Just on thursday, 9pm our year group, had to hand in a 660 word (600 words + 10%) essay that was about a topic of their choice. I chose GMOs, and I wrote this essay. (The 1, 2, 3, 4, etc are for the bibliography) I think I went slightly over the maximum word limit though...
Genetic engineering or the process of creating Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) have become one of the most controversial areas of science. In fact, the number of Google searches for “GMO” has tripled since 2012.1 However, genetic engineering is not a subject that has been introduced lately, as humans have actually been genetically modifying plants and animals for thousands of years.2 Maybe one kind of crop was strangely large, maybe one type of dog was especially loyal. Whatever the case was, people did the smart thing and bred the plants and animals who were most beneficial to them. This process is called “selective breeding”, which is considered to be the ancestor of GMOs. While selective breeding is just hoping to be lucky, with modern technology, we can now control what parts of the DNA we are genetically modifying. For example, with GMOs, you could make plants grow bigger, contain more nutrients, and be immune to pests. So, why are people so concerned about GMOs, and what is the future of GMOs?
First of all, the genes of GM crops could mix with the genes with Non-GM crops and create unbeneficial consequences for people. A counter argument for this would be to create seeds that could kill itself after a year had passed, thus effectively reducing the mixing of genes. However, this idea has been met with heavy public outcry. Instead, scientists could make GM plants dependent on a certain chemical for fertility.3
Secondly, quite alarmingly, some GM plants produce their own poison to be immune against pests. Although this might seem dangerous, poison is just a matter of perspective. A substance might be deadly for one species, but helpful and likeable for another species. For example, cocoa trees protect themselves from pests by producing a poison called caffeine, which obviously is not lethal to humans as humans drink it daily.
Thirdly, people are criticizing a similar idea as to the second idea, which is immunizing plants to poison, so the farmers could use the poison against pests and weeds without fear of also harming the plants. The argument criticizes the fact that GMOs might be just an example of modern-day business practices, which harms the environment. This criticism is important, but GMOs actually help the environment. For example, a GM plant could be engineered to suck in large amounts of carbon dioxide in the air, reducing the effects of climate change.
Lastly, one of the most common criticism is about whether or not GMOs are actually safe. There are a variety of sources stating that GMOs are safe as, if not safer than non-GMOs. For example, the Federal Drug Administration states “Credible evidence has demonstrated that foods from the GE plant varieties marketed to date are as safe as comparable, non-GM foods.”4 And, other sources like the US National Academies of Science5, UK Royal Society6, and the European Commission of the European Union7 also stated that GMOs were clearly not harmful. Like Sir David King, Chief Science Advisor quoted "...because the technique is so sophisticated, in many ways it is probably safer for you to eat GM products - plants that have been generated through GM - than normal plant foods, if you have any sort of reaction to food, because you can snip out the proteins that cause the negative reaction to certain parts of the population."8 Then, if GMOs are so good, then what are some examples of them being helpful?
When Bangladesh’s main crop, the eggplant came under attack by a certain species of moths that attack eggplants, the farmers of Bangladesh started using pesticides to kill off the moths. However, this method was highly ill-effective, as this method wasted tons of resources, worsened farmer’s healths, and was not effective at all. So, scientists in Bangladesh developed a GM eggplant, which was inexpensive, had a near 100% success rate 9, and did not harm any farmers.
The future of GMOs seems pretty positive. GMOs can prevent and adapt to climate change, by a variety of methods. Food could also contain more nutrition and possibly more anti-oxidant levels to be more immune to diseases. So, GM plants and food are good, but what about GM humans? Don’t we all want to be smarter, have higher muscle density, and be more resistant to diseases? Are GMing humans just a part of human development, or will it be a dangerous concept that could result in fatal side effects?
Bibliography
1: “GMO Search Term.” Google Trends, July 2015.
https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=GMO
2: Zimmer, C. “From Fearsome Predator to Man’s Best Friend.” New York Times, May 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/science/dogs-from-fearsome-predator-to-mans-best-friend.html
3: Heather Landry, August 10, 2015, Challenging Evolution: How GMOs Can Influence Genetic Diversity, Harvard University
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/challenging-evolution-how-gmos-can-influence-genetic-diversity/
4: “Consumer Info About Food from Genetically Engineered Plants” FDA, January 4th 2018
https://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/geplants/ucm461805.htm
5: US National academy of science,
http://www.nap.edu/read/10977/chapter/2#15
6: The UK Royal society, Policy projects Genetically modified (GM) plants: questions and answers, (no date provided)
http://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/projects/gm-plants/
7: European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation; Biotechnologies (2010). A Decade of EU-Funded GMO Research (2001-2010)
8: Sir David King, Chief Science Advisor, UK The Guardian Unlimited, 27 November 2007
9: Mark Lynas, June 26, 2016, “Bt eggplant 100% effective in controlling pests, shows new paper” - Alliance for science
https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2016/06/bt-eggplant-close-to-100-effective-in-controlling-pests-shows-new-paper/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YptJ9-FVTxn8St_j2w7ubXaT844uucnegzTwxip7nlo/edit?usp=sharing