The Vices And Virtues Of Genetically Modified Organisms
As time goes by, population is continuously increasing. Lack of food resources had been reported as one of the problems worldwide. Different methods of producing a large amount of food had been raised; one of those is the Genetically Modified Organism. Based on Britannica, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are organisms whose genes has been modified in laboratories in order to acquire the desired physiological traits or the production of desired biological products. It has been a practice in livestock production, crop farming and sometimes in pet breeding. The use of these had been a controversy around the world because some people are not in favor with the existence of these. To analyze and understand these further here are the reasons why GMOs are needed, examples of GMO crops and the problems about GMOs.
One of the main reasons why GMOs are needed is the extreme increase in population. As the population increases there will be a problem in meeting the food demands. Since the increase of population is inevitable some professionals tried to find out some ways on how to meet food demands.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has estimated that we will need to grow 70% more food by 2050. Because of these the production of GMO crops had been utilized and also one of the benefits in GMO is that these can be quickly produced since science already manipulated its genes for these to be improved. Second reason is the severe pesticide use. Pesticides are harmful in organisms and environment but companies were left with no choice but to use these in order for their product not to be destroyed by any pests. GMO crops can actually allow farmers to use less pesticide that means less toxic chemicals will be used. It is because GMO crops can be modified to allow more targeted use of herbicides and pesticides, provide more natural pest resistance. Third reason is that GMOs can be more nutritious than the original one. Two evident from the Inside Battelle was found to support this reason; a tomato was engineered to produce higher levels of called anthocyanins, which have been shown to be protective against a wide variety of human disease. Another evident is the Golden Rice Project which seeks to bring vitamin-A enriched rice to market to help prevent cases of childhood blindness and millions deaths caused by vitamin-A deficiency in third world countries each year. And last but not the least reason is that GMOs can adapt to climate change. One of the complains of every farmer is that their crops had been destroyed because of a sudden typhoon and sometimes because of extreme high temperature. Biotechnologists proposed that they can develop new, more resilient GMO crop varieties that are better able to survive these changing conditions. The GMOs which are under development along with improved farming methods and new biologic crop protection products can be the answer for the problem of every farmer.
Genetically Modified Organisms are not new in many countries around the world.
In fact, there are more than 75 countries which are developing GMO crops, including the Philippines. Many people are not aware that they had already eaten Genetically Modified foods. These are the popular Genetically Modified food that some people are not aware of. First is the corn (sweet and field) the main problem of farmers in their organic corn crops is that these are easily destroyed by rootworms and destructive pests. The Genetically Modified version of corn protects the crop against corn rootworms and destructive pests. Second are cotton, canola, alfalfa, and soybeans, the organic version of these are more prone to insect and disease problems that is why farmers are forced to use more herbicides to prevent those insects in destroying the organic version of these crops. The Genetically Modified version of these crops are resistant to pests and disease as well as being tolerant of herbicides that are most effective, allowing for less herbicide use overall. Third is the papaya, the problem with the organic version of this fruit is the existence of Papaya Ring spot Virus that destroys the entire papaya tree.
The GM version of this makes the plant resistant to the prevalent Papaya Ring spot Virus. Next are the apples, the problem with apples is that when it is cut or bitten it will quickly turn into brown. That is why the GM version of apple which is named Arctic Apple that was developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits of British Columbia, Canada, turns off the enzyme in apples that cause them to turn into brown when cut, bruised or bitten. Last are the potatoes, the problem with these are the different black spot bruises on each potatoes. Innate Potato which is the GM version of these crops resists those different black spot bruises to exist.
Many problems had been raised regarding to the existence of Genetically Modified foods. Labeling GM products had been a controversy since not every people are aware that they are eating or had eaten any of these. It is estimated that 90% of the crops in US are already GM that’s why people are requesting every producer to put a label on their product because some people are afraid to eat GM food. The health risks of consuming GM products are also present. There are concerns about altering natural genome which is the complete set of Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid may bring consequences to health.
One example is that consuming GM products may change an organisms’ metabolism or growth rate. They are also concerned that GM products may expose allergic reactions to humans or transfer antibiotic-resistant genes to the bacteria naturally found in our body. Some GM crops were inserted by genes from different species such as viruses and bacteria, which have never been in a human food supply. GMOs also failed allergy tests. It is also proved that GMOs can make you allergic to non-GMO food. Allergy is not a joke on every human since it can cause sudden death. Some GMO products can also cause liver problems, reproductive problems and infant mortality. Functioning GM genes remain in a body that can cause different diseases.
