GMO Food
The process of genetic modification of an organism
Genetic modification of an organism is the process by which the genes of an organism are altered to introduce useful genes that are believed to help it to grow and thrive in any given condition. The genes contain DNA, a basic building block of all living organisms that is responsible for the presence or absence of certain traits or characteristics and modification of these genes creates new traits in the plants.
The genetic modification of a crop begins with the isolation of genes that are proved to have certain characteristics so that the same traits can be induced in other crops. The next step is to insert the gene into another crop and the most common technique is through a process called recombinant DNA that transfers the genes through the plasmids. Particle bombardment is another technique used to transfer the gene to another plant. Once this is done, the different plant cells are monitored to identify the modified ones from the original cells. The transformed cells are used to create new plants through tissue cultures under controlled environmental conditions. The growth is monitored to check if the plant exhibits the new characteristics and finally, it is tested for performance and safety before it is released into the market (African Biosafety Network of Expertise, 2010).
Pros and cons of the process of genetic modification
When GMO technology was introduced in 1970s, the idea was to create crops that would grow in harsh conditions and provide abundant food for the growing human population. During the last three decades, unfortunately, none of those have taken place. Only two kinds of crops were produced -- herbicide resistant and pesticide resistant crops and both these crops have only been successful in boosting the profits of companies involved in GMO crops.
The advantages of genetically modified foods is their increased resistance to pests, herbicides and diseases. They are in a better position to thrive in places that could not support these plants in their natural form. This has proved to be a blessing for third world countries that are suffering from high levels of poverty and malnourishment as...
The persons in this camp identify benefits such as disease resistant plants and plants that produce higher yield with less maintenance cost. They eagerly point to the advances in corn production and other spheres as evidence of the safety and viability of genetic modification. There is also a median position where the benefits of the technology are acknowledged but these persons believe that greater testing in the laboratory should be
Food There are many different controversies with respect to food, among them issues about long-run food security, about different health issues related to food including added salt and trans-fats, or on the positive side the value of highly-nutritious superfoods. But probably the biggest subject of public debate with respect to food these days relates to GMOs, or genetically-modified organisms. They are almost always banned in Europe, but in the U.S. not
GMO Foods The safety, or lack thereof, of genetically modified foods is subject to considerable debate in the public sphere. In order to render a reasonable opinion on the subject of feeding GMO foods to my children, I would want to defer to the best available science, and add a dash of reason. The first thing that would need to be established is the methodology by which one assesses the concept
Food Ethics One might think that there are not a lot of ethical standards and policies that could and do apply when it comes to the manufacturing and selling of food. However, that is far from being the case and this has been true for a rather long time. Whether it be whether the food is genetically modified, the country of origin for a food, when the food expires, how the
Genetically Modified Organisms Technology GMO Gentically Modified Organisms A Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) is any organism that has had its genetic makeup altered by humans Ahmed, 2002. The organism could be an animal, plant, or microorganism. The changing of the genetic code could involve subtracting, adding, or altering. All these changes could be from the same species or different species, which would give the organism characteristics that it does not have normally. GMO
Genetic Engineering Genetically Modified Food Genetic engineering is one of the breakthroughs in the agricultural sector introduced in the last four decades. Traditionally, agricultural production relied on natural methods such as crossbreeding to achieve the desired plant species. Such methods were associated with disadvantages such as its slow nature and inability to produce the desired plant traits in the desired period. However, the introduction of genetic modification led to the elimination of
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