Health Benefits Of GMO Research

Genetically modified organisms or otherwise called GMO’s are the result of splicing the genes from one species into the DNA of another (Smith 2003). This could pose large consequences for the health and the environment due to the unknown effects associated with it. With the use of GMO’s in world famine it has shown that it can be beneficial but determining the long term effects on people are still varied. Many companies in favor of GMO’s have denied scientific evidence of the possible health dangers that could result from their use (Smith 2003). This has then led to many consumers being denied access to critical information about GMO’s and basing their information on what the government wants to accept as truth. In 1973 a large breakthrough …show more content…
Monsanto became the first to be able to genetically modify a plant cell and five years later they tested there genetically modified crops. In 1997 Calgene Falvr Savr genetically modified a tomato. This became known as the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be approved for commercial production by the USDA (Rangel 2015). With the use of genetic engineering it caused the ripening of the tomato to slow down and increase the amount of time it would take for it to go bad. The tomato was also able to retain its color and resist rotting due to the manipulation of its genes. The FDA determined that there were no health risks associated with the modified tomato so a need for special labeling was unnecessary. These tomatoes were then sold in supermarkets where unsuspecting people bought them thinking they were non-modified tomatoes. The effects of modified foods may not seem threating in a short term situations but the long term effects on people are still unknown. The government was wrong in not letting people know that these foods were different even if they believed that there were no known health …show more content…
Throughout this time Monsanto began preventing many farmers from being able to reuse there seed each year forcing them to continually buy genetically modified seed from them (Kenner 2009). If a farmer was caught reusing seed Monsanto would take the farmer to court and sue them for breaking the rules. This has shown how much things have changed over the years and the effect it has had on farmers. The process of farming which in the past was more of simplified process has now become part of big business. Even farmers that do not want to participate with Monsanto are still caught in the cross