Are Genetically Modified Foods Beneficial
Are genetically modified foods beneficial?
Frederick J Cole
Genetically modified foods are produced from plants which have had their genetic make-up ‘tweaked’ in the lab. Scientists “cut and paste” a gene from another organism into a plant’s DNA to give it a new characteristic. I have always been interested in Biology and I have heard a lot of bad things about GM food, but I have always wondered if there are any benefits, so this is what I would like to research.
Firstly, I would like to look at the criticisms of GM food. Many believe that GM foods have not been proven in any way to be safe. In the UK most supermarkets do not allow GM foods and any GM food present must be labelled. Others argue that the main benefit of GM food is to make money for the producer – tomatoes get bigger, crops are higher yielding and all this means bigger profits. A simple argument against GM food is that humans are simply not meant to eat it and that our ancestors survived without it so why can’t we? Some people believe that eating GM food could lead to long term health effects such as cancer. One of the most commonly argued points is that GM foods can affect the environment. There are concerns that non GM species will die out and habitats will be spoilt forever. This means that biodiversity will be affected.
Whilst I can understand some of these concerns, I have always wondered why the American population are not so worried about it. Genetically modified soya beans were the first large scale crop to undergo massive genetic modification. In 1996, there were no acres of GM soya beans, but after just 16 years virtually all US soyabeans are considered GM – this is 300 million acres in GM crops. Today over half the arable land on the planet Earth is GM! The 10 major US crops today are:
Corn
Cottonseed
Soy
Canola
If so much of the Earth is used to grow GM crops there must be some benefits! I would like to argue that GM foods are a good idea. GM foods can be made to last longer, have more
Frederick J Cole
Genetically modified foods are produced from plants which have had their genetic make-up ‘tweaked’ in the lab. Scientists “cut and paste” a gene from another organism into a plant’s DNA to give it a new characteristic. I have always been interested in Biology and I have heard a lot of bad things about GM food, but I have always wondered if there are any benefits, so this is what I would like to research.
Firstly, I would like to look at the criticisms of GM food. Many believe that GM foods have not been proven in any way to be safe. In the UK most supermarkets do not allow GM foods and any GM food present must be labelled. Others argue that the main benefit of GM food is to make money for the producer – tomatoes get bigger, crops are higher yielding and all this means bigger profits. A simple argument against GM food is that humans are simply not meant to eat it and that our ancestors survived without it so why can’t we? Some people believe that eating GM food could lead to long term health effects such as cancer. One of the most commonly argued points is that GM foods can affect the environment. There are concerns that non GM species will die out and habitats will be spoilt forever. This means that biodiversity will be affected.
Whilst I can understand some of these concerns, I have always wondered why the American population are not so worried about it. Genetically modified soya beans were the first large scale crop to undergo massive genetic modification. In 1996, there were no acres of GM soya beans, but after just 16 years virtually all US soyabeans are considered GM – this is 300 million acres in GM crops. Today over half the arable land on the planet Earth is GM! The 10 major US crops today are:
Corn
Cottonseed
Soy
Canola
If so much of the Earth is used to grow GM crops there must be some benefits! I would like to argue that GM foods are a good idea. GM foods can be made to last longer, have more
Bibliography: OCR Food Technology for GCSE: Simpson BBC Bitesize: Food Technology Debate. Org The Telegraph Friday 7th June 2013 Genetically Modified Foods: A Short Introduction: Dr Tim O’Shea What are GM Foods? Wikipedia