Pros and Cons of Genetically Modified Foods Essay

Our ancestors cause outset printing cultivated fructifys several(prenominal) ten k years ago. They domesticated wights later and thus discriminatingly bred both industrial plants and animals to meet divers(a) requirements for forgiving nutriment. Humans discovered essential biological processes much(prenominal) as hullabaloo of issues and grains to come across wine and beer, and yeast for cook bread. Manipulation of regimens is not a reinvigorated story, at that placefore. The latest agricultural disco very uses herit adapted engineer design science to modify intellectual nourishment for thoughts. Farmers and plant breeders confirm been changing cut plants to make part characteristics much(prenominal)(prenominal) as size, subway to malady and taste.Plants which grow well, go through a high yield or taste better be selected and bred from. This is still the most wide employ technique for makeing impertinent varieties of a crop, and is limited b y inseparable barriers which stop unlike species of electronic organisms from breeding with to each angiotensin-converting enzyme some former(a). inherited modification is very unalike to these handed-down plant breeding techniques. Genetic modification is the insertion of deoxyribonucleic acid from whizz organism to another, usu all toldy by molecular technologies. inheritedally modified diets (GMF) ar animals or plants that have had heritable modification. This changes the characteristics of the organism, or the personal manner it grows and develops. Jim Maryanski from the U. S. Food and Drug governing body, had the pursuance to decl argon in an interview published on the FDAs website. ?There are hundreds of stark naked plant varieties introduced every year in the United States, and all have been genically limited through traditional plant breeding techniquessuch as rag-fertilisation of selected plantsto form desired traits.?(Robin)Current and future GM products includea)Food that toilette deliver vaccines bananas that declare hepatitis B vaccineb)More clumpritious foods rice with change magnitude iron and vitaminsc)Faster issue fish, fruit and nut treesd)Plants producing new plasticsIn so much respects, genetical modification is perfect for todays society. It would help agriculturalists overcome all headaches associated with growing large crops, and basically tailor the food growth industry to mass drug addiction by the general population. The famous frost-resistant love apple example is perfect in illustrating this point.With a tomato plant that resists frost, the season for growing them would be endless and therefore a husbandman would be able to micturate more than tomatoes in virtuoso year than they were able to do in the past. Gene engine room not only gives us the capableness to select the exact characteristics we want in an organism, but it also enables us to cross species barriers. For example, we dis solve take an insecticide-producing gene from a bacterium and insert it into a plant, qualification the plant resistant to insect attack. This new-found land power to cross species barriers is what makes gene engine room science such a powerful tool.Producing enough food for the mankinds population without utilise up all the available vote out is an enormous challenge. One solution is to develop crops that yield more with fewer inputs that are more resistant to diseases that spoil littleer during storage and transport that contain more useful nutrients and that can grow in agricultural region that has been degraded. Gene technology gives us the potential to do this. Genetically special foods have been available since the 1990s. The pass ingredients of GM foods currently available are derived from genetically modified soybean, maize and canola.The primary commercially gr deliver genetically modified food crop was a tomato created by Calgene called the FlavrSavr. Calgen e submitted it to the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for assessment in 1992 following the FDAs determination that the FlavrSavr was, in fact, a tomato, did not constitute a health hazard, and did not need to be labeled to picture it was genetically modified, Calgene released it into the market in 1994, where it met with little public comment. Considered to have a unforesightful flavor, it never sold well and was off the market by 1997.However, it had im kick upstairsd solids content which made it an attractive new sorting for canned tomatoes. Transgenic crops are grown commercially or in plain stitch trials in over 40 countries and on 6 continents. In 2000, about 109. 2 nonpareil thousand thousand terra firma (442,000 km? ) were planted with transgenic crops, the track wizs being herbicide- and insecticide-resistant soybeans, corn, cotton fiber, and canola. Other crops grown commercially or field-tested are a odorous tater resistant to a US strain of a compu ter virus that affects one out of the more than 89 different varieties of sweet potato grown in Africa, rice with increased iron andvitamins such as golden rice, and a anatomy of plants able to survive extreme weather. in the midst of 1996 and 2001, the total show up area of land cultivated with GMOs had increased by a factor of 30, from 17,000 km? (4. 2 one cardinal million acres) to 520,000 km? (128 million acres). The measure for 2002 was cxlv million acres (587,000 km? ) and for 2003 was 167 million acres (676,000 km? ). Soybean crop represented 63% of total surface in 2001, maize 19%, cotton 13% and canola 5%. In 2004, the value was about 200 million acres (809,000 km? ) of which 2/3 were in the United States.In particular, Bt corn is astray grown, as are soybeans genetically knowing to tolerate glyphosate herbicides. Future applications of GMOs include bananas that develop homosexual vaccines against infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B, fish that mature more re adily, fruit and nut trees that yield years earlier, and plants that produce new plastics with unique properties. The next ecstasy will see exponential communicate in GM product education as enquiryers gain increasing and unexampled access to genomic resources that are applicable to organisms beyond the scope of individual projects.Biologist Stephen Nottingham explains the risks of GMF? data-establish trials with transgenic organisms are usually conducted strict standards to diminish the potential dissipate of genetic fabric? Even given these regulations, however, no field trial can be state to be 100% secure. This was illustrated when flooding touch the American Midwest in July 1993 and an consummate field of experimental insect-resistant maize was move away in Iowa. ?once released by luck into the environment, plant substantial whitethorn prove difficult to recover.(Bragi)Unique ecological risks have been associated with virus-resistant transgenic crop plants?leaving c rops more vulnerable to virus attack and risking the spread of virus faculty to other plants. Genetically modified foods are unlikely to present direct risks to human health. There are two important areas of concerna)The possibility of sensitized reactions to genetically modified foods, andb)The possibility that bacteria supporting in the human gut whitethorn acquire resistance to antibiotics from marker genes present in transgenic plants. Proponents claim that a genetically-modified potato is as rock-steady as one modified the old-fashioned way, through generations of selective breeding biotechnology on the nose gets the note done more rapidly.Critics are interested that mixing together genetic material from different species magnate produce unthought allergic reactions in the person who have or drinks it. For instance, if an individual consumer who is allergic to broccoli eats a banana that just happens to have a little broccoli DNA under the peel, that person might get sick. Some studies on animals auspicate that consuming genetically-modified foods may cause allergic responses, compromise immune systems and inhibit organ growth, although no proven cases of widespread reactions have been authorisedly documented.Opponents of biotech foods want other questions answered, as well. pass on re- engineering science a plant or animal to serve a specific end, such as improving taste, decrease its nutritional value? Will consuming genetically-modified food products make a person more resistant to antibiotics, which are widely used to treat bacterial infections? Does consuming take out or meat from livestock that has been injected with growth hormones (a form of biotechnology that is different from genetic modification) subject consumers to early puberty, cancer, and other ailments?Since uncomplete side has been able to leave alone definitive answers, the jury is still out on food safety afterward all, genetic technology itself is barely decades old. So one can condense the issue into a single question should we move forwards with new technologies that might help provide higher crop yields, new and kindle types of food products, and more profits for the companies that own the technology or play it safe and wait until we better understand the health and environmental consequences of manipulating life forms that took generations to develop?transnational Corporations pull ahead because GMF can be very profitable. GMF have taken hold quickly because multinational corporations with the resources to make large financial investments in research and development can profit directly. Multinational companies can spread out the benefit and profit to many branches of their businesses. Many such corporations combine the following an agrochemical confederacy, a semen company, a pharmaceutical company, a food processing company and sometimes businesses involved with veterinary products.Developments in one part of the corporation can be used to cuckold products in another branch. Farmers benefit in the rook term because they can grow and sell more crops with fewer problems due to weeds, pests, kingdom Fungi or frost. The genetically modified seed is designed to resist these traditional enemies. Food processing companies benefit from a go under supply of raw food ingredients designed for specific processing call for. Genetically modified tomatoes and potatoes, for instance, have higher solid table of contents and yield more sauces and French fries.These foods take longer to ripen and rot. Thus less food is spoiled and more gets processed. Supermarkets benefit for the same reasons. The fresh produce lasts longer on the shelves and is more profitable. Consumers, to date, havent benefited. GMF have been developed for the convenience of the manufacturer and processor. Yet they cost more to produce and the costs get passed along to the consumer. at long last there will be some kind of designer novelty foods for sh oppers to try.Nottingham adds that there are many other concerns including honourable questions involving animal welfare, whether DNA is actual life, and sharp property rights and genetic resources from the Third World. (Bragi)The worlds poorest nations account for around 95. 7% of the worlds genetic resources. conventional farming practices involve farmers retaining seeds, from the harvest of one years crop, for planting in the following year. This practice saves money on buying seed and in itself represents a continuous selection for yield and resistance to pests and diseases.However, with genetically modified seed, royalties are due to the companies holding the patent for the seed. Under world trade agreement rulings, farmers have to make substantial royalty payments to multinational companies if they commemorate seed for replanting, plane if the crop happens to be native to their particular country. Genetic engineering is a valuable new technology that can develop more am ple and nutritious foods, with great potential benefits for charity and the environment, and this new scientific discovery needs to be implemented as quickly as possible for humanitarian reasons.As with every new scientific technology, ill side effects of genetic engineering are inevitable and great misgiving should be taken in its implementation, including conservatively controlled long-term tests on human health and environmental impacts. All genetically engineered foods have been thoroughly tested and demonstrated to be safe before they are released into the marketplace. However, this testing is typically conducted only on rats and other animals, by the companies involved. Very little of this research has been reviewed by independent scientists and then published in scientific journals.Genetically engineered foods are usually substantially equivalent to other foods, with no increased risk to human health, and no need for the lengthy and dear(predicate) human testing demande d of, for example, new food additives. However, the unpredictable disruptions in normal DNA functioning caused by genetic engineering can produce unanticipated and extraterrestrial being side effects for human health, including strange and unpredictable toxins and allergens, and these possibilities can only be definitively assessed through human testing.Genetic engineering is a scientific and technological process, and its paygrade and disposalal regulation should be based on rigorously scientific and verifiable criteria. To have a purely scientific evaluation of genetically engineered foods, we need more science, especially human studies and environmental studies. Moreover, purely scientific assessment of genetic engineering ignores the fact that, for many people, food has cultural, respectable and religious dimensions that must also be considered.Alan McHughen, author of Pandoras Picnic field goal The Potential and Hazards of Genetically Modified Foods, in the introduction he statesMake no mistake I am in favor of an orderly and appropriately adjust introduction of some GMOs into the environment and marketplace, and I adamantly oppose others. There are good reasons to ban certain products of genetic technology, and good reasons to allow, with management, certain others some may require no extraordinary regulation at all. If your opinion differs from mine after reading this book, I hope you will be able to justify, if only to yourself, why we disagree.My philosophy is to be skeptical, be critical, even cynical of claims by business interests, government agencies, and activist groups. But also lionize an open mind and then mold for yourself. (Internet 7)There? s no doubt that the GM food supply should be well monitored and regulated, but that doesn? t mean it should all be banned. I believe that genetic engineering of plants, animals, and humans has much to project as long as we are aware of potential benefits and side effects. And that? s true ev en for more traditional methods of farming, animal husbandry, and medicine.Work Sited1. Cummings, Michael R. , and Williams S. Klug. Concepts of Genetics. red-hot Delhi Pearson Education, 2004. 2. Dubey, R. C. A Textbook of Biotechnology. New Delhi S. Chand, 20063. Kumar, H. D. Modern Concepts of Biotechnology. New Delhi Vikash Publishing House, 20034. Purohit, S. Agricultural Biotechnology. India Agrobios, 20055. Purohit, S. Biotechnology innate and Applications. India Agrobios, 2004Internet.Reference1. Bragi, David. ?Food Savior Or Frankenfood? The Debate Over Genetically Modified Foods?. http//www. sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article. cgi? f=/gate/archive/2001/06/25/healthwatch. DTL2. Robbin, Adria. ?What Are We Eating?? http//serendip. brynmawr. edu/biology/b103/f00/web1/robbin. html3. Schultz, Norman. http//www. beyondintractability. org/ testify/fact_finding_limits/.4. Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. http//www. wikipedia. org/wiki/genetic_engineering5. Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. h ttp//www. wikipedia. org/wiki/genetically_modified_food6.? Genetic Engineering The Controversy?. http//www. genetic-id. com/prosncons/index. htm7. http//www. foodmuseum. com/issues. html.