Is it Ethical for Scientists to Create and Use Genetically Modified Food?

Anela Lockwood

Candidate number

Date submitted: 12/18/17

Word count: 2464

Introduction:

Ethical choices are difficult to make, especially when it affects a large population

of people. Genetically modified foods are a new and upcoming project that is being

used to eventually grow large amounts of crops in a shorter amount of time. This could

be useful as well as ethical because GM foods could grow in shorter period of time as
well as grow in large amounts. Which would allow for people to have access to food

who struggle financially or are living in places with shortages of food. Throughout

research it has been shown that there have been both ethical and unethical sides to

using/creating GM foods.

POV 1:

Allowing scientists to genetically modify food is ethical because it would

allow for less people to be hungry, in situations of poverty or low food intake.

Most third world countries have trouble maintaining crops or food sources to feed

everybody living in those countries, so to be able to genetically modify foods to

grow in different conditions or grow at a faster rate in large quantities could help

solve the issue or decrease the numbers of people going hungry. ​Another bid

concern is people choosing unhealthy cheap and or artificial food options,

because vegetables and fruit are too costly at the grocery store. When it comes

to a child buying a snack after school they lean more towards chips and soda

that are only a dollar compared to fruit or vegetables that can cost up to nine

dollars. ​One source explaining why this is an ethical choice is an article from the

African American Environmentalist Association. ​In the article it explains that

¨​Americans are suffering more from overeating than lack of food¨ (D.M. Haugen,

2008).This is due to the high prices as well as the low availability of fruits and

vegetables . Junk food options are available in nearly every store and gas station

however the fruit and vegetable selection is limited to mostly only grocery stores.

GMO would be ethical and beneficial because it would allow for larger amounts
of crops to grow which in turn would make the price/cost to purchase these good

cheaper. And due to the cost going down more businesses such as small gas

stations would be more willing to stock their stores with fruit and vegetable

options. Causing for a slow decrease of overeating in the U.S. in the same article

it also discusses that there is a stigma that GM foods are harmful to the

environment. GMO foods is a natural based science project, taking stem cells of

fruits and vegetables and manipulating the cells to either grow faster, grow in

larger quantities or both. However throughout our everyday lives we use coal,

gas, and oil for many different things that cause harmful effects on our planet,

where as GMO foods do not require as many or any of these harmful resources

that in turn give us positive and helpful results. Pollution is an ongoing issue, but

genetically modified food isn't a main or leading cause for this, it would also allow

for populations of people to not die or suffer from starvation, so the benefits

outweigh the problems. Another source explaining why this is an ethical choice is

from ​Agbiotech Net​. In this article they discuss how GM foods do not cause

foodborne illness, which is a problem people are concerned with because these

crops would be growing in many different countries and would be grown with

other crops as well. Educator K. F. Balkin states that ingredients found in regular

foods can cause potential allergies and reactions, not that GM foods are the

leading cause or any worse. Any foodborne illness is due to lack of nutritional

value not the process in which they are created. In other words a foodborne

illness would only be created if an incident occured where the crops were
 contaminated or the location where they were being grown. However the actual

act of creating these GMO crops would not cause a foodborne illness. Another

source on why GM foods are ethical is by ​Thomas News Net.​ This source

explains how studies show no health problems have occurred to humans who

have consumed or worked with GM foods.​. ​Farmers who grow genetically

modified crops use about 25 percent more herbicides than farmers who use

traditional seeds, he says. It's no different than the overuse of antibiotics that has

led to resistance from bugs such as gonorrhea in the past year¨(Shelmetic. T,

2012). ​The only negative effects were “superweeds” but nothing harming

humans.​ “But as nature usually does it began to take its route and it started to

become resistant to the chemicals” (Shelmetic. T, 2012). T​hese superweeds are

simply an annoying larger infesting weed that grows in farms or gardens,

however can be controlled and tamed like any other weed which is overruled by

the benefits that GM foods would deliver. In conclusion genetically modified

foods are an ethical choice because they do not add to any health, or pollution

issues. But instead create a better source of available food for people who do not

have access.

​ POV 2:

Creating GMO foods is not ethical because it could cause long term negative

effects. In an ​article ​Genetically Modified Foods ​by ​Joseph Mercola ​it discusses how

genetically modified foods are not safe to eat and why they could cause health issues

for many individuals. The article starts off by discussing how the process of GMOs has
not been thoroughly studied and that there is not enough information to start any trials

or start growing and selling it to humans. The article also states that due to these issues

there may potentially be higher health risks for human health and the environmental

health will decrease. This could also be biased due to the fact that they do not specify

what is the cause for health issues or environmental issues Further in the article it

discusses that GM foods are are based on “Overly simplified models” (Mercola.J, 2015).

Meaning that altering one gene in an organism is not that simple, and to change these

genes could create a rogue gene in the crops which simplifies to an allergen or toxin.

This source could have had some biased opinion because they do support their facts

with evidence from scientists but do not include statistical data that we can physically

see of these accusations. Another article ​Food and War Watch ​by ​T. Thomas ​discusses

how biotech companies state that GM foods are safe and due no harm to the

environment but federal departments in charge of food safety have not done any tests

to prove these claims. They go through loops to try and make the process seem way

safer than it actually is, but there are no tests done by any food safety companies. This

is an issue because there could be many problems with the process and or the outcome

of these GMOs however with them not being properly tested these problems are being

overlooked and are a risk almost treating society as guinea pigs to test out these new

crops. Without being properly tested that is already a red flag as to why GMOs are not

ethical, if tests are not being done then how is it certain that there aren’t health risks

when it comes to GMOs but food corporations do not share that information. Another

issue is the use of pesticides. Most farmers use pesticides on normal crops and have
been for many years however for human health, pesticides are not recommended for it

simply keeps crops from being destroyed from bugs. However with the new use of

GMOs the use of pesticides could have a more negative effect on human health. In an

article ​Green Social Thought ​by ​Fitz.D ​It discusses how an experiment with rats that

was conducted concluded that “when the rats ate GMO potatoes their immune and

digestive system suffered major damage” (Fitz.D, 2012). When trying to warn the

biotech corporation they did not listen and tried very hard to keep the results of the

experiment out of the public eye. The article however did have some biased opinions

due to the fact that this article is solely discussing negative effects and not mentioning

that there are some positive ones as well.

POV 3:

I believe that GMO foods are ethical because they are useful and have more

health and economical benefits rather than negative outcomes. In the article ​Genetically

Modified Foods ​by ​Tamara Thompson​ it discusses how GMO foods have helped

farmers profits, and keep crops in competition to be sold. Farmers buy patented seeds

that have been genetically altered which cost more, but annually they grow up to twice

as much crops as the would with normal seeds. And using these GMO seeds helps to

not use as many pesticides on the crops which in turn helps with human health overall.

The article also states that drought resistant crops are being produced so that in harsh

weather conditions crops do not get destroyed and populations of people who live in

flooded areas can still grow crops to have enough food supply as well as make a steady
income. Another article ​Detroit Greenhaven Press ​by ​L.K. Egendorf ​explains how GMO

foods have been studied and analyzed to be healthier and safer than most normalized

foods people eat everyday. Such as chips or candy that can be accessed in any grocery

store or gas station (L.K. Egendorf, 2006). This is important because if GMOs are

healthier it could help make fruit and vegetables more affordable, that way they can be

accessible in many different stores other than grocery stores and at a lower cost. The

article also goes into detail about the meat industry and how it has more negative and

unsafe health risks than GMOs do. Many meat factories do not follow health guidelines

and we have seen evidence of different meats touching as well as non sanitary tools

and equipment being used on different meats. Meat is a product worldwide that is

consumed and for this to be a health problem only makes GMOs safer due to the fact

that these plant based processes can’t be contaminated with diseases meat can, as

well as creating illnesses such as salmonella.

Conclusion:

GMOs have been a uprising ethical dilemma that many people agree as well as

disagree with. There are many benefits to using GMOs, such that more people who are

at a disadvantage could have a larger supply of food, as well as healthier food options

for Americans who struggle with overeating especially with junk food. And lastly GMOs
could be beneficial to farmers to help them gain a larger profit as well as keep their

crops alive through droughts and or floods. While there are many benefits there are

many negative effects as well, such as the potential risk of understudying the process

and effects of GMOs that could create health risks for the human population. As well as

GMOs not being properly studied/experimented with and legal situations being taken

lightly and not serious enough to where it is at a safe enough level to be handing out to

society. GMOs will always be around as new ideas and experiments to alter the

genetics of foods is taking place each and everyday but for many people it is an ethical

dilemma that is hard to stand on one side with, for it is new and growing each day with

many different ethical problems and solutions. This topic has been beneficial to me

personally, because I am interested in pursuing a career in the health and science field.

This topic is especially interesting and important to support the start of my interest in

this career, because it focuses primarily on human health and how one ethical dilemma

affects a whole community as a whole. Throughout researching this topic I’ve learned

as well that although more research needs to go into this idea, the outlying benefits of

more food and less hungry people outweighs the negatives in my opinion. Solely

because there are many diseases we are still finding cures for and some we don’t even

know of yet, so if the main concern is GM foods causing illness...in third world countries

they are dying of disease but also of hunger. So to solve one problem would help

communities if not countries as well.

 Bibliography

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Opposing Viewpoints​. ​Food​. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from
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At Issue​. ​Genetically Modified Food​. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
(Reprinted from ​Times-News​, 2013, April 28)

Bianchi, S. (2009). Biotechnology Is Not the Solution to the Problem of

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