Genetic Modification : Genetically Modified Organisms

Genetic modification of organisms is something the human race has been doing for thousands of years, starting with the first domestication of animals around 10,000 years ago. (Root, 2) Many of these genetic alterations were at a basic level, an example of this being the cross breeding of dogs to achieve desirable traits. Additionally, importation of new plants or animals into areas they didn’t historically come form, forced adaptations from these organism to survive. More recently, scientists have begun to understand genetic engineering at the DNA level, and expand its use into the altering of plants genetic code. (Goldbas) Scientists are now gaining insight into

Genetic Modification is the manipulation of an organism’s genes with biotechnology. This is a group of technologies used to modify the cells, also the transfer of genes within and to different species to make improved or new organisms.

As much as food is a cultural obsession nowadays in America, food, safety, and public health is something that has not always been a priority within the development as a nation. The Food and Drug Administration, which ensures that the food and drugs we ingest are “safe, wholesome, and sanitary” was only created in 1906 (FDA, 2014) as a byproduct of Upton Sinclair’s book (which was released the same year) “The Jungle”, which had exposed the meat packing industry for misconduct and unhygienic conditions for both workers and the meat being packaged and purchased by consumers. Since then, advances in technology—specifically DNA—has allowed for the development of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). GMOs are living organisms that have had

When genetic engineering is done on an organism, it introduces new characteristics on the organism. Organisms, that is plants and animal gene configuration can be changed using modern biotechnology. When the genes in an organism are changed this basically called genetic modification. There are some terms we need to know when we talk about genetic modification. What is a genetically modified organism? This is a plant or animal which through new biotechnology techniques, its genetic configuration has been changed. This has made changes in the ways organisms grow in a tremendous way. Other names which can be used to mean the same as genetic modification are genetic engineering (GE) and genetic manipulation (GM). Genes are manipulated

Genetic engineering is the process whereby new DNA is added or existing DNA is altered in an organism 's genome. This may involve changing one base pair (A-T or C-G) or deleting entire sections of DNA or adding additional copies of a gene. This results in creating new traits that were not previously present in the organism’s genome. This is done to selectively breed desired traits or to create plants with increased resistance to pesticides and increased

Genetically modified organisms, GMOs for short, is a plant or animal that is created through gene slicing techniques of biotechnology which mean merging different DNA from different species to make the plant and animal stronger and faster at growing them. It introduces to the public that GMOs crop are answer to keep up the food production rate to feed the growing global population by the Monsanto Companies which is one of the company that introduce the GMOs crops. GMOs Company suggests that GMOs crops are the herbicide and pesticide resistant crops which is why it will reduce the costs and increase the production rate. However, the bugs and animals are becoming resistant to this chemical so that farmers have to use more or stronger pesticide and herbicide chemicals. It became major concern amount the public about their health that GMOs Companies introduce the use of too many pesticide and herbicide into the foods; the people also don’t like the fact that GMOs Companies are using unnatural mean to alter the plants and animals DNA, and using law and any mean necessarily to gain profit off the famers.

A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism that has had their genetic make-up altered. The most common organisms that are genetically modified are plants and animals. But, some bacteria and other organisms can be genetically altered, or modified. The genetic modification process starts when genes from two different organisms are crossed forcibly. Since, the organisms are having their genes transferred; they are often called ‘transgenic’ organisms. This process to create the GMO’s is often labeled as Genetic Engineering (GE) in addition to Genetic Modification (GM). The GE process is done in a variety of ways, depending on the organism. For example, the new genes may be put into viruses and then given to the organisms or they may

Genetically Modified Organisms are defined as an organism whose genome has been altered by the techniques of genetic engineering so that its DNA contains one or more genes not normally found there (Martin). Almost all the foods that one eats daily, unless they are produced organically, have been genetically modified through genetically modified organisms. GMOs or sometimes called genetically modified foods (GMFs) are “Substances for human or animal consumption that have been altered by the insertion of a gene from a different species of plant or other organism in order to produce a desired characteristic or trait.” (“Genetically Modified Food”). An example of what this is in food is a banana that

Genetically modified organisms have been an huge issue for the world for a lot of people. Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are organisms like plants and animals that have their genes altered so they can be more nutritious and prevent diseases. Humans have selected plants for desirable characteristics since the dawn of agriculture. At first, the only way to improve crop plants was to collect seeds from the best performing individuals for planting the next year. Once plant reproduction was better understood, people selectively bred plants to create offspring that were hardier, larger, more flavorful, or more disease resistant than their predecessors. In the early twenty-first century, in the age of genetically modified organisms, the

A starving family in Zambia is in dire need of help. They travel to their countries’ capital in search of relief. The capital has plenty of food donations coming in from countries all over the world trying to help the African country in its’ time of need. The most recent food donation came from a fundraiser in America to help feed the hunger-ridden country but, there is something different about this food. The cornmeal inside of the shipment is made from Bt corn; a genetically modified organism (GMO) created for increased pest resistance. The starving Africans do not care if the food is genetically modified or not, they are only trying to feed their malnourished families. However, with heavy European influence on their government, the Zambian president at the time, Levy Mwanawasa, deemed the GM food donation “‘poison’” (Better Dead than GM-fed) and refused to distribute any of the GM donations. Instead of finding the help the so desperately needed, the starving family gets to watch the pile of food rot away in front of them.

With a growing population there is fear that the world won’t have enough food to keep up. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) have been introduced as safe for human consumption to our market since 1996 without sufficient safety testing. Evidence points to no necessity for GMO food (not to mention harmful affects) and therefore it should be banned from the United States just like it has been in multiple other countries. Some things this paper will cover is how GMOs are made, who makes them, what affects they have on the environment, and what a safe alternative is.

A discovery that gives natural food products the power to withstand herbicide sprayings and even produce its own pesticides has achieved world recognition. Although this innovation, known as a GMO (genetically modified organism), has become extremely influential in the produce industry, the unfamiliarity of the potential dangers continues to be overlooked. The use of GMOs within food has provoked a major controversy among people worldwide. There are many cases supporting and opposing the use of GM (genetically modified) foods, however, a well-debated aspect of this dispute is whether a product containing GMOs should be legally required to have a label stating that the specific food has been genetically engineered. In the United States, many consumers are unaware of these alterations fabricated in a laboratory. However, the people who are knowledgeable have concerns that genetically engineered foods have an increased risk of health issues due to the unnatural substances.

Genetically modified organisms are crops that have a gene from one organism inserted into the DNA sequence of another organism in order to gain beneficial traits (McWilliams 351). Beneficial traits that may result from the genetic modification of crops include herbicide resistance, insect resistance, or drought tolerance (McWilliams 351). The concept of genetically modifying food is a concept that makes many people skeptical about what is being done to the food that they eat. After careful research, it is evident that there are many potentially harmful aspects of genetically modified organisms. The negative aspects of genetically modified organisms include adverse health effects, their inability to solve world hunger, heavier use of pesticides and herbicides, loss of biodiversity, damage to the small farming business, the fact that the companies that control them have become too powerful, and inadequate labeling practices.

Genetically modified organism (GMO), are also known as transgenic crops or genetically modified crops. These transgenic crops has a novel combination of genetic material via the use of the modern biotechnology. The sole purpose of creating genetically modified crops is to introduce new attributes that do not exist in plants or to enhance the present trait for better production, more yield and crop quality. In transgenic plants, genes or a gene is inserted via artificial method instead of traditional method of pollination. The inserted gene sequence (known as the transgene) may come from another unrelated plant, or from a completely different species: transgenic Bt corn, for example, which produces its own insecticide, contains a gene from

Genetics is the foundation that controls the diversity and natural selection of the world we live in now. Each organism ranging from the smallest bacteria to the largest of animals all have genes that make up their own personal identity. Without these genes designating these identities, there would never be such things as “organisms” but rather just one organism. Genetics is vital to the world because no matter what boundaries or challenges an organism is presented with, there will always be that one organism that is genetically modified with mutations to survive and reproduce. With the technology and research we are now presented, we now have the ability to create genetically modified organisms.