Genetically Modified Organisms or GMOs, as they are more commonly referred to, over the past 40 years have slowly become an integral part of society. A GMO is a “an organism or microorganism whose genetic material has been altered by means of genetic engineering” (Stoub 2015). Mainly, GMOs are used in the agricultural field specifically in the area involving the production of high demand crops. Because GMOs facilitate the growing of popular crops, they have been dubbed as a saving grace that will end world hunger. Society has expressed a wide range of opinions regarding GMOs. There are some firm believers in the goodness of GMOs, however, a large fraction of society does not support GMOs, and will also refuse to buy GM foods. A reason why
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The allergy concern sparks because there is gene escape that occurs when GMOs are engineered. Gene escape occurs when a seed is engineered, and an unwanted gene is transferred to the product seed from the genetical composition of the engineering seed. The significance of this is that now there is a new gene/characteristic in the food that wasn 't precent before. This gene that is now newly present in the food can potentially cause food allergies that were not existent before. “Up to 20% of Americans have a perceived food allergy” and this number has only increased since GM foods became more popular and readily available (Buchanan, 2001). This health concern is a major reason why GMOs should not be used. Toying with the genetic makeup of certain foods and crops has caused new genes to be added to them which in turn have caused allergies to develop which were not present before. Without GMOs these allergies would not be present; therefore the overall health of society would be …show more content…
Although this is essentially true, the costs of achieving this are much larger than the benefits. Primarily, producing such large amounts of food at such fast rates will cause serious problems in the biodiversity of the planet. As stated before, gene escape causes a herbicide resistance that largely declines the amount of weeds. Although this sounds like a good thing, many “organisms ranging from invertebrates to birds” depend on these weeds as an integral part of their diet(LÖvei, 2001). If these weeds are taken away from the environment these animals will turn to other plants as a source of food, causing an imbalance in nature. Additionally, there is no telling what allergies can be caused by the large scale production of these GM foods. Potentially, by attempting to end world hunger, there will also be new allergies and health issues added into society. Lastly, as stated before, there is no consensus on the safety of GMOs, therefore there is no proof that GM foods are completely safe to eat. Due to all these factors it is not recommendable that GM food be produced to end world hunger, or be produced at
The allergy concern sparks because there is gene escape that occurs when GMOs are engineered. Gene escape occurs when a seed is engineered, and an unwanted gene is transferred to the product seed from the genetical composition of the engineering seed. The significance of this is that now there is a new gene/characteristic in the food that wasn 't precent before. This gene that is now newly present in the food can potentially cause food allergies that were not existent before. “Up to 20% of Americans have a perceived food allergy” and this number has only increased since GM foods became more popular and readily available (Buchanan, 2001). This health concern is a major reason why GMOs should not be used. Toying with the genetic makeup of certain foods and crops has caused new genes to be added to them which in turn have caused allergies to develop which were not present before. Without GMOs these allergies would not be present; therefore the overall health of society would be …show more content…
Although this is essentially true, the costs of achieving this are much larger than the benefits. Primarily, producing such large amounts of food at such fast rates will cause serious problems in the biodiversity of the planet. As stated before, gene escape causes a herbicide resistance that largely declines the amount of weeds. Although this sounds like a good thing, many “organisms ranging from invertebrates to birds” depend on these weeds as an integral part of their diet(LÖvei, 2001). If these weeds are taken away from the environment these animals will turn to other plants as a source of food, causing an imbalance in nature. Additionally, there is no telling what allergies can be caused by the large scale production of these GM foods. Potentially, by attempting to end world hunger, there will also be new allergies and health issues added into society. Lastly, as stated before, there is no consensus on the safety of GMOs, therefore there is no proof that GM foods are completely safe to eat. Due to all these factors it is not recommendable that GM food be produced to end world hunger, or be produced at