G.M.Os: The truth on Genetically Modified Organisms
What is a Genetically Modified (GM) crop, or a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) in general? Well lets talk about it. Most will want to take the information and twist it for you and make it sound like a GM crop is some sort of completely made up science experiment, but I’m here to tell you that it’s not. It might sound kinda scary calling something a Genetically Modified Organism, but what does it really mean? What is a GMO being compared to; well it’s being compared to it’s “natural” organism or before it was genetically modified. A GMO crop is only different in the way it is grown and the outcome of the yield. GMO crops are as safe as non GMO for food and feed production. Lastly GMO …show more content…
To say that these two are the same one must understand how they modify organisms and what they are looking and intend to modify in something’s genetic code. To scientifically modify something’s genetic code is quite the process, using what’s called biotechnology. Biotechnology is where someone like a corn breeder can go in and change or insert desired traits in a certain breed to mix traits and get a better end product. ("FAQs About Biotech Crops and Labeling.") Say they were trying to get a breed of corn that did well in Texas; they could genetically modify an existing breed and make it so it would do better in hot, dryer climates. So in this way of using biotech we are simply eliminating the time it took breeders to obtain the end product they were looking for. When someone calls something a “natural” organism they need to understand that not a single crop used for production is “natural”. If we were still planting natural corn it would look something like the corn that the Native Americans had. So the wide variety of plants and the variations made on plants before GM crops was already huge and there isn 't any crop that is in its “natural” form. From the beginning of domesticating plants and animals we have bred and crossed traits in plants to produce more. So insted of haveing to breed multiple generations of a plant species like …show more content…
All in all we have seen huge gains in the yield of crops across a wide range of crops and farm applications. In the U.S. alone there has been a 36 percent gain on corn yields since 1995. That 36 percent equals 74 million tons of corn that have been grown since 1995, all thanks to biotech. ("Genetically Modified Crops.") In areas that are just starting to farm and grow crops we are seeing huge advancements of the yields compared to other first time farms. Biotech derived crops have succeeded in providing farm management solutions, and this is where first time farmers in resource poor environments benefit from Biotech
What is a Genetically Modified (GM) crop, or a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) in general? Well lets talk about it. Most will want to take the information and twist it for you and make it sound like a GM crop is some sort of completely made up science experiment, but I’m here to tell you that it’s not. It might sound kinda scary calling something a Genetically Modified Organism, but what does it really mean? What is a GMO being compared to; well it’s being compared to it’s “natural” organism or before it was genetically modified. A GMO crop is only different in the way it is grown and the outcome of the yield. GMO crops are as safe as non GMO for food and feed production. Lastly GMO …show more content…
To say that these two are the same one must understand how they modify organisms and what they are looking and intend to modify in something’s genetic code. To scientifically modify something’s genetic code is quite the process, using what’s called biotechnology. Biotechnology is where someone like a corn breeder can go in and change or insert desired traits in a certain breed to mix traits and get a better end product. ("FAQs About Biotech Crops and Labeling.") Say they were trying to get a breed of corn that did well in Texas; they could genetically modify an existing breed and make it so it would do better in hot, dryer climates. So in this way of using biotech we are simply eliminating the time it took breeders to obtain the end product they were looking for. When someone calls something a “natural” organism they need to understand that not a single crop used for production is “natural”. If we were still planting natural corn it would look something like the corn that the Native Americans had. So the wide variety of plants and the variations made on plants before GM crops was already huge and there isn 't any crop that is in its “natural” form. From the beginning of domesticating plants and animals we have bred and crossed traits in plants to produce more. So insted of haveing to breed multiple generations of a plant species like …show more content…
All in all we have seen huge gains in the yield of crops across a wide range of crops and farm applications. In the U.S. alone there has been a 36 percent gain on corn yields since 1995. That 36 percent equals 74 million tons of corn that have been grown since 1995, all thanks to biotech. ("Genetically Modified Crops.") In areas that are just starting to farm and grow crops we are seeing huge advancements of the yields compared to other first time farms. Biotech derived crops have succeeded in providing farm management solutions, and this is where first time farmers in resource poor environments benefit from Biotech