Many types of genetically modified organisms exist today. GMOs contain DNA that is altered from their original, usually to obtain a desirable trait. For example, some organisms contain parts of other organisms ' DNA. Other types of GMOs may be clones and contain the exact same DNA …show more content…
Crops are an example of GMOs. Many companies that produce GMOs exist. Some examples of these companies include Syngenta, Dow, and Monsanto; all of which produce GM seeds (Harmon). Some common GM crops include rice, soybeans, and corn, cotton, canola and sugar beets (Harmon). According to the survey by Rutgers University, it is estimated that about 90% of corn, 93% of soybeans, and 95% of sugar beets grown in the United States are genetically modified. The survey also states that many people don’t pay attention to GMOs; they don’t know much about GMOs. These people have shown to not pay attention to what’s in their food.
Genetically modified organisms can help to decrease world hunger. Prices for crops are subject to fluctuate according to the market. Regularly grown, non-GMO crops increase in price as its supplies decrease. People in poor, developing nations cannot afford the high prices of food that may constantly fluctuate. Their diets lack many nutrients such as iron, zinc, and other vitamins due to starvation (Walsh). GMOs can help produce more food which will help to stabilize market prices of commodities (Klinkenborg). Organic farmers take advantage of people wanting to buy GM foods by charging a premium …show more content…
Many people believe eating GM foods will harm them. For example, they think GMOs cause cancer. Studies show that rats fed on a diet of GM Monsanto corn got tumors and died earlier. However, these studies were found unreliable due to it using rats that would get tumors and the experiment using a small sample size. People also claim GMOs resulted in the rise of childhood allergies. This is false as people mistakenly made a correlation between the rise of attention on GMOs and the rise in childhood allergies. They are just confusing causation and correlation, two completely separate things (Harmon). GMOs show no scientific evidence that they negatively harm humans (Kanter; Klinkenborg). People also believe that GM crops will cause mutations in other non-GM plants. There is no evidence of substantial genetic drift between GM and non-GM species (Klinkenborg). It is highly unlikely that major genetic drift can even occur between plants due to differences in pollination methods. Some plants, like the Rainbow papaya, self-pollinate which decreases the chance of pollinating with other species. There are also methods to reduce cross-pollination between plants of the same species. For instance, 12 feet is enough room between Rainbow papaya plants and other types of plants so the chance of cross-pollination is very low. Yet it is still highly improbably cross-pollination will occur