Genetically Modified Foods

Introduced in the late 20^th century, genetically modified food is a relatively new science dealing with the alterations of the DNA of organisms to express or enhance a desired trait. Genetically modified or GM is an altered at the genetic level to produce a better tasting, longer lasting, and overall more resistant product. Some of the most commonly grown modified foods on the market today are soy beans, corn, and rape seed having both pros and cons.

GM foods were originally developed to create crops that would grow more quickly or in greater abundance, but researchers also developed genes in the crops that enabled them to survive in many conditions such as a drought. The enthused claim made by the GM industry is that GM foods will allow them to end global poverty. The main issue over GM foods is over human health, and environmental concerns. Questioning if GM foods are different from traditional foods and the potential risks involved in consuming them. Consumers debate over using altered foods or organic foods.

The advantages of genetically modified foods are its many resistances to chemicals and conditions faced in regular farming conditions. Some of those are challenges are pests, weeds, diseases, and climate extremities. To overcome those challenges the process of genetically modified foods first started in 1994 with a genetically modified tomato, FlavrSavr, to decrease decomposition time (Caswell, 2006). Just a few years later the FDA had approved over 50 genetically engineered or modified crops for the United States' food supply.

Challenges like pests in crops can result in a large loss of the harvest, causing farmers to spray chemical pesticides annually to prevent losses. However, these pesticides cause dangerous health hazards and environmental harm by contaminating the fertilizer and water. GM crops have been modified to carry a poison that kills pests and protects crops against damage (Kerr, 2009). Such as the b.t. corn, b.t. or Bacillus thuringiensis, is a naturally occurring bacterium that produces crystal proteins that are lethal to certain insects. The b.t. crystal protein has been modified into corn, to produce its own pesticide against insects (Roseboro, 2004).

Herbicides, weed killers, are used by farmers multiple times during the harvest to destroy weeds. A timely and expensive process since it requires great care that the herbicides don't harm the crops or the environment. A strain of genetically modified soy beans has been developed that are resistant to herbicides and only require one application of the herbicide to destroy the weeds. Also many of the diseases found in the crops inflicted by fungi, bacteria and viruses are warded off by certain species of GM crops (Kerr, 2009). Another challenge faced is weather extremes like frost in regular farming can kill crop seedlings; however GM crops have an antifreeze gene taken from cold water fish to be able to survive cold temperatures and frost, used in crops like the potato.

A few GM crops are being developed in hopes to benefit humanity, like hypoallergenic wheat being
developed at the University of California. Hypoallergenic rice is being genetically modified to remove the protein that triggers allergic reactions. The rice is hoped to help kidney dialysis patients in Asia who are unable to tolerate local rice because of its high protein level. Purdue University and USDA are developing tomatoes that not only last longer but would be able to battle cancer. The tomatoes would also contain high levels of lycopene, which has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men. And the salt-water crops, the Chinese claim to have isolated the gene that allows certain crops to be able to grow in salt water (Roseboro, 2004).

Genetically modified food and its production offer an easier way of managing the farm land than regular intensive farming methods. It offers disease-resistant species that require fewer chemicals, so that crop spraying can be significantly reduced. It also allows the possibility of genetically modified seeds to be farmed in places where it was conventionally not possible before, helping people in areas of less fertile land around the world.

Like everything GM foods has its flip side, the disadvantages, many of its hesitations are on the affects it will have on the environment, consumer health and economic concerns. European countries have shown the highest resistance against GM foods, many countries like Britain are protesting the growth or use of GM crops, by placing a moratorium in 1998 until 2004 against GM foods (Roseboro, 2004). GM foods have been dubbed "Frakenfood" by European countries and skeptics around the world. The theory is that once a living organism has been genetically engineered, it will affect and alter the organism, and then it's going to evolve and interact with its environment and other living organisms. This pattern goes on, which cause the then frakenfoods to live on forever, unable to be tamed or killed (Cummins, 2004).

The environmental risks involved in GM foods that are worrying others is its unintended harm to other organisms, reduced effectiveness, and gene transfer to the non-targeted species. In 1999 some butterflies ate pollen from genetically modified corn causing a large uproar, leading to research studies on the affects of GM foods on the monarch butterfly larvae. Dusted leaves of the milkweed plant with pollen from b.t. corn were fed to one group of the butterflies, while another was feed the leaves containing pollen from traditionally grown corn. Group 1 had half of the butterflies die who were fed pollen from the b.t. leaves, while the larvae fed traditionally grown corn pollen survived. Even in a later study in an actual field conducted by Iowa State University had similar results with the deaths in larvae feeding off b.t. corn (Roseboro, 2004).

Another environmental concern is based on the previously stated theory that unlike chemical pollutants in traditional farming, genetically modified pollutants cannot be contained and would multiply, causing contamination. The contamination would occur when pollen from a GM crop like corn is carried by the wind or insects to other plants making a superweed (Roseboro, 2004).

Health risks concerns were raised with the use of GM foods, with the study on GM potatoes in 1990 by Dr. Arpad Pusztai. The potatoes tested had been genetically modified to produce lectins, natural insecticides, to protect against aphids. In the study lab rats were fed the GM potatoes, later testing revealed damage to the guts, other organs and their immune systems (Cummins, 2004). The rBGH, recombinant bovine growth hormone, raised flags in 1990 when a report from the Canadian Veterinary Medicine Association found that rBGH made cows more susceptible to infections, diseases and infertility. rBGH injected cows had much higher levels of a powerful growth hormone factor called IGF-1, which is a potent promoter for cancer tumor.

Another concern on health in GM foods is the treatment of unknown allergies, a large number of children and adults suffer from food allergies that symptoms rang widely from mild to deadly. The concern is that when GM foods are being made the proteins that are being spliced into them could be allergenic. From Environmental Defense, Dr. Rebecca Goldburg stated, "Since genetic engineers mix genes from a wide variety of species...people who are allergic to one type of food may find that they are allergic to many more" (Cummins, 2000).

The argument against GM foods is that it is still relatively new, and while no major health hazards have come forward but it is entirely too early to determine the long-term health risks. While some tests and studies are already showing leaking toxins and possible health issues, environmental groups claim that the they expect it to bring more problems that will leave a large impact.

I believe that genetically modified foods will indeed bring a negative impact, which will affect humans, animals and the environment in a ghastly way. To date, the FDA considers genetically modified foods to be the same as their organically grown counterparts, and leaves them unregulated (Alliance for Bio-Integrity). This is not in the best interest for the people, as shown by the introduction of the GM Soybean. The process for creating GM soybeans, the most commonly genetically manufactured food, consists of splicing in genes from other plants as well as animals, including fish and peanuts. This transfer of proteins from one food to the other raises concerns about people eating what they think is soybeans and having an allergic reaction to the food. Only one year after the introduction of GM Soybeans into the market, there was a 50% increase in allergic reactions to soybeans. A study done on this could not prove that this was a direct result of the introduction of the genetically modified soybeans; however, this was the first time ever that soy made the top 10 allergenic foods (Roseboro, 2004).

Since the introduction of GM foods into the market, they have been met with resistance and have failed to deliver on the claims they have made. They also claimed to help poor countries with access to GM seeds to grow crops and help with poverty issues in the area, and unless they are given to these countries and passed on to poor areas they control will remain in the hands of wealthy nations. Further dividing the poor and rich nations, and giving more control to wealthy nations, leading to a broken economy. Overall the GM foods seem like a shot in the dark, with many risks that are harmful to human health and the environment.

Works Cited:

Cummins, Ronnie, and Ben Lilliston. Genetically Engineered Food A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers. Boston: Marlowe & Company, 2000. Print.

Cummins, Ronnie, Ben Lilliston, and Frances Moore Lappé. Genetically Engineered Food A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers. Boston: Marlowe & Company, 2004. Print.

Kerr, Jim. Food Ethical Debates on What We Eat. Smart Apple Media, 2009. Print.

Roseboro, Ken. Genetically Altered Foods and Your Health (Basic Earth Guides). New York: Basic Health Publications, 2004. Print.

United States. United States Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service. The First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States. By Jorge Fernandez-Cornejo and Margriet Caswell. Apr. 2006. Web. 16 Oct. 2009. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib11/eib11.pdf.