With a longer living and growing population the world needs more food. Not only is population a problem but food prices are at record highs due to fuel prices and other commodities. One way we are trying to deal with this is by genetically engineering our food.
Genetic engineering is the process of transferring specific traits, or genes, from one organism into a different organism; the result is a genetically modified organism. Bio engineering food is a fairly new field. Basically engineers cause a mutation in the DNA that changes some of the plants properties. Genetically engineering food could be very beneficial. Food prices, fuel and cost of pesticides are on the rise and because of that, so is the cost of food. As an attempt to reduce cost we have begun to study and genetically modify food.
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| Colorado Potato Beetle |
Civilizations need food in order to thrive and survive. By using science and technology engineers are modifying the DNA of plants and creating a better crop that can have higher yields per acre. This is no different than what we do today. We use science and technology to create pesticides to get rid of insects and pest that damage crops. For example, the Colorado potato beetle causes extensive damage to potato crops every year. Therefore, the potato was modified to produce bacillus thuringiensis, which is a toxin that kills the beetle. As a result of genetically modified potatoes, we reduce the amount of fuel we use and pesticide costs because farmers will not have to spray the fields or pay for expensive pesticides.
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| Tractor Mounted Sprayer |
As I stated above, a direct benefit of having genetically modified food is that were able to produce higher yields and decrease the cost using the same amount of land. Additionally, more benefits include a reduction of soil erosion and runoff. By genetically engineering crops to produce toxins that kill off pests we do not need to use pesticides. It is a well-known fact that what gets sprayed in the field does not always stay in the field. A lot of the time pesticides end up in rivers and streams due to run off. By genetically engineering our foods we could reduce the amount of pesticides and chemical runoff that we currently have. We could also reduce the amount of soil erosion because we won’t have to work the land as much with genetically modified crops.
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| Genetically Modified Strawberries |
Some of the concerns I have about genetically modified food, is how safe is it to eat. After all what good is food if it’s toxic. Which is exactly what the New Leaf Potato was. This was the potato that was modified to produce the toxin that killed the Colorado potatoe beetle. Furthermore, the Colorado potato beetle is such a problem today because it has naturally mutated and became resistant to the pesticides we used on it. Could the beetle mutate again and become resistant to the genetically modified potatoes? Also, by causing mutations will we accelerate the rate at which the plant naturally mutates and changes to the environment? If so, what are some of the potential problems with that? By modifying plants we could also accidentally cross pollinate with other plants and potentially create “superweeds” which could be hard to control. The biggest problem of all could be allergenic. By genetically modifying foods we use “DNA parts” from other plants. What happens if we use a piece of DNA from a nut and put it in other types of plants? This could be a problem for people with nut allergies. There seems to be a lot of questions that have yet to be answered about genetically engineered foods. The benefits seem to outweigh the consequences but that’s because we have no results of what the potential benefits are. As of now I do not see how we can keep genetically modifying foods and putting it in the market for people until we conduct more studies and better understand the consequences. We need to continue to look for other ways to deal with pests and crops. Until we have results on genetically modified foods and how we regulate whats safe, I do not think modifying our crops is the way to go.
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This is a very interesting article, I did not even know that it was possible to make a plant do that. You also bring up a good point about insects mutating, if farmers keep spraying only certain insects will die. The insects that don't die are immune to the pesticide, and will make a new breed of insects that are immune.
ReplyDeleteI will have to agree with Kyle, this article is very interesting as well as alarming to think that these beetles could mutate to be immune to the pesticide- where will this chain of events end before it is out of our hands. It is sad that we would have to alter foods just to get a higher yield. An interesting movie that ties in with genetically modified foods is called Food, Inc. It would be great to watch if you are interested in learning more!
ReplyDeleteI am interested to see what will happen with the engineering of crops. I think it is a good we are experimenting with the idea and I am confident we will be able to modify the DNA of crops so we can use less pesticides. You did an excellent job describing the pro's and con's of the crop engineering.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a great ethical topic to choose for this blog because it does bring up a lot of moral questions that a lot of people have different opinions on. Like the fact that genetically engineering plants to resist insects would reduce the cost of producing and selling crops. But then there is also the side that says since the crop has DNA from different plants in it it is not really a true crop, like that blue strawberry you posted, strawberrys aren't supposed to be blue. Good post
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting to read. I like how you gave benefits and drawbacks while describing what it was as well. It seems like its a great thing when it comes to the planting and harvesting but when it comes to safety of eating it, that's definitely debatable.
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