Cotton is a natural fiber that comes from a plant named Gossypium hirsutum. Since approximately 2007, cotton has been genetically modified worldwide (GMO Compass). Currently genetically modified cotton is legally being grown in fourteen countries, the most common being India, China, and the United States (GeneWatch). Scientists have explored the effects of this modified cotton and have found both advantages and disadvantages to it being grown. Many have also looked into the way that genetically modified cotton positively and negatively affects sustainability, including aspects such as health, resources, and the environment.
As scientists have researched genetically modified cotton, they have found it to have two major advantages. The biggest benefit of this modified crop is that it has reduced pesticide use, mainly in the country of China (GMO Compass). The majority of genetically modified cotton has been altered to create a toxin that is called Bacillus thuringiensis, …show more content…
Over the past twenty years, approximately 290,000 people worldwide have committed suicide due to this modified crop, the greatest number being in India (RT). According to the New York Times, in India the cost of Bt cotton seeds is anywhere from three to five times more expensive than the natural cotton seeds. However, farmers lack access to natural cotton seeds because an American company called Monsanto allegedly controls India’s seed market. Farmers in India have not been able to make as much profit on genetically modified cotton as they had expected and many of them went bankrupt (RT). A woman in India made a statement regarding her husband’s suicide. Her statement said, “My husband took poison. [On discovering him dead], I found papers in his pocket – he had huge debts. He had mortgaged our land, and he killed himself because of those
As scientists have researched genetically modified cotton, they have found it to have two major advantages. The biggest benefit of this modified crop is that it has reduced pesticide use, mainly in the country of China (GMO Compass). The majority of genetically modified cotton has been altered to create a toxin that is called Bacillus thuringiensis, …show more content…
Over the past twenty years, approximately 290,000 people worldwide have committed suicide due to this modified crop, the greatest number being in India (RT). According to the New York Times, in India the cost of Bt cotton seeds is anywhere from three to five times more expensive than the natural cotton seeds. However, farmers lack access to natural cotton seeds because an American company called Monsanto allegedly controls India’s seed market. Farmers in India have not been able to make as much profit on genetically modified cotton as they had expected and many of them went bankrupt (RT). A woman in India made a statement regarding her husband’s suicide. Her statement said, “My husband took poison. [On discovering him dead], I found papers in his pocket – he had huge debts. He had mortgaged our land, and he killed himself because of those