The Pros And Cons Of Genetically Modified Organisms

Genetically Modified Organisms have been the topic of major debates and controversy over the past three decades. Genetically modified organisms ( GMOs) are defined by The World Heath Organisation (WHO) as organisms whose DNA has been altered in a non-natural way (selective breading does not create a GMO). Genetically engineering organisms allows selected individual genes with desired traits to be transferred from one organism into another organism, even between two completely unrelated species. This same process can eliminate undesirable traits of an organism. GM foods are largely produced because it is seen that there is some advantage either to the producer (the farmer or company) or consumer (the average person) of these foods. They are

Organisms can be genetically modified to repel insects, pests and diseases therefor not needing pesticides or insecticides. Pesticides are harmful to the environment because they are toxic to most living organisms. Some can collect in water systems, pollute the air, damage valuable agricultural land by harming beneficial insect species with in the soil that naturally limit pest populations and maintain soil health and Weaken plant root systems. And in addition to that they have chemicals inside of them that cause cancer. Globally, GMO crops have reduced pesticide spraying (1996-2012) by 503 million kg (-8.8%). Majority of the cotton in china has been genetically modified to produce a substance that is poisonous to the cotton bollworm, a pest that destroys a large amount of valuable cotton crops. previously they had to spray on the pesticide directly onto the crop, but now with ‘Bt cotton’ there is a reduction in pesticide use, a large increase in the amount of useable cotton and therefore profits, and health benefits for farm workers who previously applied pesticides without protective attire. GMO crops also can be beneficial because you can genetically modify crops to be able to withstand extreme environmental situations such as drought, heat, frost or acidic soil. Plants such as tobacco

If the population of a nation is nourished, the amount of people working or in school increases, the amount of money needed to combat food related diseases in hospitals will decrease, the countries productivity will increase and essentially this would have the potential to raise the GDP of a particular country. However in practise GMO’s are essentially more complicated. Farmers in developing countries often depend on large GM seed companies that have the intellectual property rights to their particular GM seed which allows them to dominate and dictate the market. Since one company can dominate the market, that company could raise the price of seeds extensively that small farmers and third world countries will not be able to afford seeds for GM crops, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the poor more than there already is in many developing nations. This would force more developing countries to become dependant on food aid. One of the “glitches” of GMO’s is that their seeds are only usable for only one growing season and would produce sterile seeds that do not germinate, unlike crops that aren’t genetically modified. It is necessary for Farmers to buy a fresh supply of seeds every agricultural year therefore they will have to be dependent on the few GMO seed companies that own the seed development patent rights. GMO’s could be