Neel Sheth- Genetic Engineering on Food

April 12, 2019

Genetic engineering, a practice commonly utilized on food, is the manipulation of an organism's gene makeup through the use of biotechnology. In 1994, the first genetically modified food, the Flavr Savr Tomato, was approved for release. In the 25 years since then, the prevalence of GMO's has increased each year. GMO's are useful from an economic standpoint, as crop yields are greatly increased from the new genetics. However, genetic engineering can have negative effects, such as, a lack of biodiversity, ecological risks, and human health risks.

Image result for gmo vs non gmo

One example of a negative consequence of GMO production is the lack of biodiversity. Genetically modified different species of plants can cause some of these species to become invasive. Because much of the genetic engineering field is an unknown quantity, many of the results can't be predicted with 100% accuracy. For example, a plant may pass a lab inspection and be deemed safe to be planted or grown in an actual environment (as opposed to in a lab). However, if something goes wrong, the plant may be inedible, or even deadly, to species that used to eat it, throwing off the food web and causing destruction of other species in certain cases.

Image result for gmo plant

In addition, an ecological risk that results from the production of genetically engineered crops is the increased use of insecticide and pesticide. Scientists will develop plants that are more resistant to insecticide, pushing farmers to spray more on their yields. As a result, insects may develop a stronger and faster resistance due to the increased exposure to insecticide, which causes even more to be sprayed. Overall, this results in more pollution due to the increased insecticide, more companies selling these chemicals to farmers, and more insects becoming resistant to the very product meant to harm them.

So, the question must be asked: is it worth it to support the genetic engineering of different organisms? Despite the positive economic gains, negative environmental and ecological effects persist, and it is up to us, the consumers, to decide whether or not we want to support it.

Questions to consider:
Are the economic benefits of GMO's worth the risks?
Are GMO's necessary to keep food supply up as human population increases?
Are generically engineered foods more appealing to you because they "taste better"?
Is the higher cost of organic foods worth it?

Sources:
https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2018/02/gmo-crops-increasing-yield-20-years-progress-ahead/
https://sites.psu.edu/blanchardcivicissues/2017/04/14/genetic-engineering/
http://www.jbiomeds.com/biomedical-sciences/human-social-and-environmental-impacts-of-human-genetic-engineering.php?aid=7264
http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/pocketk/4/default.asp

Comments

Anonymous said…

Great job on this blog post! I did some research of my own and realized, however, that there is evidence supporting positive economic AND ecological effects due to GMO's. While we already knew that GMO's have a lot of benefit for the economic portion of this equation, I was surprised to learn that there are actually many ecological benefits to using GMO's, specifically ones that are deemed Herbicide Tolerant (HT) and Insecticide Resistant (IR). HT and IR crops let the farmers use significantly fewer insecticides and herbicides to sustain their crops. For example, in Bangladesh, farmers who grow brinjal (eggplant) normally have to spray their crops twice a week to sustain them, whereas HT crops may only need to be sprayed once a SEASON. Also, HT and IR crops have started enabling farmers to adopt no-till farming and reduced-till farming, meaning much less soil is disturbed in the planting of these crops. You can find all of this information here, among other ecological effects that GMO's have, here: https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2016/06/08/environmental-economic-benefits-gmo-crops-study-claims-150-billion-since-96/

April 12, 2019 at 9:19 PM

Anonymous said…

As with anything that has been touched anthropogenically, there are consequences to GMOs. For one, we are able to grow more efficient crops and supply the growing population with healthy foods. On the other hand, as you highlighted, GMOs lead to a decrease in biodiversity, making the crops more susceptible to diseases and disturbances. Additionally, GMOs are used as an advertising technique to encourage consumers to buy certain products. GMOs aren’t harmful to ingest, but they can affect the environment. It’s a double edged sword. On the one hand, GMOs bring a larger food supply, but we would be harming the environment by doing so. By harming the environment, we would have to alter the crops even more, which could harm the environment further.

April 13, 2019 at 11:13 PM

Anonymous said…

GMOs have the potential to change everything for the better. From increased yield to the access of valuable vitamins otherwise hard to get, GMOs are invaluable to developing and developed nations alike. In terms of pesticides and herbicides, GMOs have the potential to counteract that too. Crops can be genetically modified to produce toxins that target the pests, while not being potent enough to affect humans. So while all science should and must face some skepticism, and GMOs should go through intensive regulatory procedures, there is little reason to view them as a net negative or even a net neutral to the world.

April 15, 2019 at 6:13 AM

Anonymous said…

To some, GMOs are seen as acts of humans against the nature of our world. To others, GMOs are viewed as technologically innovative products created by brilliant individuals. As we do have varying opinions regarding GMOs, humans ought to focus on how they will be used and distributed across the world, rather than restricting our view only to the past and present. The fact that GMOs were created are a great achievement for humanity; however, how and in what manner we will use the GMOs to benefit our species and the planet itself will be yet another achievement for us, perhaps it may turn out to be a disaster depending. In this sense, scientific engineering should always be based on what we will do, more than what we have done in the past.

April 15, 2019 at 8:14 AM

Anonymous said…

I enjoyed reading your article. After learning about GMOs and their impact on our health and environment, I have found that GMOs have both positive and negative effects on the environment. By genetically modifying organisms, we are able to provide for the lack of food in many developing countries. By modifying food so that food is produced in a faster time, our globe is able to contribute to the lack of food in developing countries. Although this helps many people, there are many negative effects of these GMOs. Studies show that GMOs are linked to cancer cases. So, these GMOs can both help and hurt our health and environment.

April 15, 2019 at 8:48 AM

Anonymous said…

While we have to consider the ecological risks that GMOs pose, we also have to consider the reason they first rose to prominence. Historically, the production of GMOs really gained tract during the Green Revolution, an effort in the 1950s and 1960s to increase agricultural production worldwide (but especially in the developing world) in order to deal with the world’s growing hunger problems. The production of GMOs and other tech helped increase crop yield, reduce crop vulnerability to certain pest, and shortened growing season. This ultimately allowed many developing countries around the world to revolutionize the way the grew certain crops. So, while it may not be ecologically sustainable to keep producing and developing GMOs, we have to consider the benefits in terms of the wellbeing of humans.

April 15, 2019 at 8:59 AM

Anonymous said…

This was a very interesting post! I feel as though GMO’s must be implemented to cope with the growing human population. This is one of the pros of GMO’s: they will let us fight hunger in developing nations. With an increase in GMO’s, crop yield soars, which is a good thing. GMO’s allow for the lifespan of the foods to increase as well; this means that they can be shipped to remote locations and they will not spoil. So, I think it is necessary to keep the GMO industry growing to help other countries and future generations.

April 15, 2019 at 11:24 AM

Anonymous said…

I looked into some more negative effects of GMOs and found some interesting concerns. As you mentioned in your blog post, GMOs lead to the increased use of pesticides. One particular case of this is with herbicides. Overuse of herbicides results in “superweeds,” resistant to the chemical. This is causing farmers to use even more toxic herbicides every year. Not only does this create environmental harm, but GM foods also contain higher residues of toxic herbicides. I also found that there is such thing a GMO pollution! interestingly enough, GMOs cross pollinate and GMO contamination has caused economic losses for organic and non-GMO farmers who often struggle to keep their crops pure.

April 15, 2019 at 5:55 PM

Anonymous said…

While the increased use of GMO’s has its downsides, overall, GMO’s are necessary to sustain the growing world population. However, I think the current system of GMO’s is extremely susceptable to disease which leads me to believe that some changes should be made in the engineering. I believe that there should be more than one dominant seed for each plant variety. With this system, we can ensure high crop yields while also preventing rampant disease and the following famine.

April 15, 2019 at 7:37 PM

Anonymous said…

Lots of consumers always scrutinize over the fact of whether or not a product has GMOs inside of it, and while they can be harmful, they were devolved to massively increase crop yield. I am not encouraging using GMO’s for everything, the possibility of disrupting a food web at the basic level (the plant level) would be catastrophic. However, in places where they range into the billions of people that need food, like India, these advancements help making then numbers of starvation larger. Are there solutions out there far superior to using GMO’s? Possibly. But for now they are helpful.

April 16, 2019 at 11:25 AM

Anonymous said…

GMOs are such a new development in technology and agriculture that we aren't really sure whether they are ultimately beneficial. I think we need more time for research on genetic modification to find out more about how they work and what sorts of consequences might happen. Unfortunately, these decisions are made by the corporations that control what sort of fruits and vegetables they sell. GMOs are much cheaper to produce because they can have "natural" pest and disease resistance.

April 16, 2019 at 7:28 PM

Anonymous said…

This is a very informative post! I feel as though GMO's have a bad light shown on them. They receive hate by people who do not fully understand the effects of GMOs. I feel GMOs benifits outweigh the negative. GMOS aid in increasing crop yield for many areas including developing countries. Despite this, there is still an issue of harmful pesticides. Thankfully, with GMOS, plants can be genetically modified to repel unwanted pests and have an overall healthy plant. Despite these benefits, GMOs are still a fairly new technology. There are many conditions that have not been considered when using GMOs.

April 16, 2019 at 7:45 PM

Anonymous said…

This is a really great post! Although GMO's have been seen as a very innovative creation, I feel that they also have some important drawbacks like all things do. As you mentioned, GMO's do decrease biodiversity which is a very important factor in our environment. On the other hands, GMO's benefits are much greater than it's drawbacks. For one, the possibilities of GMO's are endless and many different crops, suited for different climates and environments, can be created. Overall I think the benefits of GMO's should be greater emphasized than the drawbacks.

April 16, 2019 at 8:45 PM

Anonymous said…

This post was very interesting! I believe that there are definitely pros and cons to the GMO situation, as they can be quite beneficial in some cases. With proper regulation and roads, the production of GMOs can help with the growing human population issue without negatively affecting the environment. This is done by greater crop yields and longer lifespans, both important factors when considering growing/exporting crops to developing countries.

April 16, 2019 at 10:46 PM

Anonymous said…

Great post! While there are some who believe that GMO’s have harmful side effects that outweigh the benefits, we have been genetically modifying our food for centuries. It has just been through the selective breeding of our crops that we have been able to grow more productive fruit and vegetables. A lack of biodiversity is a little less than an important detail because we have more people to feed, and therefore need to be able to have more food.

April 17, 2019 at 6:12 AM

Anonymous said…

People hear the term “GMO” and freak out. Really these guys are the reason many of our modern produce looks the way it is today. Bananas, grapes, and strawberries grow naturally looking nothing like they do in our grocery stores. With continued proper use, GMOs will help end world hunger.

April 17, 2019 at 11:43 AM

Anonymous said…

I did some additional research and found an interesting article about how gmos may have some consequences on our health. It found that when people consumed food with gmos, the genetically modified food left materials in humans for prolonged periods of time, which included toxic insecticides. However, there are positive health benefits as well, including increased nutrients. Some more positive consequences of GMOs are better taste, resistance to disease and pests, and faster output of crops. While GMOs may have a bad rep, there are some positive consequences of them that mitigate the negative.

April 18, 2019 at 10:51 AM

Anonymous said…

This was an interesting post! A lot of people complain or worry about the presence of GMOs and even go so far as to completely avoid GMOs, but the truth is, GMOs have played a rather large role in our ability to meet the world food demand with ever-increasing populations. However, the risks associated with GMOs (while they may not be presenting themselves right now) may start to show up in the near future: pests are becoming more resistant to insecticides, and we really are lowering biodiversity rates by using more and more GMOs. However, I believe that the benefits (for now, at least), are outweighing the costs. With conventional farming methods, it is becoming difficult to meet demands for food supply, and we cannot deny that GMOs have helped us keep pace with demands. However, we will soon begin to uncover health effects from GMOs, so time will tell as to whether or not the benefits and costs will balance.

April 18, 2019 at 2:14 PM

Meredith Miller said…

GMOs mostly get a bad rep, but The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations also says that farmers can grow more food on less land with genetically modified crops. Additionally I found the practice of genetically modifying animals as well as crops very interesting. Genetically modified animals have certain genes inserted into their genomes so that they can produce ‘better’ milk, eggs, and meat. These animals also are expected to have a higher resistance to disease and overall better health, with better natural waste management. In theory, genetically modified crops and animals will also be more environmentally friendly because they conserve water, soil, and energy.

April 18, 2019 at 8:51 PM

Anonymous said…

What an interesting post! Whenever some people think of GMOs, they immediately associate the label with negative health effects and often don't fully understand the context behind them. Some don't even know what the acronym "GMO" stands for! Personally, I think that GMOs will be an enormous step towards food distribution and food production throughout the world. However, humans should continue to address the negative consequences of using GMOs, like increased pest resistance to insecticides, while being receptive to the plentiful positive benefits that can come from GMOs, like producing larger and more efficient crop yields.

April 18, 2019 at 11:15 PM

Anonymous said…

As you’ve mentioned, increasing the use of GMOs results in a loss in biodiversity. This can have devasting consequences upon the environment because plant species are now more susceptible to complete eradication when there is exposure to diseases. However, I believe that GMOs do provide essential benefits to both the economy and food production. In places where quality food is scarcely available, GMOs can help distribute foods of good taste and health towards populations who need it. Although it is true that we do not understand the full implications of using or overproducing GMOs on the environment, they do help satisfy the ever growing demands by an increasing population around the world.

April 19, 2019 at 9:36 AM

Anonymous said…

Although, as you mentioned, the use of GMOs could lead to a loss in biodiversity, GMOs have several benefits for the environment. For example, drought-resistant and other types of genetically engineered crops can be used by farmers to farm more sustainably. Additionally, herbicide-tolerant crops allow farmers to use more environmentally sound farming methods; these methods of farming help to reduce nutrient runoff and soil erosion, ultimately benefitting the environment.

April 19, 2019 at 9:38 PM

Anonymous said…

Even though GMO's may appear bad, they might not always be as bad as they seem. We have to look at the potnetial consequences and the harms before we consider whether or not we should ban GMO's or stop usoing them Even though they could harm biodiversity, they also have many productive benefits such as yield in society.

April 20, 2019 at 12:00 AM

Anonymous said…

It’s strange that GMO's have become such a hot button issue. Usually people are very supportive of all the innovation that comes to make life more efficient and luxurious. Nowadays, people are just looking at nonGMO markings almost as a marketing strategy. Instead of looking at this as just a way to overpriced foods, it should be more of a concern to companies. The health of citizens should be a priority not just sales.

April 22, 2019 at 10:20 AM

Anonymous said…

GMOs are a very highly talked about subject, however, I feel as though many people don’t actually know exactly what they are and what they do. GMOs may bring many economic benefits, but there are environmental consequences as well. Like anything humans do to modify nature, there are consequences. I believe, though, that GMOs aren’t truly evil. They bring good as well. As long as we moderate them enough and aware of the consequences, we are good to continue to use some GMOs.

April 22, 2019 at 7:48 PM

Anonymous said…

This was a very informative post. I don't think GMOs are as bad as the general public makes them seem to be. I think people need to be educated on the many benefits GMOs bring and what exactly they are. But they also need to informed of the drawbacks as well such as decrease in genetic diversity. I also think the labeling of products that are GMOs needs to be regulated so the consumer knows exactly what they are purchasing.x

April 22, 2019 at 10:07 PM

Anonymous said…

This was an informative post! GMO's have definitely had a positive impact on human health (with the reduced use of pesticides and higher nutrient content) and have made a sufficiently balanced diet more readily available worldwide. GMO's have a lot of potential to address the current and future needs of humanity. However, they also have the potential to cause damage, whether it be through the loss of biodiversity or easy spread of disease that has adapted around the modifications. Therefore, I think it's important to maintain a wide variety of genetic variations in our commercial crops and to take it slow with the development and implementation of GMO's. There may be side effects we would have never expected or potential health risks from rushing the development process, so a well-paced, well-tested development of genetically modified organisms is the smart way to go.

April 23, 2019 at 12:48 AM

Anonymous said…

GMOs are a big topic that many people always talk about. Some think that it does harm an others know the real benefits of GMOs; without the change of GMOs, we wouldn’t have certain fruits and vegetables that we have now. However, it is true that GMOs can have potential damage to our enviroment and biodiversity of fruits and vegetables. It’s still important to have a genetic diversity but GMOs have brought us manny economical benefits along with health benefits. Maybe in the near future GMOs can become something of benefit rather than a debated issue.

April 23, 2019 at 6:29 AM

Anonymous said…

Almost all foods we eat everyday are genetically modified. GMO’s have been extremely beneficial to the entire world. Food abundance is at an all time high because efficient GMO’s. World hunger has never been lower. While it is very important to be extremely careful when genetically modifying organism, the benefits far out way any draw backs.

April 23, 2019 at 7:06 AM

Anonymous said…

Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty and undernourishment thanks to more open global markets in the past few decades, and along with the living standard increase arose GMOs. GMOs are a controversial topic and it is not clear whether it is overall detrimental or beneficial, but there are numerous economic benefits. What GMOs have done is essentially increased the supply of food across the arable land--this has lowered food prices and made food more affordable for lower-income people. The next challenge is to structure a framework that can increase accessibility and reduce the economic barriers to obtain foods across the world, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries.

April 23, 2019 at 5:20 PM

Cathy Kim said…

I really enjoyed reading your post! Honestly I think it has shifted my perspective on GMOs. I thought that GMOs and genetically modified anything was harmful, doing more bad than good and that nature/all things natural should just be left alone. However, after reading your post, I learned that GMOs have contributed to relieving millions of people out of poverty and increased the world's food supply significantly. Although all of this is great news, I still believe that genetic modification of organisms should be done in moderation.

April 25, 2019 at 6:32 PM

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