Hilliard

Tyler Hilliard
Mrs. Aughenbaugh
Academic English 12
10 March 2015
Genetically Modified Foods Are Dangerous
I think genetically modified foods should not be created because of the dangers and the
possibility of future health risks to the people who eat them. If this has the possibility of hurting
a human life than it should not be legal to genetically modify food. It also can affect the animals
if they eat them and can affect the environment as a whole. Genetically modified organisms are
plants, animals, and microbes whose genetic code or DNA have been altered. Genetically
modified foods have promised benefits such as tastier food, less disease, decrease use of
pesticides, increasing the supply of food which will help end world hunger, and faster growing
plants. The key word is promise. They should guarantee benefits and zero health risks to be able
to make and offer genetically modified foods.
Genetically modified foods have spread around the world and grown rapidly in recent
years. According to scientists genetically modified foods pose a real danger to human health, the
environment, and the global economy. Genetically modified foods have been said to increase
nutrition but no one knows the long term effects of them. Scientists have warned that this
technology will cause higher levels of bad toxins, allergens, antibiotic resistance, immune
suppression, and higher chance of getting cancer. Genetically modified foods have also

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threatened to deplete soils, spread uncontrollably, and cause permanent damage to the
environment which will affect the animals as well.
Genetically modified seeds are controlled by corporations. The worlds largest seed
company is Monsanto; they cover for almost one quarter of the global seed market. Patent
infringement lawsuits have been a problem with companies like Monsanto. More than ten
million farmers planted two hundred and fifty two million acres of genetically modified crops in
2006. From 1996 to 2000 the acreage of crops globally increased twenty five fold.
Biotechnology companies alter the DNA of crops, either by removing or inserting genes from
other species. Gene insertion into plants is done by shooting cells with a gene gun. The cells are
then cloned into plants. A problem could occur with the cells being shot from the gene gun. The
inserted gene could be damaged and then the genetically modified organism could be very
harmful if consumed. Originally farmers enhanced crops through breeding techniques. Today
scientists engineer plants to immunize them against viruses, herbicides, and pesticides. Deniza
Gertsberg is a practicing attorney in New York area. She is the editor and the publisher of
genetically modified organisms website focused on health, environmental and moral aspects of
genetically modified foods. She discovered a statistic that is hard to deny. Industrial forms of
agriculture with emphasis on large scale monoculture crop production have a negative impact on
biodiversity. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations referred the scale of
the loss as extensive. They found that seventy five percent of plant genetic diversity has been
lost since 1900 as farmers turn to genetically uniform mass produced crop varieties.
The term biodiversity was derived from biological and diversity of all life in a given
location, one as small as a backyard or as large as the entire planet earth. Therefore since
genetically modified crops reinforce genetic homogeneity and promote large scale monocultures

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they contribute to the decline in biodiversity. Genetically modified crops grow and thrive in a
dynamic environment and interact with other species of the agro ecosystem and surrounding
environment. They may affect the fitness of other species causing them to go extinct and they
also mess with the population dynamics. For example a genetically modified organism may
interbreed with a natural organism and out compete them, which will lead to extinction to the
natural organism. The impact of genetically modified organisms on biodiversity has also been
seen in the development of super weeds and super bugs. Genetically modified crops are not
substantially equivalent to their conventional counterparts; they interact in novel ways to impact
the plant and the soil.
A structure of DNA was discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick in the early
1950s. By late 1970s scientists were developing a mechanism for recombing DNA, which is
moving DNA material to another organism. Biotechnology is any technique that uses living
organisms or parts of organisms to modify products. Biotechnology has come under
philosophical and ethical scrutiny. The major function of biotechnology is genetic engineering
or more specifically transgenic engineering. Trans genesis is the process of removing genetic
material from one species and transferring it to another. An important element in this form of
genetic engineering is that their knowing what properties or traits is desirable for which plant
species. Genetically engineered foods have had foreign genes inserted into their genetic codes.
Some examples of foreign gene inserted plants are tomatoes, potatoes, squash, corn, and
soybeans. They all have been genetically altered through biotechnology.
One example of a concern about foods that have been genetically modified is if a peanut
gene was inserted into a tomato plant, someone with a peanut allergy could have an allergic
reaction if they ate the tomato. The food and drug administration falsely claims that the agency

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had no information about genetically modified food being any different from the natural foods.
Food and drug administration scientists repeatedly warned of possible dangers and effects to
anything that eats them. The food and drug administration ignored their scientists and currently
dont have any safety tests for genetically modifying foods, which is very concerning.
Companies such as Monsanto have been found guilty of hiding horrible toxic effects to their
products. The six major genetically modified crops are soy, corn, canola, cotton, and sugar beets.
These are all very popular products in todays world. The only published genetically modified
human feeding experiment revealed that the genetic material inserted into soy transfers into
bacteria which is alarming. If the antibiotic gene inserted into crops were to transfer it could
create super diseases.