GeneticTechnologyAasthaPandey2011/04/12

ONEWORLDESSAYGENETICALLYMODIFIEDFOOD–Goodorbad?

Geneticallymodified (GM) food.Whatmay seem like a sensationmay just be

slowpoison.Geneticallymodified is themodificationor improvementofan individual

genotype. The aimofGM food is to change the phenotype, or physical features of a

crop. GM food is basically inserting “better” nutrition into the foods, and making it

“healthier”forpeople.Allthismayseemsatisfyingandgreatandfirst,butthereismuch

to be known about the disadvantages of changing the phenotype of what you are

eating.GMfoodmayeasilycauseenvironmentalandsocialissues.

Howdopeoplegeneticallymodifyfood?Therearedifferenttechniquesinwhich

you can genetically modify food. One most obvious one would be “Transferring the

gene.”Thisisbasicallytakingagenefromoneorganismandinsertingitintoanother.It

isaprocessofcopyingthegenethatcodesforthetraitofanotherorganismandpasting

thegeneintothegenomeofthereceivingcrop.(Chaudry,2011)

Forexample,insertingthuringiensisgenesinto

corn, to cut out the gene that is needed in the

bacteria, its DNA is isolated. Afterwards, special

enzymes, restriction endonucleases, receive the

desired gene. These enzymes are sensitive to the

DNA, so they will only receive specific parts of the

DNA. (Chaudry, 2011) Once the gene is copied,

scientists must make an “expression cassette.”

(Chaudry 2011) The expression cassette consists of

further DNA surrounding the gene so that the corn

cellknowswherethereceivedgenebeginsandends.

The beginning is called the promoter and the end is

called the terminator. (Chaudry, 2011) When the

expressioncassetteiscreatedit is insertedintoaplasmid.Theplasmidisapartofthe

DNA that is present in bacteria. This then makes millions of copies of the cassette.

Figure1:Procedureoftransferringgene(Chaudry,2011)

(Chaudry, 2011) After all of the process, it is inserted into the receiving cell genome.

Cells that successfully receive thegene thenareexpanded in cell cultureandused to

worknewplants.(Chaudry,2011)

(Thediagramaboveshowstheprocedureofthegenetransfer.)

Until now, geneticallymodified foodsmay seem like abrilliant thing.Notonly

can itmake crops grow faster and addmore nutrition, but also the changedmay be

passedontoothercrops.Thismayseemperfect,butthedevelopmentofthecropwill

onlyturnoutperfectifallstepsaredoneaccurately.Evenasmallstumblemaycausea

disorderon the crop, and cause themalfunctionof surrounding cells. The things that

could gowrong are dangerous.When looking at geneticallymodified foodswe think

about crops growing in places that they don’t usually grow, nutritious and healthier

foods and aworldwith healthy crops.Moreover, humans think about crops that are

cold tolerant, that have antifreeze gene from cold‐water fish (Whitman, 2000).

However, changing natural resources will always have disadvantages. For example,

potential human health impacts, such as allergies or antibiotic resistance (Oak Ridge,

2008),also,GMfoodsdon’ttasteasgoodasnaturalcrop(Csanad,2011).

GM food has environmental benefits, for example it saves the use of toxic

chemicals. Crops can be wasted from pests that stagger around them, resulting in

catastrophic financial loss for farmers and starvation in countries. (Whitman, 2000)

Farmerstendtousemanytonsofchemicalpesticidesyearly. (Whitman,2000)People

donot tend to like toeat foods that are treatedwithpesticidesbecauseofpotential

healthrisks.(Whitman,2000)GrowingGMfoodssuchasB.t.corn(geneticallymodified)

can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and decreases the cost of

bringing them in market. However, it may also be harm to the environment. For

example, gene transfers to non‐target species. The concern is that crop plants

engineeredforherbicidetoleranceandweedswillcrossbreed,resultinginthetransfer

oftheherbicideresistancegenesfromthecropsintotheweeds.(Whitman,2000)This

canbeahazardforfarmers,becausetheirunmodifiedcropswouldbecross‐pollinated

from someone else’s GM crops. (Whitman, 2000) All in all, GM foods may be

environmentallyfit,andatthesametimedelicate.

GM foodsalsohave socialbenefits, forexampleNutrition.Malnutrition is common in

thisworld.Peoplerelyonsinglecropsuchasrice,howeverricedoesnotcontainperfect

amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition. (Whitman, 2000) For

example, blindness due to deficiency of vitamin A is a common problem that can be

increasing.Researchersat theSwissFederal InstituteofTechnology Institute forPlant

Sciences have created a type of “golden” rice. (Whitman, 2000) This rice had an

unusuallyhighamountofbeta‐carotene(vitaminA).Thiswayitcouldhelppeoplewho

don’thaveenoughvitaminA,canpreventthemfromblindness.Anyhow,GMfoodscan

cause allergenicity. Many children in the Unites States of America and Europe have

developed life‐threatening allergies to peanuts, and other foods. There is a high

possibilitythatintroducinganewgene

intoacropcancreateanewallergen,

or cause allergic reactions in people.

(Whitman,2000)Hence, inBrazilnuts

intosoybeanswasabandonedbecause

of the fear of causing allergic

reactions. (Whitman, 2000) On the

whole GM foods may be healthy

and/orunhealthyforpeople.

(The diagram on the left shows the

growth of genetically modified food

duringthe1996‐1999)

Inconclusion,GMfoodmaybe

very beneficial to people in the sense

thatgenetransfercanbeenvironmentallyfriendlyandhealthierforhumans.GMfood

has a lot of potential in doing great things, but is withheld, as there are too many

unexpected results that may be risk‐full. It may not only harm people or the

Figure2:GrowthofGMfoodduring1996­1999(FoodWoo,2011)

environment,butitmayalsoharmothercrops.Upuntilnow,GMfoodshavestartedas

agreat resolution for lossof food,but ifnotusedcorrectly it canbecomethe reason

thatkillsyou.IfthegrowthofamountsofGMfoodhasbeengrowingsofastandbyalot

ofnumbers thenthenumberofGMfoodswillbehigher in the future.Thiscancause

thefuturegenerationadisadvantage.GMfoodwasn’tcreatedtoharmpeople,butthe

resultsareoutofourreach,soitwouldbebesttostopGeneticallymodifyingfoodfor

thesafetyofourlivesandforthefuturegeneration.

Bibliography:

Chaudry,Arshad."TheScienceCreativeQuarterly»GENETICALLYMODIFIEDFOODS."TheScienceCreativeQuarterly.Web.28Mar.2011. http://www.scq.ubc.ca/genetically‐modified‐foods/Csanad."AdvantagesandDisadvantagesofGeneticallyModifiedCrops(GMOS)."HubPages.Web.20Mar.2011. http://hubpages.com/hub/GMO‐advantages‐and‐disadvantages

"GeneticallyModifiedFoodsandOrganisms‐‐HGPEthical,Legal,andSocialIssues."OakRidgeNationalLaboratory.5Nov.2008.Web.20Mar.2011. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml"TheAdvantagesandThreatsofGeneticallyModifiedFood."FoodWoo.Web.11Apr.2011. http://www.foodwoo.com/the‐advantages‐and‐threats‐of‐genetically‐modified‐food.htmlWhitman,DeborahB."GeneticallyModifiedFoods:HarmfulorHelpful?"CSA.ProQuest,Apr.2000.Web.20Mar.2011. http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php