...Is genetic engineering the answer to ending global hunger? Jennifer E. Law SCI 207 Haleh Keshtkar February 27, 2012 The controversial statement that genetic engineered food may be the solution to hunger in the world is gaining more and more interest by the media in today’s society. On the one hand, supporters of biotechnology believe that genetic engineered food ensures and sustains food security around the world as the population increases, but on the other hand, there are many concerns involved with genetically modified food. In fact, a lot of food that we eat on a daily basis contains genetically modified ingredients and usually without our knowledge. Yet, is genetic engineered food safe? Moreover, do we really need genetic modified food? Many researchers do not consider biotechnology the solution to hunger but they believe that poverty is the cause of famine in numerous countries. As a result, biotechnology raises various questions among citizens and farmers since there is the assumption that genetic engineered food is the key to eliminating global starvation (Genetically, 2010). Before weighing the pros and cons of genetic engineered food, it is essential to understand what is genetic engineered food? “Genetic engineering is a laboratory technique used by scientists to change the DNA of living organisms” (What is genetically, 2010). Scientists have learned that there are ways of changing the structure of DNA in living organisms and build customized DNA. Genetic...
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...Genetically Modified Animals SCI 115 Professor Li November 29, 2014 Biological Basis: A genetically engineered animal is an animal that carries a known sequence of DNA fragments that have been joined together in a laboratory. This process involves removing genes from the DNA of one species and inserting it into the genes of an unrelated animal. “The foreign genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans.” Retrieved November 27, 2014 from, http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-education. Transgenic refers to those specific genetic engineering processes that remove genetic material from one species of animal and add it to a different species. Due to the high similarity in genetic sequences for proteins among species, transgenic organisms are able to effectively assimilate and express these trans-genes. These genetically engineered animals are also known as “transgenic” animals. This process may be called Genetic Engineering or Genetic Modification; they are one in the same. Genetic engineering enables animals to produce useful proteins and are being produced to assist with human medicine such as biopharmaceutical products. Some of these include, antibodies that can be used for the treatment of infections, cancer, organ transplant rejections, and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Gene technology has only been possible since the 1960’s due to the greater understanding of DNA and how it functions following the discovery...
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...that are in the agricultural economy already have pesticides before they are genetically modified or put through the engineering process. Most scientists have estimated that 70% - 80% of the crops grown around the world have been genetically modified. GMOs are not just inserted in foods, but they are also put in items such as care products or items of clothing. Thesis Statement : Many people would disagree that GMOs are beneficial around the globe, but GMOs should be included in people’s foods because it causes more solutions rather than issues, such as helping other people in societies worldwide, aiding in the agricultural economy, and adding nutritional value. This...
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...Genetically Modified Organisms Technology, Society, and Culture Table of Contents Technical Aspect of GMO by Chad Dookie Page 3 Moral and Ethical Aspect of GMO by Ronald Claude Page 7 Cultural and Legal Aspect of GMO by Evangelina Ramirez Page 14 Environmental Issues of GMO by Donovan Collins Page 23 References Page 32 Technical Aspect of GMO by Chad Dookie Description of GMOs and the associated science Most of the populations that do shopping in the groceries to buy food for their family are not aware of the “naturalness” of the food. Groceries sell items such as; cotton seeds, rice, soy, sugar beets, yeast, cassava, papaya, bananas, food flavoring, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, squash, oils, beef, pork, chicken, salmon, peas, alfalfa, and honey. Notice that most of the items listed either came from a plant or an animal. Those are the top 20 grocery items that have been genetically modified. What are genetically modified organisms? A genetically modified organism is any living thing that has had their DNA tampered with. This can be mutating, removing, or adding genetic material into the organism. All of the items listed in paragraph one has had their DNA tampered with. Most times when people talk about genetically modified organisms, they mostly refer to plants that are genetically modified. You may be wondering how the animals listed are considered genetically modified. This is because scientists modify the plants that are being...
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...SHOULD GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD (GM FOOD) SHOULD BE BANNNED | SHOULD GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD (GM FOOD) SHOULD BE BANNNED | SHOULD GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD (GM FOOD) SHOULD BE BANNNED Nowadays genetically modified food is widespread all over the world. GM foods are genetically modified using biotechnology. More and more GM foods appear on our stores and supermarkets. GM foods are designed for greater resistance to viruses and pests, higher nutritional value and longer shelf life. Food crops have been genetically modified for several reasons most of which produce a financial benefit to farmers and the chemical companies that produce the GMOs. In nearly all cases, these benefits are achieved indirectly by increasing crop yields through resistance to diseases and pests or by allowing them reduced use of herbicides to control weeds and unwanted plant growth. However their safety potential risks are still being debated.GM foods ensure that these foods are safe for the human consumption but critics argue that effects have not been studied long enough. First argument for banning GM foods is that it was badly affects our health and well-being. Some studies have linked consumptions of the GM foods to liver and kidney problems. The antibiotics and hormones given to cows and chickens are found in our bodies and we don’t know yet the extent to which these cause chronic disease. Moreover genetic...
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...Essay on the topic of genetically modified food Do people nowadays want to know what they are ingesting and whether their food has been genetically modified? As with many societal contentious points, there is no simple and straightforward answer to this question. This essay tries to evaluate both sides of the argument and finally comes to the conclusion that it makes sense for our company to label our genetically modified food products accordingly on a voluntary basis. On one hand, there are the opponents of labelling GMO food who truly believe that because of the long history of genetical engineering in America this practice is not new to consumers and the awareness of some products being genetically modified is already anchored in society. Furthermore, they argue that labelling each and every product as genetically manipulated would not only be a very expensive procedure, but also adding immoderate confusion to consumers. Ultimately, they claim that the average American citizen is not taking a great interest in what ingredients exactly his/her food entails. On the other hand, people in favor of GMO labelling are of the opinion that every customer has the right to know what is inside the product that he/she is buying in grocery stores. Moreover, the proponents argue that even though not everybody might care about whether food has been genetically modified, the ultimate decision should be left with the customer and therefore a label on each GMO product is necessary...
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...most atrocious thing that foods industries are doing today is the implementation of genetically modified organism in agriculture. According to Behrokh Maghari and Ali M. Ardekani in their article titled “Genetically Modified Food and Social concerns” which was published in 2011 in the Avicenna Journal of Medical Biotechnology, “Genetically modified organisms are being made by inserting a gene from an external source such as viruses, bacteria, animals or plants into usually unrelated species. Genetically modified food (GMF) means any food containing or derived from a genetically engineered organism” (119). Nowadays, genetically modified food can be founded everywhere in supermarkets, restaurants, and grocery stores (Guthrie 1). Its production has been a dilemma in our society since the 90s. Many people claim that the production of genetically modified food will cause improvements in our society. In the other hand, many studies have claim that it wont. The goal of this paper is to find out if our society really needs genetically modified food by explaining what are the benefits and consequences that GMF offers. To achieve this goal, I have organized my paper in three main sections; historical development of GMF, how the consumer, the producers, and the government feels about the use of genetically modified organism in agriculture, and to find out if our society really needs genetically modified organism in agriculture. Historical development. According to Ian Murnaghan, in the...
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...A genetically modified organism is a plant, animal where the genes have been artificially changed using genetic engineering by adding in a new gene that doesn’t belong to change or improve the organism. The reason we modify organisms is essentially to combine different genes that don’t occur naturally. The discovery of GMOS has had significant impact positively and negatively on society benefits such as increased agricultural and risks such as the possibility of new diseases need to be considered but I believe positive such as creating more outweigh the negatives. Plants and animals can both be genetically modified but today I will be focusing on genetically modified plants. Genetically modifying organisms happens in 4 stages identifying a trait of interest, isolating that genetic trait, inserting that trait into the genome of a desired organism, and then growing the engineered organism. Identification of the gene of interest, researches search for a new gene of interest...
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...Genetically Modified Plants Melissa Turner Professor Angela Tringali Introduction to Biology August 29, 2013 Genetically modified plants, crops are secretly becoming second nature to the United States. When you hear genetically modified you automatically assume you will not eat it or even thought that you have never bought any food containing that. You will be surprised how many people have bought or have eaten something that has been genetically modified. With that being said majority of the food we eat now has been or have ingredients that have been genetically modified. Now you have to ask yourself if you know what genetically modified food was, would you still eat the things you do knowing it was modified? When you hear genetically modified, the first thing I think about is an oversized tomato or a giant pumpkin of some sort. That is the complete opposite because by definition, genetic modification is the manipulation of DNA by humans to alter the essential make up of plants and animals. Genetically modified organism is define as organisms that the genetic material have been altered that did not come naturally, another terminology for this is called...
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...|ERIC STONE | |GMOs: Genetically Modified Organisms | |EN1420 | | | | | | | | | GMOs: Genetically Modified Organisms What is a GMO, also known as genetically modified organisms? Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are any organism that has had its genetic material doctored using genetic engineering techniques. Genetically modified foods find their origin in GMOs as well as many other goods available today. For those of you unaware, uninformed, or even misinformed here are the basics of your everyday GMO. The rather primitive process engineers volatile compounds of plants, animals, bacteria’s and viral genes that would not otherwise...
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...Genetically modified foods (GM foods) are foods from genetically modified organisms, such as genetically modified crops, plants and other foods. It is widely scientifical argue that food form GM crops through genetic engineering is methods. However, opponents have objected to GM foods including food safety issues and customers’ economics concerns. This essay will discuss the extent to which GM foods influence how people and what types of GM food exist in daily food. Ever now, some developing countries still have famine and malnutrition. One of the most significant problems facing poor countries currently is the rapid climb in population. In the last two decades, the population of the world is doubled. As the population of the world is increased, which becoming a global issue, the most important problem is that the shortage of food. Most worryingly, over 800 million people still have too much poverty to eat. Meanwhile, there is a slowly increased in yield-enhancing crop (Lipton, 2001). According to Bouis (2007), the authors suggest, ‘one way that biotechnology can help to improve the nutrition and health of consumers in developing countries is by increasing the vitamin and mineral content and their bioavailability in staple foods’. Bouis suggested that the supply of food adapted to the population, and the only way to solve this problem is that biotechnology can grow the crops’ output and adaptive capacity, which it through genetic engineering to change hereditary character of...
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...provided, and write an academic essay in which you discuss the effects of genetically modified food on South Africans and the economy Name of lecturer : Ms Lutasha Ndesi Name of tutor : Gaynor Godlo Due Date : 6 May 2015 | Marking Criteria | Mark Allocation | Mark Achieved | 1 | Presentation | 2 | | 2 | Introduction and Conclusion | 5 | | 3 | Structure ( Paragraph development: Topic, Supporting and Concluding sentences) | 8 | | 4 | Language | 20 | | 5 | Content | 50 | | 6 | Quotations | 10 | | 7 | Reference List | 5 | | | Total Mark | 100 | | Declaration 1. I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and pretend it is one’s own work. 2. Each contribution to, and quotation in this work that I have taken from the work of other people has been attributed and has been cited and referenced. 3. This submission is my own work. 4. I have not allowed, and will not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as their own work. Signed: …………………………………………… Date: 6 May 2015 1. Introduction Genetically modified food is a widespread problem all over the world. Many years genetically modified foods have been used to help overcome poverty. Although genetically modified foods are inexpensive,...
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...Siyi GU INTG 101 gusd1502 17 November 2015 GM food As technology developing, genetic engineering is used in some part of human’s life. Genetically modified food is one of the successful products of genetic engineering. Genetically modified food is called GM food. It is a kind of organism whose genes are modified by adding DNAs from other plants that do not occur naturally in order to resist the diseases and increase the output of the agricultural production. Planting GM food has several advantages. It can resist the natural risksEva Schubert2015-11-17T15:06:00What do you mean? Be ore specific. which are pests, diseases and natural environment changes, increase the agricultural yield, and reduce the pollution of the environment. There are some advantages of GM food on increasing the resistance of the natural risk. Firstly, it decreases the risk of the effect of insects. Most plants are the food of the insects, especially the crops which are important in people’s life. Crops do not have an effective means to protect them from insects, so farmers use pesticide to kill the insects that eat the crops. The seeds of GM food have their own resistance of insects, because scientist use the genes from other plants which release the smells that the insects hate or produce a natural bacterium called “Bacillus thuringiensis (BT)”Eva Schubert2015-11-07T08:41:00Put BT in brackets here. Then you can use BT alone for the rest of the essay. (Gatehouse, 2008). BT occurs in soil to...
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... Genetically Modified Food The field of biotechnology and genetic engineering has been gradually improved, and the bioengineer could make a huge difference in our life by modifying the crops that we need. Genetically modified food could solve many problems to humans such as, cultivating new crops with new characteristics that could help humans. Also genetic engineering could help some countries to cultivate new crops they couldn’t cultivate it before for many reasons such as weather, soil type, and cultivating seasons. However, recently genetically modified food could make a big influence to human’s life, and it helped them to cultivate new crops, they wouldn’t be able to cultivate it without it. About 200 years ago Thomas Malthus predicted that according to that big increase in the humans’ population which is currently up to six billions, “the number of mouths that need to feed is increased. The numbers of cultivated crops is stable since Thomas Malthus has made his prediction; this has been the result of amazing technological advances in agricultural sciences with advent of biotechnology and genetic engineering, which have served to increase the average yield of various farm products’’ (Nayak et.al 112). Most of the countries started to cultivate genetically modified crops to feed their needs, and they could increase their crops number quickly. Global cultivation of genetically modified food in 1996 was three million hectares...
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...Genetically Modified Organisms Capitalism: The Soil Where Food Grows Foods we consume can be looked upon as somewhat vastly different than the foods consumed by our predecessors. Technology and scientific innovation progresses at a staggering and nearly exponentially greater rate from each year to the next, and its reach leaves little industry untouched. Most mass-produced foods we eat today contain some level of preservatives, alterations or other biological modifications. In a sense, it is almost as if we should redefine the simple name of what we eat. Is a carrot still a carrot? What gives the food we eat a name? The debate on genetically modified foods is one that continues to carry stronger and stronger throughout the years. Some crops are modified to prevent insects from eating them, other foods are altered bio-mechanically to provide additional resources or to grow larger. Even so far as farm animals are given treatments that dramatically increase their body size, yielding more meat. To preface the argument food or against genetically modified foods: there is simply no easy solution. The overall scenario of genetically modified foods has many different parameters. These parameters include ethical, religious, legal and environmental ramifications. It would be equally as irrational to say that genetically modified foods were more or less dangerous than they were beneficial. The perspective to the scenario should be taken on both micro and macro levels, and to perceive...
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