Genetic Engineering

Genetic Modification, a Key to Progress.

Imagine an apple that has all the nutrients in a vitamin tablet, a cow that makes more milk, sweeter blueberries, a potato that produces healthier french fries, non-allergen peanuts, a rice that helps treat blindness as well as strawberries that deliver needed medicines. This is all real and is happening right now due to genetic modification. Consumers should support the harvest and sale of genetically modified foods and organisms because it contributes to the society in many different ways.

In order to understand genetic modification one must discover what it is and the controversies surrounding it. The following passage sums up what genetic modification is:

Genetic modification (GM) occurs where the genetic material of an organism (either DNA or RNA) is altered by use of a method that does not occur in nature and the modification can be replicated and/or transferred to other cells or organisms. Typically, GM involves the removal of DNA, its manipulation outside the cell and reinsertion into the same or another organism ("Genetically Modified Organisms; Contained Use").

Since genetic modification involves manipulating genetic information, it is never known what the outcome of the process would be and that causes conflicts among people about the safety of genetically modified foods. Because of the conflicts, the food and drug administration (FDA) now requires labels to be put on every genetically modified food on the market, so consumers would be informed on how the product originated (Dresbach et al.). One of the main reasons why there were conflicts was because of the health risks coming from GM foods, such as allergens, transfer antibiotic resistance makers, and could be toxic. Surprisingly, this is what the current situation is with genetic modification in the world.

The most important statistics of GM foods are why countries use it and what genetically modified foods are on the market today. Today there are many countries using genetically modified foods. "In 2003, countries that grew 99% of the global transgenic crops were the United States (63%), Argentina (21%), Canada (6%), Brazil (4%), China (4%), and South Africa (1%)" ("GM Foods and Organisms"). Out of them all, the most profitable countries were the United States and Canada. They were the most profitable because they traded more with other countries, unlike the others which used it for just as food for the people. The information on which GM foods are grown the most are also significant. Currently the most used genetically modified foods in the market are corn, tomatoes, potatoes, peas, soybeans, and rice (Dresbach et al.). This is because these foods are the most widely used in the market. Now, when a new GM product comes out to the market it has to go through animal testing, allergy testing and labeling so the consumer would not be harmed in any way. In the end, it is interesting to see the vast amounts of countries that use the GM foods and see what GM foods are used in the market the most.

In the production of GM foods there are also a series of risks. As result, the genetic modification process is now done in laboratories, animal houses, plant growth facilities and large scale production facilities on industrial sites ("Genetically Modified Organisms; Contained Use"). These precautions help to control any disease that might result from genetic modification. Also, so that no new genetically modified organism would not escape into the wild. Another precaution was deliberately crippling the organism so that it would not escape from the controlled environment ("Genetically Modified Organisms; Contained Use"). This procedure is usually done with micro-organisms because those are the only organism which the human can not see with the human eye or control. The procedure is mainly meant for preventing the spread of any infectious disease. So, these are the current precautions used to maintain the safety in genetic modification on organisms.

Surrounding the process of genetic modification are many bad effects. One of the appalling effects is that some genetically modified organisms are out in farms in the environment, without proper genetic testing. "Their release is "genetic pollution" and is a major threat because GM organisms cannot be recalled once released into the environment" ("Say no to genetic engineering"). This is true because once some organism is in the wild; either a plant or an animal, trying to find its tracks or ware bouts is extremely difficult. "If not under control the GM organism also may completely eradicate other organism due to its dominancy in the wild" ("Say no to genetic engineering"). This is also factual because scientists can come up with a new weed which can dominate other plants in the wild. The reason why GM organisms were allowed in farms was, because in the beginning of genetic modification, the government allowed to have some new organism to be harvested in farms, unaware of there possible dangers in the wild. Thankfully, now the government and the FDA require a lot of research before releasing any organism into the environment. Another negative effect coming from genetic modification, are the ethical issues involved. Genetically modifying anything only results in tampering with nature ("GM Foods and Organisms"). Indeed genetic modification is in fact tampering with nature by manipulating with genes. As we all know that when one plays god, there are tragic effects. Also, the GM process causes stress for animals that undergo this genetic modification ("GM Foods and Organisms"). This occurs because animals do not like to be contained and tested on. The animal usually likes to be in the wild and not in laboratories. So, in a way genetic modification can also be considered as animal cruelty. One other and most important reason for why genetic modification is bad, is because is can have many health risks. The following passage gives a clear understanding of the health risks:

Researchers have discovered that genetically modified foods can have negative health effects. These foods can unleash new pathogens, contain allergens and toxins, weaken the immune system, and increase the risk of cancer, herbicide exposure, and harm to fetuses and infants (Harris).

All this can occur, because in genetic modification no one knows what would be the result. Also, as result of genetic modification new bacteria are prone to appear (Pusztai). Since scientists are now genetically modifying all forms of cells to come up with new medicines, they might, by accident cause a new bacterial disease to which no one has any cure. So, it is very dangerous working with genetic modification as it can cause a lot of harm to humans and the environment.