Genetically Modified Crop Plants
Genetically Modified Crop Plants
Biology 115
Genetically Modified Crop Plants
Genetically modified crop plants and animals have great potential to change the world we live in. I believe that genetically modified crop plants can cure world starvation and at the same time improve the quality of food production. I recall when Senator Ron Paul was a presidential candidate in 2008 and student asked him his stances on genetically modified food products. His reply was “Big businesses are in the business of promoting genetically engineered foods for their own economic gain without adequate testing, promoting profit over public health concerns”, with that being said many people argue that many problems both scientific and non-scientific would rise from this technology.
Genetically modified foods are crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques (Whitman, 2000). “Genetic modification is the term used when referring to food which has been produced from any crop or animal, that has been genetically altered using the modern techniques of gene technology. By using the genetic information from one organism, or DNA strand, and splicing it with the DNA of another, scientists are able to modify food crops to make them grow bigger, stay fresh longer, and add important nutrients which the food may be lacking” (Unknown, 2009). The first step in the process of genetically modifying crop plants is finding new trait. “To produce a genetically modified organism, you have to identify the trait you want the plant to have, and find out what other organisms already have it” (Boyle, 2011). The traits you would want a plant to most likely have to be pest resistance, disease resistance, cold tolerance, drought resistance, and be nutrition at the same time. The second step in this process is picking the genes to implement. “In the past, studying the genetic code of individual seeds required planting the seed,
Biology 115
Genetically Modified Crop Plants
Genetically modified crop plants and animals have great potential to change the world we live in. I believe that genetically modified crop plants can cure world starvation and at the same time improve the quality of food production. I recall when Senator Ron Paul was a presidential candidate in 2008 and student asked him his stances on genetically modified food products. His reply was “Big businesses are in the business of promoting genetically engineered foods for their own economic gain without adequate testing, promoting profit over public health concerns”, with that being said many people argue that many problems both scientific and non-scientific would rise from this technology.
Genetically modified foods are crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques (Whitman, 2000). “Genetic modification is the term used when referring to food which has been produced from any crop or animal, that has been genetically altered using the modern techniques of gene technology. By using the genetic information from one organism, or DNA strand, and splicing it with the DNA of another, scientists are able to modify food crops to make them grow bigger, stay fresh longer, and add important nutrients which the food may be lacking” (Unknown, 2009). The first step in the process of genetically modifying crop plants is finding new trait. “To produce a genetically modified organism, you have to identify the trait you want the plant to have, and find out what other organisms already have it” (Boyle, 2011). The traits you would want a plant to most likely have to be pest resistance, disease resistance, cold tolerance, drought resistance, and be nutrition at the same time. The second step in this process is picking the genes to implement. “In the past, studying the genetic code of individual seeds required planting the seed,
References: Boyle, R. (2011, January 24). How to genetically modify a seed, step by step. Retrieved from http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-01/life-cycle-genetically-modified-seed. Unkown. (2009). Genetically modified food, crops and animals. Unpublished raw data, . FAO (2010). The State of Food Insecurity in the World: Addressing food insecurity in protracted crises. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome, Italy. PMSEIC (2010). Australia and Food Security in a Changing World. The Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, Canberra, Australia. "Genetically Modified Food, Crops And Animals". Anti Essays. 5 Mar. 2013 <http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/59111.html>