length: 773 words 2.2 double spaced pages rating: red free virtually every crop we eat have undergone hundreds of years of genetic modification by farmers and scientist in search of desirable traits. Selective breeding and hybrid strains have contributed immeasurably to farm productivity during this time. While before, a farmer wanting to develop a frost resistant tomato would be able to breed towards one only if the necessary genes were available somewhere in tomatoes or a near relative to tomatoes, modern biological engineering techniques overcome such restrictions. Genetic traits from outside a species’ gene pool, in the tomato’s case from an arctic fish, can be spliced into the organism to create an entirely different species, a transgenic organism with the typical traits of a tomato and frost resistance from a fish. Uses biochemical scissors called restriction enzymes to cut the strings of dna, selecting required genes.

These are then ferried by a virus or a bacterium that infects the host, smuggling the gene into the plant's dna. In this way scientists have been able to create slow ripening and seedless fruit, crops that grow in unfavourable conditions and are resistant to disease or herbicides and milk from cows given a genetically engineered growth hormone. The most common genetically engineered crops contain modifications that make the plants resistant to certain diseases and herbicides, or allow them to produce their own pesticides, thereby eliminating or reducing the need to spray. So called bt corn, for example, contains a gene resistant to the harmful mycotoxin fungus and herbicide producers, monsanto have created a strain of soybeans genetically modified to be unaffected by their product roundup. The soybean farmer therefore can avoid targeting specific weeds and require just one application of a general weed killer, reducing costs and agricultural waste run off. Genetically modified crops are also being adapted to grow in salty, dry or frosty environments, contain edible vaccines, have a longer shelf life and be more nutritious.

A group of swiss and german scientists recently developed a strain of gm rice know as ‘golden rice’ due to its altered colour. Containing genes that produce a unusually high amount of beta carotene vitamin a , this rice could be a solution to the thousands of poor children in asia who eat little but rice and go blind or die from lack of vitamin a public reaction to the use of recombinant dna in genetic engineering however has been mixed. Sliding us export commodities such as genetically modified soybeans and corn have highlighted hardened public opinion and widespread resistance to biotech crops, especially in the european union. Concerns about gm foods fall into three categories: economics, environmental hazards and human health risks. The latter two have been the subject of hot debate, both in australia and overseas. One of the main concerns has been the possibility of gene transfer to a non target species, that is crops engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds cross breeding, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance to create ‘superweeds’.

In addition, environmentalists fear that transgenic plants may proliferate rapidly, pollinating natural plants in their surroundings eliminating existing species. Further environmental suspicions include those of unintended harm to other organisms especially non target insects and of the reduced effectiveness of pesticides once insects become tolerant to a crop’s natural pesticide. Questions have also been raised on the human impact of genetically modified organisms.

Critics of recombinant dna fear that the pathogenic, or disease producing organisms used in some recombinant dna experiments might develop extremely infectious forms that could cause worldwide epidemics. Likewise, the unknown effect of foreign genes introduced into gm food crops in terms of human health also presents a controversial issue. Furthermore, there is a possibility that introducing a gene into a plant may create a new allergen or cause an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals. A proposal to incorporate a gene from brazil nuts into soybeans in order to increase their nutritional value was abandoned when it was found that the genetically engineered soybeans caused an allergic reaction in people sensitive to brazil nuts. For these reasons, extensive testing and labelling of gm foods may be required to avoid the possibility of harm to consumers with food allergies. Biotechnology has started to revolutionise food production, with fantastic results. With the world population of 6 billion expected to double in the next 50 years and an adequate food supply becoming a major challenge it will no doubt continue to do so in the future.

Essay on Life Safety

21 feb 2016 length: 1400 words 4 double spaced pages rating: red free with progress in genetic engineering, farmers and scientists have changed the way in which food is grown and made, raising questions about these methods and their possible risks and effects. What is clear is that there is not enough information on the consequences of genetically modified foods on human health as of yet. Furthermore no agreement among the scientific community has been reached on the risks or safety of this technology, although it seems to possess wide, uncertain and, potentially dangerous implications for human health, which are inextricably linked to moral/ethical concerns. Genetically modified foods is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption, which have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits or improved nutritional content 12. Genetic engineering is the process of artificially modifying genes by cutting and splicing dna deoxyribonucleic acid . Genes, the blueprints of life, are made up of sequences of dna, and they determine an organism's growth and size, as well as other characteristics 8.

Genetic Modified Food Research Essay Text

Essay on Life Safety

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