"The perception that everything is totally straightforward and safe is utterly naive. I don 't think we fully understand the dimensions of what we 're getting into." This is a quote from Professor Philip James, author of the "James" report on the structure and functions of the proposed UK Food Standards Agency to oversee national food safety standards speaking on Genetically Modified Organisms. The World Health Organization defines Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO’s as organisms whose DNA has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally, through the introduction of a gene from a different organism.
GMOs are a relatively new food technology, with the first GMO product to reach grocery stores in 1994, creating many social, moral …show more content…
With many farmers now using GMOs such as herbicide resistant crops (HRCs) as well as pest and disease resistant crops, it gives potential for genes to domesticate. This would essentially create a type of super weed with resistances to these herbicide resistant crops. HRCs reduce farmers’ weed management by using a single, broad-spectrum herbicide that breaks down relatively rapidly in the soil (Altieri 15). Another new technological farming technique is the use of Bracilus thuringiensis (Bt) genes put into organisms as a replacement of synthetic insecticides. When first being tested on cotton, plants inserted with the Bt toxins showed positive results when comparing them against a controlled plant without Bt. Problems started occurring with the Bt plants in the United States. 800,000 hectares of the plants became infested with bollworm causing a lot of feeding damage. The genetically engineered plants did not resist the bollworm and the solution for the infestation was controlled using conventional insecticides (Peferoen 173-177). The use of HRCs and Bt is new and not thoroughly researched to make it safe and ready for farming, as many weed grasses now exhibit multiple herbicide resistances (Goldberg 647–652). Until many of the environmental issues pertaining to the use of these GMOs are better understood and resolved, they should not be used in …show more content…
This was done before any short term or long term testing had been done on human health and the ecosystems. It is believed that this could be due to many large corporations not wanting to fall behind technologically, as well as, the always striving effort to make more money. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have declared "no substantial difference" between normal and GE seeds, due to confidential documents becoming public, it is now known that a current class action lawsuit is occurring because of the FDA’s own scientist disagreeing with the current determination. Unless relevant research in the processes of the use of GE foods and transgenics are done, how is society to know the effects of their use on humans? Studies need to be done on not just GE foods and transgenics, but the process it endures in agriculture, to provide accurate relevant evidence of its effects and risks on humans.
The issues of GMOs effects on the environment and agriculture, health risks to consumers and our ecosystem, dependency they may create in our food chain and lack of accurate research done in the field as oppose to labs repeatedly demonstrates the fact that we do not have inconclusive evidence that GMOs are ethically or biologically safe for
GMOs are a relatively new food technology, with the first GMO product to reach grocery stores in 1994, creating many social, moral …show more content…
With many farmers now using GMOs such as herbicide resistant crops (HRCs) as well as pest and disease resistant crops, it gives potential for genes to domesticate. This would essentially create a type of super weed with resistances to these herbicide resistant crops. HRCs reduce farmers’ weed management by using a single, broad-spectrum herbicide that breaks down relatively rapidly in the soil (Altieri 15). Another new technological farming technique is the use of Bracilus thuringiensis (Bt) genes put into organisms as a replacement of synthetic insecticides. When first being tested on cotton, plants inserted with the Bt toxins showed positive results when comparing them against a controlled plant without Bt. Problems started occurring with the Bt plants in the United States. 800,000 hectares of the plants became infested with bollworm causing a lot of feeding damage. The genetically engineered plants did not resist the bollworm and the solution for the infestation was controlled using conventional insecticides (Peferoen 173-177). The use of HRCs and Bt is new and not thoroughly researched to make it safe and ready for farming, as many weed grasses now exhibit multiple herbicide resistances (Goldberg 647–652). Until many of the environmental issues pertaining to the use of these GMOs are better understood and resolved, they should not be used in …show more content…
This was done before any short term or long term testing had been done on human health and the ecosystems. It is believed that this could be due to many large corporations not wanting to fall behind technologically, as well as, the always striving effort to make more money. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have declared "no substantial difference" between normal and GE seeds, due to confidential documents becoming public, it is now known that a current class action lawsuit is occurring because of the FDA’s own scientist disagreeing with the current determination. Unless relevant research in the processes of the use of GE foods and transgenics are done, how is society to know the effects of their use on humans? Studies need to be done on not just GE foods and transgenics, but the process it endures in agriculture, to provide accurate relevant evidence of its effects and risks on humans.
The issues of GMOs effects on the environment and agriculture, health risks to consumers and our ecosystem, dependency they may create in our food chain and lack of accurate research done in the field as oppose to labs repeatedly demonstrates the fact that we do not have inconclusive evidence that GMOs are ethically or biologically safe for