GM Foods Harmful, or Helpful?
Will Eades B3
Agriculture issues
Agri Science
Are Genetically modified foods harmful or, helpful? In a study in the early 1990's rats were fed genetically modified tomatoes. Well actually, the rats refused to eat them. They were force-fed. Several of the rats developed stomach lesions and seven out of forty died within two weeks. Although the GM tomato has been taken off the market, millions of acres of soy, corn, canola, and cotton have had foreign genes inserted into their DNA. Millions of people eat GM foods daily. What are some of the advantages of GM foods?
Pest resistance, Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Herbicide tolerance for some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by physical means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides (weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and expensive process, that requires care so that the herbicide doesn't harm the crop plant or the environment. Disease resistance, There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases.
Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to these diseases. Cold tolerance Unexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene from cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato. With this antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures. Drought tolerance, As the world population grows and more land is utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops in locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation, or high salt content in soil and groundwater will help people to grow crops in unsuitable places. Pharmaceuticals Medicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and sometimes require special storage conditions not readily available in
Agriculture issues
Agri Science
Are Genetically modified foods harmful or, helpful? In a study in the early 1990's rats were fed genetically modified tomatoes. Well actually, the rats refused to eat them. They were force-fed. Several of the rats developed stomach lesions and seven out of forty died within two weeks. Although the GM tomato has been taken off the market, millions of acres of soy, corn, canola, and cotton have had foreign genes inserted into their DNA. Millions of people eat GM foods daily. What are some of the advantages of GM foods?
Pest resistance, Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Herbicide tolerance for some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by physical means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides (weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and expensive process, that requires care so that the herbicide doesn't harm the crop plant or the environment. Disease resistance, There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases.
Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to these diseases. Cold tolerance Unexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene from cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato. With this antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures. Drought tolerance, As the world population grows and more land is utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops in locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation, or high salt content in soil and groundwater will help people to grow crops in unsuitable places. Pharmaceuticals Medicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and sometimes require special storage conditions not readily available in