Should Government Use Genetically Modified Foods Ethical?

“Close to a billion people across the globe will end up going to bed with an empty stomach tonight. As a further matter, over 40 million of those people are living in Africa—an area where one if four people are malnourished. Also, world population is said to grow 50% in the next few decades. This means that the human population must find a way to double food production in the next 20-30 years, or hunger will worsen significantly. Biotechnology and genetically modified organisms might have the answer. Now, can biotechnology alone cure world hunger—no, but genetically modified organisms might be able to help significantly. Some people protest that it might not be the “healthiest” option; thus, a cost-benefit-analysis should be ran. Do the risks of genetically modified organisms outweigh the benefits? Could genetically modified food solve this growing famine crisis, or are genetically modified organisms the increasingly dangerous problem? Believe it or not, Americans have been consuming genetically modified foods every single day. One of the most important questions of understanding the possible misunderstanding of genetically modified foods is how they are given the title “unsafe” or “harmful”. As of today, there are many established companies that are distributing foods which have never been fully inspected by any food inspection associations, such as The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This means that any massive food companies that have been established for a long time aren’t subsequent to any full investigations. Therefore, many of the foods that the human population consume daily might already be at risk of eating something extremely “unsafe” and “harmful”. It almost seems that genetically modified food and organisms just sprung into existence one day and became a well-disputed topic around the world, as some believe that it is the greatest possible new innovation, as others think genetically modified organisms will be the death of the world. To fully understand genetical modified organisms and, in specific, genetically modified wheat, it’s crucial to first understand their history. In 1869, DNA was first discovered by the Swiss physician Freidrich Miescher. It wasn’t until 1973 that a graduate-student from Stanford University proposed an idea to have man-made DNA, in which they can manipulate that DNA and create new genetic material. After a …show more content…
Margaret Wittenberg, a public relations executive at Whole Foods supermarkets, states, “Many people have blind faith that the government will protect them,” says Margaret Wittenberg, a public relations executive at Whole Foods supermarkets. “Our customers don't generally feel that way.” Margaret, in her own opinion, is stating that the government should be completely in control of this debate by running more tests on genetically modified organisms in ensuring that this method is not only ethical, but also safe. Now, she is stating in the nicest way possible that most Americans are ignorant. In a way, Margaret is quite right. The United States is one of the only countries that hasn’t yet required labeling on all genetically modified food, including the animals that are fed with genetically modified feed. However, there have not been too many significant peer-reviewed research on genetically modified organisms, and that makes many skeptical on the true and valid dangers of their safety, and although many might be skeptical of the dangers, one person might actually have a clue the true and valid harm of genetically modified