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Example research essay topic: The Danger Of Genetically Engineered Plants - 1,899 words

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The Danger of Genetically Engineered Plants Genetically modified crops are appearing on the farms of the United States more and more everyday, even though consumers may not know it. However, the good news is that these crops are planted because of their benefits to people. For example, according to the American Medical Association (AMA), More than 40 transgenic crop varieties have been cleared through the federal review process with enhanced agronomic and / or nutritional characteristics or one or more features of pest (insect and viruses) and tolerance to herbicides. The AMA goes on to report that no long-term effects have been detected to date.

Nevertheless, because there is a lack of unbiased information that is provided to the public, there are still some people that are skeptic of this new science, and believe it is dangerous. However, the public must be informed that genetic engineering has given agriculture many technological advances, and still offers many more to come. Agricultural genetic engineering research could provide many benefits for our future because genetically modified organisms (GMO) would offer a surplus yield to help ease world hunger, would promote a pesticide / herbicide free environment, and would lead to higher quality foods. Many people have interchanged the terms agricultural biotechnology and genetic engineering with out knowing the difference. As stated by the United States Department of Agricultural (USDA) agricultural biotechnology is the collection of scientific techniques, including genetic engineering, that are used to create, improve, or modify plants, animals, and microorganisms. This explains that agricultural biotechnology is the big picture that includes many different sub categories.

One of these sub categories is genetic engineering; this is the altering or redesigning of the genetic make-up of plants, animals, and microorganisms. If you were to ask ten people the question, do you consider genetically engineered foods to be safe? Seven out of those ten would probably tell you that they do not know what you are talking about. The genetic engineering of crops is a subject that the public is not well informed on. As hard as it is to believe, it is a process that has been going on for nearly eleven years now.

The first test of a genetically engineered crop was reported in 1990, according to Seeds of Change (44). The foods that are currently being genetically altered range from corn and tomatoes to infant formula and soybeans. Seeds of Change states that Today, a mere three years after the first large-scale commercial harvest, genetically engineered crops cover one-fourth of U. S. cropland more than 90 million acres (43). The public is unfortunately unaware of this and they should not be.

People need become more aware of what is being modified and, more importantly, is it safe. When you have little or no knowledge on a significant topic, such as your health, you tend to speculate the worst. I know that my first response over this subject was one of questioning and concern. So why are crops being genetically engineered? For over a hundred years agriculturists and scientists have been working on ways to improve our foods and their production.

Their techniques range from cross breeding to weed killing and have been improving the way we grow food. Genetic modification is the process of splicing genes from one species to the next. For instance, scientists inserted genes from other species into potatoes, corn, cotton and tomatoes so that they create their own pesticide, therefore, enabling farmers to grow corn that is resistant to cold weather or a crop of tomatoes that are resistant to insect bites. But is this process safe? How can FDA and scientists be totally sure that this will not be dangerous to our health or the environment?

Although we are currently not seeing a lot of real health affects, as far as we know, researches have found that the Monarch butterfly dies after contact with pollen from corn that has been genetically altered. Research also shows that people with allergies to foods, such as brazil nuts, showed allergic reactions when introduced to soybeans that had been spliced with brazil nut genes, as with The Brazil Nut Incident (14). When scientists from the University of Nebraska put genes from Brazil nuts into soybeans it created a fatal allergen known as 2 S Albumin. According to Dr. Marion Nestle the reactions from this particular allergen can range from itching and upset stomach to death (Brazil 14). Since this particular incident the US Company has halted the testing of soybeans.

Dr. Marion Nestle stated that [she] really thought that the possibility of transferring an allergen from one food to another was a remote one. [She] was floored when [she] heard about this (Brazil 14). Another incident took place after intestinal problems developed with rats that ate genetically modified potatoes, scientist Arapad Pusztai stated he refused to eat modified foods and that it was very, very unfair to use our fellow citizens as guinea pigs (Health Risks 1181). I fully agree with Pusztai, because if someone was taking antibiotics or was simply allergic to a type of food, how would they know what not to eat.

Scientists have said they are trying to refrain from common allergen proteins that most Americans are allergic to. Gee thanks is what I say to that. How do they know what all Americans are or are not allergic to? Another question that has arisen is potential long-term effects. Couldnt there be health effects that we do not see now, but might see in the next ten to twenty years? Seeds of Change believes that we have to make sure that those involved in determining the safety of genetically engineered products are staying at arms length from the people who stand to profit from them (44).

But my question is how will those involved in determining the safety will know the long-term effects? Some scientists have already discovered that there may be some long-term side effects on people who are taking antibiotics. According to Are You Eating Test Tube Food, genetic engineering could not only affect the resistance of antibiotics, it may eventually cause antibiotics to be altogether useless towards lethal infections (Malin 128). Some people may believe my observations to be ludicrous, but I think there could be a connection with genetic engineering and the majority of unknown side effects and sicknesses that are discovered each day; but without hard evidence how can I, or anyone else, prove it? This is where the Fda's sole responsibility of mandatory labeling should be taking place, but as Dr. Margaret Mellon states, [consumer desires and fifty cents will get you about a cup of coffee at the FDA] (Brazil 14).

If these developments have taken place without success, how can FDA be so nonchalant with the regulating of this? FDA regulators announced that it would be unnecessary to test foods that have been genetically engineered and that they would leave the safety content of the modified foods in the hands of the industry. Since the FDA depends on the industry for the majority of their resolutions, this announcement is irrelevant and unstable because there are reasons to believe there are specific risks taken with these foods. The safety of this process is literally impossible to monitor. If a tomato has been genetically altered then everything that has tomatoes as an ingredient would have to be labeled. Your pizza could include tomato sauce that has been genetically altered and your V 8 drinks could contain tomato juice from a tomato that has been genetically modified.

According to Are You Eating Test Tube Food, the USDA has approved fifty genetically engineered plants; some of them include: beets, canola, chicory, corn, cotton, melons and papaya; and soon to come: apples, strawberries, cucumbers, rice, sugar cane, walnuts and wheat (126). With all these and new foods being tested each day, the industry would never be able to keep up. If the consumers demand labeling even if we think it doesnt convey a lot of good stuff were probably going to end up with a labeling scheme states Seeds of Change (51). Some also believe that labeling will increase the surveillance of health issues. I feel that labeling, if possible, would be the only moral thing to do. I also believe the public would feel safer knowing what is genetically modified and what is not, even if we cannot control it.

Why is it that we, being health conscious Americans, have not taken more of an initiative to fight for genetically engineered food labeling? Although some stores and products have taken the step, they are few and far between. Some places where the public can go to feel safe that they are not buying genetically altered foods has been put to question. Are You Eating Test Tube Food knows of only two grocery store chains, (Whole Foods Market, Inc. and Wild Oats Markets, Inc. ), that have banned genetically engineered foods from there store (Malin 126). According to Organic Garden some well known products that have refrained from using genetically modified foods are: Ben & Jerry's, Birds Eye, Gerber (baby foods) and H.

J. Heinz Company (baby foods) (Malin 126). I know that if the food I bought for my family or myself was genetically modified I would not buy it. As a matter of fact, ever since I have been doing my research on this topic I have become more cautious with the food I buy and feed my family, but it would be virtuously impossible to refrain from genetically engineered foods altogether. Overall I believe genetically engineered foods to be unsafe.

The unknown harms are what scares and infuriates me the most. As with any new technology, there are certain risks that can only be discovered with new knowledge on the subject and a given period of time. So the only alternative the public has to try and refrain from this epidemic and to become more aware of what is going on is to shop at organic stores and write letters to the government to demand FDA labeling. In Martin Teitels book Rain Forest in Your Kitchen Jeremy Rifkin notes, Whoever controls germ plasm, and therefore genetic engineering, is as important as who controls oil (35).

As American citizens, it is our given right to know what we are buying and feeding our families. So the next time you are parading through your local grocery store trying to figure out something healthy to fix for dinner, remember that the bag of potato or tortilla chips that you just threw into your shopping cart has a good chance of having genetically altered genes in it! Word Count: 1764 Bibliography: American Medical Association. Genetically Modified Crops and Foods. 16 April 2001 < web >. CAST. Applications of Biotechnology to Crops: Benefits and Risks. 12 February 2001 < web >.

Malin, Andrea. Are You Eating Test Tube Food? Prevention May 2000: 122 - 131. Blake, Kevin. Genetically Modified Food Plan. Consumers Research Magazine 83 June 2000: 6.

The Brazil Nut Incident. Mother Earth News August 1996. September 1996 < web > 14. Seeds of Change. Consumer Reports September 2000. September 1999 < web > 41 - 46.

Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods. Lancet 01 September 2000. 29 May 1999 < web > 1811. Tested, Martin. Rain Forest in Your Kitchen: The hidden connection between extinction and your supermarket.

Washington: Island Press, 1992.


Free research essays on topics related to: american medical association, genetically engineered foods, genetically modified crops, long term effects, genetically modified foods

Research essay sample on The Danger Of Genetically Engineered Plants

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