMOs is because they do not know what is being changed and if it is even healthy to consume. Due to gene splicing “ consumers have developed unexpected allergic reactions. Researchers used a gene from the Brazil nut to increase the production of Methionine in soya beans. The insertion of this gene inadvertently caused allergic reactions to the soya bean in those with known nut allergies, but no previous allergy to the soya bean”(macalester). At this point in time there is not enough research about what will happen to people after eating GMOs which scares many people.

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Jeffrey Smith’s blog post on the Institute For Responsible Technology (IRT) lists ten reasons why genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are “plants and animals whose genes have been changed by scientists,” should be avoided. At the time of this blog post, research in eastern Quebec had recently discovered Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a spore forming bacterium that is toxic to many species of insects, in the blood of pregnant women and showed evidence that the toxin was passed to fetuses. As a consumer advocate, Smith promotes healthy non-GMO choices, and believes genetically engineered foods must urgently become our nation’s top food safety priority. He is the founding executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology

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As its name states, a Genetically Modified Organism is any living organism whose genes were altered to produce the same organism but with different qualities and traits by adding virus or bacterial genes into the organism?s DNA. For plants, many techniques have been applied to insert those genes, such as: ? Viral Carrier, Bacterial Carriers and Electroporation technique. In fact, the ultimate aim is to produce High Quality Plants (HQP) is to increase productivity thus making food cheaper, increase resistance to pathogens, large decent size, fast adaptation to

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Genetically modified organisms or GMO’s for short is an organism that has had its DNA altered or modified in some way through genetic engineering. GMO’s were introduced for biological research, medical research, developing more effective pharmaceutical drugs, and agriculture. GMOs were first introduced in the 1970’s by genetically modifying a mouse, then the first modified plant was introduced in 1983. Genetically modified crops are plants that are used in agriculture to modify the plant's DNA to produce a new trait that does not occur in the plant naturally, since then genetically modified crops have begun to increase in production by farmers to increase food production. Genetically modified foods are currently still in debate because of the harmful effects it has on the environment, the regulatory process,

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GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. GMOs are plants or animals that have been changed to have a new and/or different affect. Genetically modified organisms have certain genes or pieces of DNA injected into the original organisms seed. So, when it grows, it will have a different outcome then what the original seed would have had. Since these drastic changes are being made, there can be problems like health issues.

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There is a public perception about biotechnology- especially genetic modification. It does not matter if the genetic modification is about foods, plants or organisms, there is a particular perception for each one of them. For example, drugs that were genetically modified are “deemed an important maker in the history of medicine(Genetic Engineering para. 5). However, crops, have “much less debate about their benefits to humankind(para. 5).

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1174 Words | 5 Pages

There is a public perception about biotechnology- especially genetic modification. It does not matter if the genetic modification is about foods, plants or organisms, there is a particular perception for each one of them. For example, drugs that were genetically modified are “deemed an important maker in the history of medicine(Genetic Engineering para. 5). However, crops, have “much less debate about their benefits to humankind(para. 5).

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It seems that the more genetically modified and processed food, the more dependent we are becoming on these corporations for food. Less and less food is being grown here in the United States. With more that 70% of crops being grown in other countries around the world, food supply can easily be interrupted and or controlled relying on others to produce it for us. It seems that controversial topic of whether labeling genetically modified food should or should not be required has influence over those who oppose GMO labeling. For the last 20 years genetically modified food has been eaten, and practiced all throughout the food chain in the United States.

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According to a research study performed by S. Linnhoff et al. (2017) Millennials are becoming more educated as access to college increases. As a result of this they are slowly starting to accept that GMO technology is safe to eat, however, there are concerns with how it will impact the

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Due to their recombinant nature and the potential health and environmental risks they carry with them, GMOs pose an ethical dilemma that asks whether the potential benefits of increased food supply, economic gain, and sustainability that could come with GMOs are worth the potential health and environmental risks they pose. In the United States and the rest of the world, both proponents and opponents of GMO implementation exist. Proponents of GMO implementation argue that the potential risks of GMOs are outweighed by their potential benefits, reasoning that GMOs can provide healthy food to people in developing countries, introduce less pesticides into the environment by creating plants that create their own pesticides or are heartier than

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Tests have proven the genetic modifications as destructive towards the human body. “The percentage of Americans with three or more chronic illnesses jumped from 7% to 13% in just 9 years; food allergies skyrocketed.” This was all after 1996 introduced GMOs. The article also states, “... in the nine years following the introduction of GMOs in 1996 food allergies, disorders such as autism, and chronic illnesses increased sharply.” This change in genetics is creating many problems in the United States.

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While proponents utilized the health uncertainties and the platform of individual choices to advance their agenda, opponents view the issue with a collective perspective. The potential health effects of long-term usage of GMOs are unknown and require future investigations. If such medical scrutiny will occur prior to a large dependency on GMOs in food sources, however, is uncertain. While the numbers of years since the introduction GM foods into market is minuscule, the integration of GMO into a majority of foods products illustrates its significance. The mandatory labeling of GMOs would result in avoidable negative consequences ranging from economic to social perspective while other potential options are available to the US public.

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These chemicals have grow out of hand and become destructive, degrading microorganisms in the soil and every single aspect of the food industry and supply we have access to in today’s society. Unless we maintain control of our GMOs, we may very well be in danger of harming our very existence in the generations to

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However, after reading the article, some new revelations came through about the GMO debate. For some reason, negativity sells and the media loves to portray negative news because it tends to grasp more people’s attention. So, since my ninth grade biology class, I had always heard the negatives glorified about potential health problems with these products. My teacher was indifferent and ultimately let us have

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But in recent accounts in the past show that food from genetically modified animals is not that all safe to eat . “The death of dozens and the crippling of many more have been linked to food from genetically modified animals.” (nelson) Also another event has occurred when taco bell bell got a bad batch of eggs causing people to get sick. “A shipment of taco shells too taco Bell contained bad eggs resulting in hundreds of people to fall ill.”

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