GMO is helpful or harmful ?

A genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically engineered organism (GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. Genetically-modified foods have made a big splash in the news since scientists have found it. People are concerned about GMO because there is no guarantee that GMO is safe, even scientists cannot make a clear explain about it. In my opinion, genetically modified organism and food is helpful in your real life.

GMO is useful for pest resistance. Farmers have been using many tons of chemical pesticides annually to kill all those pests. This has caused financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries if insects or pests have destroyed the crops. Besides, consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides as it is bad for health. The wastes of pesticides and fertilizers can also poison the water supply and cause harm to the environment. So, genetically modified foods such as BT corn help in pest resistance and reduce the uses of chemical pesticide.

GM foods can solve hunger .Scientists can transfer genes from other plants or some virus to get its benefit. For example, the genetically modified salmon will be able to grow faster and grow in the winter and summer because of the injection of a combination of a growth gene from the Pacific Chinook salmon and genetic material from the ocean pout. Genetically modified food managed to fulfill the needs of human for foods. GM foods are cheaper due to lower costs and higher yield. As people in poor countries spend over half of their income on food alone, lower food prices mean an automatic reduction of poverty.

Moreover, nutrients can be obtained from GM foods. Vitamin A deficiencies cause blindness. In Africa, 500,000 go blind each year. Foods could be genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins and minerals, so that nutrient deficiencies could be alleviated. If rice can be modified to contain more vitamin A, the amount of people going blind will decrease. As GMO crops are more nutritious, sickness and illnesses can be reduced.

Furthermore, medicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and hardly to obtain. GMO is useful as it managed to obtain the exact medicines and vaccines. It has the same effect as the non-genetically modified medicines and vaccines. Scientists manage to produce new products through the knowledge of genetically engineer. For examples, scientist identified the gene responsible for caffeine in coffee beans; by excluding this gene, decaffeinated coffee beans can be grown naturally.

In a conclusion, genetically modified organisms have their good and bad points. They can produce more food and provide many benefits to humans. However, they can also be detrimental if not used properly. They can mix with non-genetically modified crops and ruin a farmers business. Pesticides in plants can be a great benefit but they can damage the environment and be poisonous to the consumer. There is a lot of conflict over whether genetically modified organisms are good or bad for us and there is no way to know until either something really good or something really bad comes out of it.

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                                                                                                            Lim Whey Teen