Genetically Modified Foods
Introduction
Genetically modified food is one of the most debatable issues of the 21stcentury and it raises a particular question “Can it save the world?” Genetic engineering of crops involves taking a gene from a species such as; bacteria, other plant or animal, and inserting it into a plant crop to make it more efficient. Genetic engineering is a young science and a majority of people are concerned with Health risks and Environmental risks. Whilst others think it would benefit the world because the genetically modified crops could be grown in severe conditions, they could bring more yield, they could be nutritionally enhanced.
The year 2010 was the 15th anniversary of biotechnology. Over those years the GM crops became the fastest adopted crop in the history of modern agriculture. In 1996 there were only six countries growing GM foods, United States being the largest manufacturer. By 2010 twenty nine countries were planting biotech crops, Spain, Switzerland and Germany in Europe. In the space of only 15 years, one billion hectares globally were planted. So if there are so many GM crops planted that means there must be a high demand for them right? NO! Most of the crops which are grown in Europe are used for industry rather than consumption. A genetically modified potato Amfora has very high starch content, so these potatoes are used for manufacturing of Paper.
Cons
Japan and Europe are very concerned with the Health risks of genetically modified crops. Even though the countries are concerned with health risks there hasn’t been any documented illness in the past 15 years as published in 2008 review by the Royal Society of Medicine. These crops are very new though, so little information is known and consumers are afraid of purchasing goods because of the unidentified health problems. One of the known factors is that consumption of GM foods can make your body resistant to antibiotics, an example of this is the long lasting tomatoes which have antibiotic resistant genes in them. In the present day though these tomatoes are developed without using the antibiotic anti-gene so this proves that genetic engineering is a very fast growing science and can change the world.
Another health risk problem with GM foods is that they are not labelled correctly. Consumers are unable to trace the product for allergies, hence the fear of buying these crops. For example a gene from a Brazilian nut was proposed to be inserted into soybeans but the proposal was abandoned because of fear of allergenicity. Presently the FDA rules are that only GE foods which are considerably different in nutritional values will be labelled. People who are pro food labelling think that the consumers have the right to know what is in their food, that if mandatory labelling existed more people would be likely to purchase the genetically modified food. A survey showed that the majority of people in America agreed that labelling should be mandatory. Again the GE technologies are progressing and scientists are finding it easier to label the products. For example if a soybean was inserted into a tomato the label would say that this allergen was present. Because genetically modified foods are progressing so quickly many cons of the past have been resolved.
Environmental issue is a major concern. Many types of crop plants have bacterial genes added to them. These crop plants are then resistant to particular weed killers (or herbicides). This means that when the herbicide is sprayed on the crop it will not be damaged. The problem is that if the weed plants crossbreed in nature with the genetically modified plants, weeds could also become resistant to the herbicides and pesticides.
So I have dealt with the cons of genetically modified foods in the past few paragraphs describing that The Health Risks are a major issue but it is mainly because in the 15 years there hasn’t been enough information about the GM crops. Labelling is a source of concern for people who have allergies because you wouldn’t really want a nut in your tomato! Plus environmentally we wouldn’t want weeds growing everywhere because they were given the resistance gene by the neighbouring GM crops. So is it still worth growing GE foods? Have a look at the following pros.
Pros
In the 21st century we are becoming more limited with the amount of land because of the high rising population but GM foods can be the answer. Scientists have been developing new technologies which could make the GM crops resistant to drought meaning barren desert land could be used. Others are working on making GM crops cold-resistant, the possibilities are incredible. It was stated in the guardian.co.uk magazine that in 2008 great progress has been made in making drought resistant crops. So fingers crossed for the future.
Some of the very first genetically modified harvest plants were made to be pests resistant. An example of this is bt-corn. It is named Bt-corn because bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis kills the pests. This means that farmers can save their money because they will not have to use toxic chemicals anymore. Also a greater yield of crops would be gained because they wouldn’t have been damaged by insects. It could also be healthier but as I said earlier the health risks of GM foods are still unclear but I think it is definitely better than consuming chemicals!
Genetically modified foods can also be nutritionally altered. Many millions of people especially in Asia suffer from a Vitamin A deficiency, which cause blindness. Rice makes up most of their diet but it does not contain Vitamin A. To tackle this problem, a gene for the production of Vitamin A is taken from daffodils and inserted into rice grains. This Genetically modified rice has a great potential to prevent blindness.
Conclusion
From my research I gathered that Genetic engineering of food is a very young science and only now after 15 years it is more stable. People are very concerned with Health risks and the Environment problems but so far in America people have been consuming GE foods and they are healthy. I think the pros in my argument overweigh the cons. GM foods could be a real way forward considering with everything that the world is going through now, population boom, global warming. Everything in science is interconnected. My last thought is; should humans be more trustworthy of scientists? Probably yes because in the last century science has made a great leap, we are all using technology and that was something new so why not give genetically modified foods a chance!
References:
Michael O’Callaghan Biology book
http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/ff_cont3.htm, Examples of genetically modified foods.
http://wanttoknowit.com/advantages-of-genetically-modified-foods, Advantages of GMOs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/07/gmcrops.food, Drought resistant plants
http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/42/executivesummary/default.asp, Present day news on Genetically Modified Crops
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php, Cons and Pros
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/genetically-modified-foods-pros-and-cons.html, Cons and Pros