The Positive Effects of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) on the World.
GMOs are created when scientists modify plants and animals, by mixing genes from different species with each other, or by simply removing specific genes altogether. GMOs are greatly misunderstood by many people. Simply describing something as a GMO is vague. For example, a GMO could be referring to an elephant egg modified into a mammoth, or corn that produces pesticides. Often people are quick to judge them negatively without knowing what they actually are. One of the biggest public concerns about GMOs, is the use of GMOs in agriculture. GMOs have the potential to be a solution to hunger, prevent malnutrition, be better for the environment and address allergies. However …show more content…
Golden rice is a kind of GM rice that was developed in order to deal with vitamin A deficiency in children. According to the World Health Organization, ~190 million children are affected by vitamin A deficiency which causes blindness, risk of illness and infections that could lead to death. ~19 million of those children are affected by severe acute malnutrition, causing ~400,000 children to die each year, Golden rice produces beta carotene, which becomes vitamin A inside the consumers. Farmers in less privileged places are allowed to plant golden rice without royalties, keep and replant seeds as long as they don’t earn more than 10,000 USD a year. The John Innes centre is a research centre dedicated to plant and microbial science. Researchers from the JIC have been able to merge snapdragon genes with tomatoes, in order to activate genes in tomatoes that create anthocyanin. Some plants that are already full of anthocyanins include, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries and eggplants. Putting anthocyanins in tomatoes have proven to extend their shelf life by preventing them from contracting grey mold, and over ripening. When feeding the tomatoes full of anthocyanins to cancer susceptible mice, the researchers had found that the mice’s lives were longer than the other group of mice that had only eaten red tomatoes. …show more content…
It is actually possible to move genes that create specific proteins that may be allergens from plant to plant. Some researchers from the University of Nebraska were able to take genes that produced allergens in the brazil nut, and put them into soybeans. They pricked individuals with samples of the soybean, and the individuals had allergic reactions. This is one of the reasons it is extremely important to test all GMOs that are created, and to create GMOs with caution. However, despite being able to create GMOs that induce allergic reactions, you can also do the opposite. One of the advantages to GMing plants is the ability to control specific allergens in order to create food that people with allergies can eat, by creating gluten free wheat or allergy free peanuts. Researchers from New-Zealand were able to clone a cow that created milk without the protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG). ~3% of babies in developed countries are allergic to BLG in cow 's milk, which humans don’t produce. The researchers removed RNA from the cow while it was in vitro stage reducing the amount of BLG it produced in it’s milk by 98%. GMOs could reduce the amount of stress on people that have allergies, and prevent many potential allergic reactions from
GMOs are created when scientists modify plants and animals, by mixing genes from different species with each other, or by simply removing specific genes altogether. GMOs are greatly misunderstood by many people. Simply describing something as a GMO is vague. For example, a GMO could be referring to an elephant egg modified into a mammoth, or corn that produces pesticides. Often people are quick to judge them negatively without knowing what they actually are. One of the biggest public concerns about GMOs, is the use of GMOs in agriculture. GMOs have the potential to be a solution to hunger, prevent malnutrition, be better for the environment and address allergies. However …show more content…
Golden rice is a kind of GM rice that was developed in order to deal with vitamin A deficiency in children. According to the World Health Organization, ~190 million children are affected by vitamin A deficiency which causes blindness, risk of illness and infections that could lead to death. ~19 million of those children are affected by severe acute malnutrition, causing ~400,000 children to die each year, Golden rice produces beta carotene, which becomes vitamin A inside the consumers. Farmers in less privileged places are allowed to plant golden rice without royalties, keep and replant seeds as long as they don’t earn more than 10,000 USD a year. The John Innes centre is a research centre dedicated to plant and microbial science. Researchers from the JIC have been able to merge snapdragon genes with tomatoes, in order to activate genes in tomatoes that create anthocyanin. Some plants that are already full of anthocyanins include, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries and eggplants. Putting anthocyanins in tomatoes have proven to extend their shelf life by preventing them from contracting grey mold, and over ripening. When feeding the tomatoes full of anthocyanins to cancer susceptible mice, the researchers had found that the mice’s lives were longer than the other group of mice that had only eaten red tomatoes. …show more content…
It is actually possible to move genes that create specific proteins that may be allergens from plant to plant. Some researchers from the University of Nebraska were able to take genes that produced allergens in the brazil nut, and put them into soybeans. They pricked individuals with samples of the soybean, and the individuals had allergic reactions. This is one of the reasons it is extremely important to test all GMOs that are created, and to create GMOs with caution. However, despite being able to create GMOs that induce allergic reactions, you can also do the opposite. One of the advantages to GMing plants is the ability to control specific allergens in order to create food that people with allergies can eat, by creating gluten free wheat or allergy free peanuts. Researchers from New-Zealand were able to clone a cow that created milk without the protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG). ~3% of babies in developed countries are allergic to BLG in cow 's milk, which humans don’t produce. The researchers removed RNA from the cow while it was in vitro stage reducing the amount of BLG it produced in it’s milk by 98%. GMOs could reduce the amount of stress on people that have allergies, and prevent many potential allergic reactions from