Genetic Engineering - Application in Agriculture
Introduction
The process of manually adding new DNA to an organism is called genetic engineering, and also being termed as recombinant DNA technology, which aims to add one or more new traits that are not found in that organism naturally (Nebraska, 2001). One of the examples of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is agriculture plants. GM foods are used to term the foods which are produces from or using GMOs.
Why are GM foods produced?
The main reason of producing GMOs is to greatly reduce the risk of cops being lost due to extreme weather conditions and also to improve the crop productions. (What Genetic Engineering In Agriculture Can Achieve, 2013) Also, it allows either the producer or
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Level of crop protection could be increased by the following methods: promote the ideas of resistance against plant diseases which caused by pests or viruses, and increase the tolerance of plants towards herbicides. By doing so, the use of pesticides could be greatly reduced and hence, reduce water pollution. These are achieved by incorporating into the plants the relevant genes. For instance, gene which responsible for toxin production, herbicides or virus resistance. As a result, there would be higher crop productions and greater food security. (Phillips, 2008)
Another objective for GM foods is to enhance the nutrient composition. For example, the golden rice. The golden rice have been modified by a gene which makes it self-produce beta carotene. Beta carotene is essential for humans to make Vitamin A which helps prevent
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Additionally, low dietary intake of iron, Vitamin A, iodine and zinc is the most damaging micronutrient deficiencies in the world, mostly in Southeast Asia and Africa. As mentioned earlier in this report, the golden rice. Beta-carotene, also known as provitamin A, is being found that it does not present in the rice seeds after thousands of screening for this trait. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) most severely affecting small children and pregnant women. The medical consequences of VAD are impaired vision and fetal. 1011Other studies support the idea that widespread consumption of golden rice would reduce VAD, saving thousands of lives. Therefore, the rice needs to be genetically modified to produce own beta-carotene to solve the problem of VAD. (Anderson,
They are also modified to resist certain diseases or other ailments. Sometimes doing this to our foods ends up making them worse than they already were. More and more people are finding it had to buy natural non- GMO foods and
Introduction Monsanto is a Fortune 500 company committed to sustainable agriculture and working alongside farmers to produce the food the countries need. Monsanto has been involved in not so ethical practices. Monsanto sued Percy Schmeiser for using a Monsanto product, and claimed that it was patent infringement. The court swayed towards Monsanto but didn’t require Schmeiser to pay $400,000. This case study will address the reasons Monsanto’s approach to increase crop production; roles of government in approving genetically engineered crops, and anti-biotech campaigns.
Golden rice has been genetically modified to contain an abundance of vitamin A and is often sent to countries where citizens struggle to receive proper nutrition (Golden Rice Project). This golden rice has helped save the 1.15 millions of children that die every year from vitamin A deficiency (Golden Rice Project). The reality is that food “being developed with direct genetic manipulation doesn’t make a plant good or bad”, it simply improves the existing plant
GMO’s are somewhat beneficial for our rapid-growing population since they are more enriched with nutrients. (Global) C. GMO’s can also benefit the
Before one dives into the battle of good versus evil, one must first fully understand the concept of genetically modified foods. Genetically modified (GM) or genetically engineered (GE) foods have been modified in order to develop favourable characteristics. Genes are transferred from various organisms to fruit and vegetable plants and are responsible for generating favourable characteristics, such as resistance to pests and insecticides (Milano and Carol, 2007: 8-11). Many people are pro GM foods due to their positive effects such as larger yields and decreased pesticide use, but not everyone is convinced. GM foods are a relatively new phenomenon and
Plants and animals that have been genetically modified can become more resistant to the unexpected problems of disease. The beneficiaries have also been the agrochemical industry (pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicides), large petrochemical companies (BASF, Dow Chemical, and ExxonMobil), manufacturers of agricultural machinery, dam builders, and large landowners. As stated by PG Economics, “The insect resistant (IR) technology used in cotton and corn has consistently delivered yield gains from reduced pest damage.” Pest control is very important to GMO farming and benefits the value of the crops. For others, the idea of GMO farming is a bad one because it leads to reduced genetic diversity, increased vulnerability to pests, soil erosion, water shortages, reduced soil fertility, micronutrient deficiencies, soil contamination, reduced availability of nutritious food crops for the local population, the displacement of vast numbers of small farmers from their land, rural impoverishment, and increased tensions and conflicts.
“In the genetic engineering process, scientists splice a specific gene that exhibits certain traits into a plant to create new artificial characteristics in organisms” (Burgaard; Streker). The resulting organism is considered GM, or genetically modified. The desired traits currently being practiced through genetic engineering are insect resistance, weed control, and improved nutritional content (Turner). The
Argumentative Essay of The Bann Genetically Modified Products Tremendous increases in the world’s population have led to the shortage of the food supplies. In such situation Genetically Modified products might help to fulfill the needs. According to Bertheau and Davison, “The United States grows 55% of GM crops, followed by Argentina (19%), Brazil (10%), Canada (7%) and China (4%)” (2012, p.4). That shows how GMOs production is spreading throughout the continents. Many people don’t know the difference between organic products and genetically modified products.
MARKET FOR GMO AND CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE Introduction: Genetically changed foods or metric weight unit foods, conjointly genetically built foods, ar foodsmade from organisms that have had changes introduced into their deoxyribonucleic acid mis treatmentthe ways of recombinant DNA technology (David King., 2003). Genetically changed (GM) foods ar foods derived from organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been changed during a approach that doesn't occur naturally, e.g. through the introduction of a factor from a distinct organism (World Health Organiztion., 2015).
The world's environment is in a bad place right now. There are many things that are ruining our environment and most of them can we fix. The united States alone is using five times more of an Ecological footprint than any other country. One thing that makes a big impact on this ecological footprint is Genetic Engineering. Genetic Engineering has many ways that it can help us, but there are also many was that it can hurt us.
The role of genetic modification (GM science) has made a tremendous impact on agricultural (Adenle, Alhassan, & Solomon, 2014). Crops developed by GM science first became commercially available in the U.S. around the mid 1990s, and have quickly been adopted by farmers (Adenle et al., 2014; Cowan, 2011). According to Phillips (2008) GM science has “... increased crop yields, reduced costs for food or drug production, reduced need for pesticides, enhanced nutrient composition and food quality, resistance to pests and disease, greater food security, and medical benefits to the world's growing population” ( p 1.). In addition, GM science has made improvements towards developing crops that mature earlier and tolerate drought, frost, and other
Genetically Modified Organisms What are Genetically Modified Organisms? Typically referred to as “GMOs”, they are “plants or animals that have undergone a process wherein scientists alter their genes with DNA from different species of living organisms, bacteria, or viruses to get desired traits such as resistance
What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Genetically Modified Foods? Genetically modified (GM) foods are organisms that have had new genes added to themselves from other organisms. Being around since 1994, they are produced in a way that is very similar to genetic engineering. The technique used in this type of crop management has been introduced to ensure farmers and merchants are able to improve crop or food quality in a more efficient way.
According to Wikipedia, Transgenic organisms can be defined as, “an organism that has been genetically altered by adding genes into, and out of, the organism to achieve the desired outcome, this process is called genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is made possible through certain techniques within biotechnology and bioengineering”. More and more organisms, including plants and animals, are being modified today. These processes are justified based on their supposed “endless benefits”, but at what cost? This leaves us with concerns about whether these processes are ethically correct and whether it is appropriate to use these organisms as a means of producing things such as pharmaceuticals.
ADVANTAGES OF GM FOODS World population is increasing day by day which implies scarcity of food will be the major challenge that the world will be facing in the future. Genetically modified foods can meet this rising need. 1)STRONG GROWTH: GMO is typically designed to have a faster growth. It can be grown in any harsh environment; each seed is improved to be stronger and can withstand herbicides and pesticides.