The popularity of GMOs around the world is rapidly increasing, with 94% of all soybeans and 99.9% of sugar beets being GMO. Yet many still don’t know what it is, whether it’s good or bad (if completely either), how it works, or even what it stands for. A GMO stands for a Genetically Modified Organism. An organism’s DNA is modified by humans, using genetic engineering, to better adapt to satisfy the needs of the growing human population. These plants are known as GMO foods.
For many years before genetic engineering was as prominent as it is now, our agricultural industry relied on selective breeding, which is human intervention in reproduction: choosing parent plants or animals with desirable genetic traits, like resistibility to a disease, a specific size, or the ability to grow faster, to produce a new generation of offspring with the best traits of both. For example, roses are now available in a wide range of colours due to selective breeding. But selective breeding can take a long time, as the probability of the desirable gene being consistently present in the offspring is low and waiting for a lucky shot takes a while. However, genetic engineering technology has improved greatly as we can now choose a gene that will appear in the DNA of the next generation with 100% certainty, because the chemical process has been perfected over thousands of years.
The human population is growing, with an increasing need for food—not only for survival but for the diverse culture and happiness that comes from the creativity of food. The amount of resources in the world is finite, therefore requiring research to solve the problem of scarcity. Genetic engineering largely solves this, as one can manipulate desired traits. As natural selection could kill off many species important to our survival, GMOs are a guaranteed way to make sure humanity lives. For example, certain species of crops have been modified to produce a chemical that will kill insects who consume them.
When asking people questions about GMOs, interviewers have found that almost no one knows their demerits, but their reflex is to say that GMOs are bad. There are risks and benefits to genetic engineering that can be uncovered with further exploration. One of the most important points is how genetic engineering has been done for thousands of years but has only become more prominent now due to our improved technology. Both in the past and present, scientists have studied the effects of GMO foods and have found results that prove that they are not harmful. They are widely used in agricultural countries like China, the USA and India. Another worry is whether GMO crops that produce chemicals to poison weeds and insects could poison us, but this has proven to be false as different poisons affect species of different body sizes and chemical anatomies uniquely. Some members of the public claim that it negatively affects the environment, but again, this has been proven to be wrong because meticulous chemical research has gone into making sure that the chosen gene will not go rogue. A lot of research goes into genetic engineering before actually doing anything because it’s already such a controversial topic that there's no room for mistakes that could be avoided, and losing a high amount of money that goes into getting it approved by government boards should be avoided. Many farmers support GMO crop planting—in fact, in India, farmers are going against the law to plant new GMO plant seeds because they need less equipment to produce results. As suicide rates among farmers in India increase, anti-GMO activists are choosing this moment to blame the GMOs for this.. I believe that the problem of crop failure is one that comes with the agriculture industry whether the groups are GMO or not because when GMO crops fail, it’s because of the climate and its change, not a negative effect of genetic engineering. While some blame the GMO industry for these deaths, I blame countries’ economic systems and how very little of the revenues and profits in the food industry goes back to the primary sector of production, the farmers. Farmers gain only 8 cents for every dollar that is made when we buy a food item. The rest goes to retailers, marketing and transport. GMOs are helpful here, as they give farmers’ failed crops second chances, for example, the rainbow papaya. The whole of the papaya crop in Hawaii was about to go extinct as a result of a large infestation of the ringspot virus but was saved by genetic engineering as its DNA was edited to build resistance. It now accounts for 90% of Hawaii’s papaya yield, saving the crop, the farmers, the consumers and the agricultural economy.
Adding to that, many researchers and scientists are “playing around” with genetic engineering, coming across world-changing foods. For example, a biologist has created a tomato that produces serotonin, the antidepressant drug, therefore providing much cheaper, more available food with many different qualities beneficial to one’s health. GMO crops also require fewer pesticides and herbicides, therefore removing dangerous chemicals from entering our diet and saving farmers money.
Anxiety about GMO crops exists more ethically rather than scientifically and that needs to change, as even science has proved that it does not harm anyone. One worry is how it isn’t organic and therefore we are moving away from nature, but I don’t believe that it's negative to adapt to changing surroundings so our kind can thrive. Additionally, when you weigh the risks to the guaranteed successes, I believe GMOs, while they do need more research and consistent approvals from science, can do the world a lot of good.
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