Gmo’S And Its Impact On People In The Future
Introduction
Research question: Can we ensure that genetically modified crops will ensure the survival of people in the future during climate changes?
Aim: To determine whether climate change can positively impact on GMOs in the future
Hypothesis: Climate change will positively impact on GMOs in the future.
The hypothesis will outline whether genetically modified organisms will in fact have a positive impact on people in the future, this will be done by testing different food samples into other foods and will be determined by the changes of whether conditions and whether humans can adapt to these climate changes. The purpose of my research is to determine whether my hypothesis will be valid. I will send out a survey to people, different ages, to complete regarding GMOs and for the results in the end.
My motivation for this research is to find out what is the difference between organisms that are planted today and organisms that will be genetically modified in the future. In present days all organisms are picked from planted tress, what I want to find out is what can genetically modified organisms do for the future? For example, mangoes grow in summer, what genetic fluid can be used to ensure that mangoes are available throughout all seasons of the year.
Relevance and scope: The relevance of my research is to know whether genetically modified organisms will cause more harm than good in the future. Whether humans will be able to adapt to the changes and if it set out to have a positive impact. Future GM organisms are likely to include plants with improved resistance against plant disease or drought, crops with increased nutrient levels, fish species with enhanced growth characteristics. For non-food use, they may include plants or animals producing pharmaceutically important proteins such a new vaccines.
Today’s GMO crops are developed with specific benefits in mind, both for farmers who grow them and the consumer who purchase them.
Some of those benefits include:
- Fewer inputs needed to grow food, on less land than ever before.
- Crops that are genetically engineered to fight diseases are not only saving the foods we love, but the industries that grow them.
- Herbicide tolerant crops allow farmers to use less or no-till farming methods.
- GMOs are taking on food waste.
Why is GMO important for human society?
Human society is supported by its ability to produce sufficient food for the total population while at the same time not using up or degrading the capacity to continue to produce that amount of food in the future. Genetic engineering can contribute to all these goals. Research has already demonstrated the potential to develop crops with increased nutrient-use efficiency, greater drought and flooding resistance, stronger disease and insect resistance and higher nutritional content and yield.
Review Of Literature
To date, scientists have engineered bacteria that produce medication-grade drugs, crops with built-in pesticides, and beagles that glow in the dark. While these are all relatively recent advances in science technology, humans have been altering the genetics of organisms for over 30 000 years. The concept of “genetically modified organisms” has received a large amount of attention in recent years. Indeed, the relative number of Google searches for “GMO” has more than tripled since late 2012.
While our ancestors had no concepts of genetics, they were still able to influence the DNA of other organisms by a process called “selective breeding’ or “artificial collection”. These terms, coined by Charles Darwin, describe the process of choosing the organisms with the most desired traits and mating them with the intention of combining and propagating these traits through their offspring. Repeated use of this practice over many generations can result in dramatic genetic changes to a species. While artificial selection is not what we typically consider GMO technology today, it is still the precursor to the modern processes and the earliest example of our species influencing genetics.
While uses for genetic engineering range from oil spills to medication, perhaps the most controversial application is for food production. The first field experiments of food crops that had been genetically modified using recombinant DNA began in 1987. After five years of extensive health and environmental testing, Calgene’s Flavr Savr tomato became the first food crop to be approved for commercial production by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. These tomatoes were modified to include DNA sequence that inhabited production of natural tomato protein and increasing the firmness.
The United Nations predict that by 2050, humans will need to produce 70% more food than what is produced to adequately feed the global population. Innovative approaches will be required to solve this problem, and genetically engineering our food is a potentially useful tool. As scientists look forward at ways to create better crop survival, yield and nutrition, it is important that we remember where all of this work began, and give credit to the pioneers who have made these advancements possible, our ancestors.
According to the article on ISSA, A healthy agricultural production system cannot exist without healthy soils. Aside from being the habitat of diverse organisms that contribute to carbon sequestration, the soil plays a role in food production as well as in climate change mitigation.
The article titled: The future of food: To GMO or Not To GMO?, in relation to my aim. Earth’s population has more than doubled since 1960, and the UN estimates it will reach 9. 7 by 2050. GMOs already play a role in feeding extra mouth, and if we let it, that role may grow. Yet they are also still a source of controversy, and there are both valid concerns and misconceptions. And there are examples of pesticide-resistant GMOs having a tangible positive impact on people.
Much of the backlash against GMOs is less about genetic engineering and more about the business practices of the corporations that control our food supply. GMO crops have been a money-maker for herbicide companies- and as crops have been modified to be herbicide-resistant, herbicide use increases. And perhaps we need to be particularly careful when it comes to genetically modifying anything, to throughly vet it for harm to humans and ecosystems. As we continue to confront and sort out the ethics of it all, however, we can’t neglect the potential good that genetic engineering may bring. We might even look beyond pests and weeds in the future. GMOs are part of the larger genetic engineering debate, which is only going to intensify. New techniques are getting easier, cheaper, and more precise by the year. Tech can do damage or be a force for good; the real trick is weighing risk and benefit impartially and making choices that steer us in the right direction.
Methodology
Questionnaire on Genetically Modified Organisms
NB: PLEASE HIGHLIGHT YOUR ANSWERS!
Name and Surname:
Age:
- Have you heard Genetically Modified Organisms?
- Do you want to know about Genetically Modified Organisms?
- A genetically modified organism is defined as an organism whose genetic material has been altered using techniques in genetics generally known as recombinant DNA technology.
- Do you think GMO foods are produced?
- Which vegetable would you prefer from the above?
- From the vegetable you have chosen, would you eat it if it was genetically modified?
- Do you think it would taste different?
- Do you think people in the future will eat genetically modified food?
- Would you say it will feed more mouths in the future?
- Do you think it would have a positive impact in the future?
- Do you think climate change would contribute to the positive impact?
- Do you think people should change to GM foods or stick to Non-GM foods?
- Do you think there is a purpose behind GM foods?
- Do you think people should be called in to test a few GM foods?
- Did you enjoy this questionnaire based on genetically modified organisms?
- Step 1 - Look up the history of GMO
- Step 2 - Look up a few questionnaires that are related to my assignment
- Step 3 - Compare current food to future GMO foods already produced
- Step 4 - Think of questions that people will be able to answer
- Step 5 - Set up a questionnaire
- Step 6 - Send out my questionnaire, to family and friends
- Step 7 - Once I’ve received the questionnaire back I looked at the different answers people gave.
- Step 8 - Use the results to complete bar graphs.
- Food dialogues. What are the benefits of GMOs, Both today and in the future? [online]…article from. www. fooddialogues. com //https:relevance of gmos. [accessed 5 May 2019]
- Kent Bradford. WHY IS GMO IMPORTANT FOR HUMAN SOCIETY?[online]. GMO ANSWERS. //https:gmoanswers. com >ask>why>gmo>is>important>for>human>society. [accessed 10 June 2019]
- World Heath Organisation. Food Techniques [online]. //https:who. int. com // Food safety. 1245. //https:foodint. com [accessed 19 June 2019]
- From Corgis to Corn: A brief look at the long history of GMO technology - Science in the news-science in the news(Harvard University),by G Rangel. [article-online]. 09 August 2015. Https:sitn. hms. harvard. edu>flash>from>harvard. [accessed 21 June 2019]
- SingularityHub. https://geneticlitercayproject. org/2019/05/30heres-how-gmo-crops-preserve-soil. [accessed 1 July 2019]
Yes
No
Yes
No
Did you know that?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Carrot
Broccoli
Potato
Corn
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Change to GM foods
Stick to Non-GM foods
Hard to decide
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Methods Used
The method I used to collect my data is by setting up a questionnaire that I sent out to my friends and family of different ages. This made it easier because there were different answers because of the different age groups. I was able to create bar graphs based on different answers that I chose and thought were quite suitable. This made my aim easier because it will prove whether my hypothesis is correct or incorrect.
Why I chose this method is because the method has been used since ages ago and it makes it easier to collect data and there is proof from peoples answers that will predict your hypothesis.
Step by step method:
Discussion, Analysed and Limitations of the Research
After having completed my results I found out that more people would rather stick to non-gm foods than to change to gm foods, which makes it complicating because it difficult to predict whether climate change will positively impact on GMO in the future. Although there is an equal number of people who have heard about GMO, there is an unequal number of people who knew what GMO is and studies show that not everyone is very familiar with GMO, that will make it difficult because not everyone will will want to eat or taste a genetically modified organism. 38% of the numbers show that people think climate change will not contribute to GMO and 63% of the people think there is a better chance that climate change will contribute to GMO, in terms of predicting such an approximate answer, it would be better if I sent out my questionnaire to more people and evaluated their answers, then the bar graph would be a debate.
When evaluating the results, it is difficult to choose which question has the most likely chosen one because of the different age groups I chose and whether these results are substantial for research in the future. Hence that these results have been used to predict whether climate change will have a positive impact on GMOs in the future. The results predict that climate change is most likely to have a positive impact on GMOs in the future. As indicated in the review of literature, page 3, the UN predict that by 2050, humans will need to produce 70% more food than what is produced to adequately feed the global population. The answers also predict that GM foods will feed more mouths in the future, so if GM food is not produced in the future, the economy of the world will continue to starve if something better is not done.
When analysing my results I realised that people have different opinions on GMO and about the future. The age group of 50+ had a few similar answers which I took to understanding that their generation is different to ours. The group age of 30 had most interesting answers which he felt positively about GMO, but was not sure about how it could impact in the future. The age group of 20-30 had an equal amount of similar answers but a few that were different, what I understand from their choice of answers is that they are trying to vision how GMO can impact in the future and if so will it be what the world needs and will the people be able to adapt to these changes. The age groups under 20 all had different answers, what I understand from these answers is that some want change in the future and some do not and that makes it quite complicated because we do not know what the future holds.
In conclusion, the future of the world is predicted when it comes to technology and how technology could enhance the world, but it unpredictable when it comes to GM foods, some people may not want to eat GM foods because of the values, backgrounds, religion, attitudes etc, it holds the prediction of whether GMOs will or will not have a positive impact in the future, but when analysing my results and review of literature I predict that GMOs will have a positive impact in the future and climate change will contribute to it. Global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and if people can adapt to global warming in the future, they have to be willing to be open to new ideas and what it could bring for them, how it could be better and how to improve it for future generations.
Conclusion
To conclude my research and overall of the assignment, my hypothesis has be proven to be correct and I still stand by the prediction. When concluding to the results and other findings, it referenced me back to my hypothesis, but the most interesting one that I found was the review of literature, it holds a strong belief of the history of GMO and what we have gotten to today, but it all started with our ancestors. The results from my questionnaire also proved my hypothesis. What I found limiting of this research was not being able to go to scientists and ask them what they predict about GMO in the future and not being able to test the current GMOs that are being produced today. What I have leant from the research is that it can never be enough, finding answers, clues, ideas, history background etc, can never be enough to conclude to a research. There is still more to find out about the future and what it holds. What I also learnt is patience, that when doing research you have to be careful and patient with your findings because research takes time.
