I decided to write my reflection paper on GMOs because that is the topic that stuck with me the most since we’ve talked about it. Before taking this class and learning about GMOs in this class, I knew nothing at all about them. I didn’t know what they were. I didn’t know how they worked. All I knew about GMOs was that Jimmy Kimmel did that video where he asked people their opinions on GMOs and what they were and everybody was clueless. When you first introduced us to GMOs I assumed that they were bad and kind of had a pre notion that they were bad just because of how people talked about it on Jimmy Kimmel. However, after you talked to us more about them and explained how they’re used, I don’t think they are as bad as people make them out to be.
Yes there can be downsides to GMOs and yes there are positives to GMOs, but overall my opinion about them has changed for the better and this class has made me more educated about them. GMO stands for genetically modified organism and is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and added to the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. This is done most times to promote growth and prevent sickness in animals and plants. According to the Center for Food Safety, GMO seeds are used in 90% of corn, cotton, and soybeans in the U.S. today. To avoid foods that contain GMOs it is often necessary to buy foods that say they are “organic” or “GMO free”. There are many pros and cons to using GMOs in plants and animals.
Although not everybody agrees with GMOs they do have a lot of pros. First of all, insect resistance in plants is definitely a pro of using GMOs in plants. Insect resistance is important because it Can reduce the amount of harmful pesticides that are used on the plants later on life when they don’t have an insect resistant GMO. This also allows plants to grow easier without the risk of crop failure. Using GMOs can also be very beneficial to the environment. They can create a lesser need for chemicals such as pesticides, machinery that releases gases into the environment, and soil erosion. GMOs can also be beneficial because GMO modified foods can provide better nutrition to the people and animals that are consuming them. Some foods are modified in a way that adds more vitamins, minerals, and necessary nutrients to them which can help fight malnutrition for people that have a limited Supply of food.
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However, along with the pros to GMOs there are also cons. One of the cons to GMOs is that they can present a significant allergy risk to people. Because GMOs often mix or add proteins to a food that didn’t alreadly have them, they can cause new allergic reactions in the human body because the body isn’t used to seeing them. Proteins from an organism that you are allergic to may be added to an organism that you weren’t originally allergic to, causing you to now be allergic to the genetically modified organism. Another con to GMOs is that they can add a lowered resistance to antibiotics. Because some GM0s have built in antibiotic qualities, eating them can lessen the effectiveness of actual antibiotics. Overall, I think that GMOs seem to be a good thing. I do think that the U.S. needs to do a lot more research on the possible side effects of GMOs however. The pros seem to outweigh the cons but that could be due to the fact that we just haven’t studied GMOs enough to tell what threats they can actually have to us.
References
- Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States. (2014). United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved Apil 30, 2016, from http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1282246/err162.pdf
- Genetically engineered foods: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2016, from https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002432.htm
