Stella Cottrell-Dormer
Biology GMOEssay
Ibu Alissa Gouw
December 19 2015
BT Cotton
Many of the foods we eat both at home and away from home, are made of ingredients that have been genetically modified, meaning that the genes in the ingredients are improved so that they can be better and more improved. Genetically modified foods can range from the rice we consume to the material used to make our clothes. GMO stands for genetically modified organisms. GMOs are organisms that are created through science, specifically through genetic engineering (GE) in order for the organisms to be enhanced or solve problems the organism faces (“Seeds of Deception”). Genetic engineering (GE) also known as genetic modifications is the control or replacement of …show more content…
The advantages are, BT cotton increases the amount of cotton being produced, because bollworms no longer effect it. The crystalline toxic that BT cotton produces is effective Bollworms are sensitive to it; this helps the BT cotton protect itself from the bollworms. The advantages of BT cotton can also be categorised into many categories, namely: economics, social and environment. For the economic category, due to the existence of BT cotton, it reduced or even eliminated the need for farmers to develop the land and use pesticides, because BT cotton fights the effects of the bollworm without using any pesticides. Reducing the need for farmers to develop the land is also a social category because now farmers can spend their time doing something else. Pesticides are known to be expensive and farmers no longer need to purchase pesticides and this reduces the farming cost. In India, a survey was conducted on BT cotton fields. According to the survey, a net gain of almost 50 billion Rs (1 billion in USD in cotton profits was made (“Economic Impacts and Impact Dynamics of BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) Cotton in India”). This shows that the use of BT cotton helps make a lot of profit, using India as an …show more content…
However the price of bt cottonseeds is much higher then non-bt cotton seeds. This has a direct impact on the farmers because they have to pay more money to get BT cotton seeds. (“CBAN-Canadian Biotechnology Action Network”). As for the disadvantage on the environment, BT cotton is only effective for 120 days. After 120 days, BT gene will no longer do its work. However, pests such as jassids, aspids are not effected by BT products, causing them to grow abundantly (“Organic Cotton Beats BT Cotton in India”). Regarding the positive and negative sides of BT cotton, BT cotton is also marked controversial. The controversy is that BT cotton causes non-targeted pests which aren’t bollworms to become more abundant because there is a low usage of pesticides. An example of an non-targeted pest is midid bugs. This is a controversy because the less use of pesticide is more eco-friendly to the environment, but midid bugs became more abundant and the existence of midid bugs will damage other plants. Regarding the positive and negative effects of BT cotton, Bt cotton helps solve the bollworm problem. It is also an environmentally friendly
Biology GMOEssay
Ibu Alissa Gouw
December 19 2015
BT Cotton
Many of the foods we eat both at home and away from home, are made of ingredients that have been genetically modified, meaning that the genes in the ingredients are improved so that they can be better and more improved. Genetically modified foods can range from the rice we consume to the material used to make our clothes. GMO stands for genetically modified organisms. GMOs are organisms that are created through science, specifically through genetic engineering (GE) in order for the organisms to be enhanced or solve problems the organism faces (“Seeds of Deception”). Genetic engineering (GE) also known as genetic modifications is the control or replacement of …show more content…
The advantages are, BT cotton increases the amount of cotton being produced, because bollworms no longer effect it. The crystalline toxic that BT cotton produces is effective Bollworms are sensitive to it; this helps the BT cotton protect itself from the bollworms. The advantages of BT cotton can also be categorised into many categories, namely: economics, social and environment. For the economic category, due to the existence of BT cotton, it reduced or even eliminated the need for farmers to develop the land and use pesticides, because BT cotton fights the effects of the bollworm without using any pesticides. Reducing the need for farmers to develop the land is also a social category because now farmers can spend their time doing something else. Pesticides are known to be expensive and farmers no longer need to purchase pesticides and this reduces the farming cost. In India, a survey was conducted on BT cotton fields. According to the survey, a net gain of almost 50 billion Rs (1 billion in USD in cotton profits was made (“Economic Impacts and Impact Dynamics of BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) Cotton in India”). This shows that the use of BT cotton helps make a lot of profit, using India as an …show more content…
However the price of bt cottonseeds is much higher then non-bt cotton seeds. This has a direct impact on the farmers because they have to pay more money to get BT cotton seeds. (“CBAN-Canadian Biotechnology Action Network”). As for the disadvantage on the environment, BT cotton is only effective for 120 days. After 120 days, BT gene will no longer do its work. However, pests such as jassids, aspids are not effected by BT products, causing them to grow abundantly (“Organic Cotton Beats BT Cotton in India”). Regarding the positive and negative sides of BT cotton, BT cotton is also marked controversial. The controversy is that BT cotton causes non-targeted pests which aren’t bollworms to become more abundant because there is a low usage of pesticides. An example of an non-targeted pest is midid bugs. This is a controversy because the less use of pesticide is more eco-friendly to the environment, but midid bugs became more abundant and the existence of midid bugs will damage other plants. Regarding the positive and negative effects of BT cotton, Bt cotton helps solve the bollworm problem. It is also an environmentally friendly