GM foods!

Genetically Modified Foods:

1)Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms. Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering, unlike similar food organisms which have been modified from their wild ancestors through selective breeding (plant breeding and animal breeding) or mutation breeding.

2)GM foods were first put on the market in the early 1990s. Typically, genetically modified foods are transgenic plant products: soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil, but animal products have been developed. For example, in 2006 a pig engineered to produce omega-3 fatty acids through the expression of a roundworm gene was controversially produced. Researchers have also developed a genetically-modified breed of pigs that are able to absorb plant phosphorus more efficiently, and as a consequence the phosphorus content of their manure is reduced by as much as 60%.

3)Critics have objected to GM foods on several grounds, including perceived safety issues, ecological concerns, and economic concerns raised by the fact that these organisms are subject to intellectual property law.

4)Genetic engineering begins with the identification and isolation of a gene which expresses a desirable trait, with the aid of restriction enzymes. Then a recipient plant or animal is selected, and the gene is inserted and incorporated into its genome through a vector such as agrobacterium, through a gene gun shooting an elemental particle covered in plasmid DNA, electroporation, or a virus

5)Crop yields

Several studies supported by organic growers have claimed that genetically modified varieties of plants do not produce higher crop yields than normal plants. However, independent scientific studies have not been able to substantiate such claims.

One study by Charles Benbrook, Chief Scientist of the Organic Center, found that genetically engineered Roundup Ready soybeans do not increase yields (Bendrook, 1999). The report reviewed over 8,200 university trials in 1998 and found that Roundup Ready soybeans yielded 7-10% less than similar natural varieties. In addition, the same study found that farmers used 5-10 times more herbicide (Roundup) on Roundup Ready soybeans than on conventional ones.




Merits/Demerits

Advantages:
1. Modified to make them more resistant to unfavourable conditions
2. Produce higher yields
3. Use less fertilizers
4. Use lesser water
5. Pest resistance
6. Herbicide tolerance
7. Increasing food supplies in co-relation with an increasing world population.
8. can ge yield in irrespective of the season



Disadvantages:
1. Harmful to environment
2. Harmful to humans
3. Give rise to 'super weeds'
4. 'Super weeds' dominate the fields and affect main crops
5. Genes from the genetically modified food could be transferred to the pests which can make them become resistant to the pesticides and the pesticides become useless.
6.The new genes that are put in food could be resistant to certain antibiotics; if we eat them the effectiveness of antibiotics could be reduced. New allergens could be accidentally created and known allergens could be transferred to other foods. For example, if a gene from peanuts was taken and put in a tomato, people allergic to peanuts could be allergic to that tomato.
7.Genetic pollution


Genetically modified DNA from any part of a GM plant can enter the
environment unobserved, for example, through pollen transfer to a
conventional crop, through seed dispersal or plant decomposition and
persistence in soil ecology. The toxins encoded in the DNA also kill
wildlife and contaminate soil and water, as do herbicides such as
glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium that are an essential component of
the herbicide tolerant crop system.


GM contamination lasts at least 15 years in soil