GMO
Pros and cons
Against GMOs
Environmental risk to the environmentdisrupts the system
seeds become resistant to herbicide, pesticide
virus = super seeds threaten other crops and plants
GMOs increase resistance to antibiotics
medicine becomes less effective
possible links with cancer, reproductive malfunction
digestive disorder
reliance on GM seeds at the mercy of companies
who owns patents on seeds and set the prices
terminator technologies = prevent growers using last years seeds to plant new crops, forcing growers to keep buying seeds from GMOs companies, encouraging the trend towards industrial scale monoculture.
natural seeds, natural foods taste better than GM foods
genes can end up in unexpected places
modified genes can affect gene, cell, plant and ecosystem
gene can mutate in harmful effect
sleeper genes could become accidentally switched on and active genes could become silent
interaction with wild and native populations: GMOs could compete or breed with wild species. ie farmed fish impact wild species.
impact on birds, insects, soil, biodiversity. Risks to non-target species, birds, pollinators, microorganisms. Insects would create resistance to certain viruses or diseases.
Human health may be affected by GMOs
transfer of allergenic genes
mixing GM products in food chain
transfer of antibiotic resistance
Socio economic effect
loss of farmers access to plant material farmers, even own seeds
intellectual property rights controlled by few
termination technology prevents farmers to save seeds for planting next season
For GMOs
Tampering for taste
Food contamination between GMO and non GMO
More output
stronger crops
GMO can make food healthier,
by adding more nutrients ie Golden Rice
some claim that GM food is part of the solution
for hunger and poverty
Improve efficiency in food production
increase yield
Reduce allergic reactions to certain foods
an extension of natural breeding
are strictly regulated and safe
can help solve problems
caused by Climate Change
less nutritious, sometimes toxic
conventional plant breeding supported by modern technology like gene mapping, marker assisted selection - outperform GM seeds
"The quality and efficacy of our food production system depends only partly on crop genetics. The other part of the equation is farming methods. What is needed are not just highyielding, climate-ready, and disease-resistant crops, but productive, climate-ready, and disease-resistant agriculture"
Def: GMOs as organisms in
which “the genetic material
has been altered in a way
that does not occur naturally
by mating and/or natural
recombination.
Among the manipulations included within GM are:
➜ Transferring of genes from related and/or totally unrelated organisms
➜ Modifying information in a gene (“gene editing”)
➜ Moving, deleting, or multiplying genes within a living organism
➜ Splicing together pieces of existing genes, or constructing new ones.
When incorporated into the DNA of an organism, genetically modified genes modify the functional characteristics – the traits – of an organism.
The most common traits in the GM crops currently on the market are the expression of proteins designed to kill insects that try to eat the crop or to make the crop tolerant to an herbicide. However, in theory, the new proteins expressed in GM crops could have a wide range of functions.
It is also important to keep
in mind that because of the
complexity of gene systems,
the effects of even a single
disturbance are not predictable.
Golden rice
20% of calories of the calories of 3.5 billion people
major issues beyond technology around:
ethics, social and cultural values
The UN FAO figure of needing to produce 70% more food by 2050 assumes that we’ll go on wasting food at the current rate, and continue to eat the same diets.
The UN FAO also states that 1.3 billion tonnes of food (almost a third of global annual production) is wasted each year for preventable reasons, such as insufficient markets, poor storage and transport, disposal at every stage of the food chain etc. •
GM food might be able to feed the world, but that’s unlikely under current political and economic structures. Other solutions, such as improving our soils and conserving our water supplies may be cheaper and easier?