Subject Area: World Studies: Science, Technology and Sociology
Word Count: 3945
Session: May 2016
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my mentor, Mr. McLaughlin, for his valuable and constructive suggestions during the planning and developing of this essay and for taking the time to help me with this work. I would also like to thank Ms. Emma Reed for helping to make the essay more readable and structured.
Abstract
Genetically modified foods (GMOs) have generated major debate since the first successful GMO was created in 1983. Now a new, potentially life saving GMO is taking the spotlight: Golden Rice. Will Golden Rice, a crop that could greatly reduce malnutrition in poor countries, be able to counteract the general public’s views that GMOs are dangerous and not worth the risk?
This essay uses two case studies that could have major importance in the future of Golden Rice to conclude when, if ever, Golden Rice will go …show more content…
The Green Revolution increased agricultural production worldwide in a time when overpopulation was beginning to become a large problem and food was becoming scarce. However, the development of efficient food production had a major consequence; fewer people went hungry, but the agricultural chemicals that were developed in the Green Revolution favored high yield grains with little nutrition over lower yield crops and permitted the streamlining of monocultures. A monoculture is the planting of one strain of a crop to increase planting and harvesting efficiency, but the reduction of diversity is a double edged sword—if the monocultured food is all someone has to eat (as is often the case in the poorer communities of developing nations), then the person will likely develop nutrient