GMO: A Global Impact Research Paper Sample

Following the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines

The steady rise in today’s population is a concern for many reasons. One of the greatest scientists have pondered is world hunger. Before the world’s population had risen to six billion, there were already people dying every minute of starvation. Now that it has reached seven billion, the problem is greater than ever. With people still multiplying at a rate faster than ever before, and showing no signs of slowing down, scientists are in a frenzy attempting to figure out how to feed everybody. In an effort to combat world hunger, and save lives, scientists have combined their knowledge of botany and farming in an effort to create food for the masses, food that could be grown anywhere and withstand anything. Genetically modified crops are, supposedly, the wave of the future.
According to “Brave New Seeds: The Threat of GM Crops to Farmers,” one of the primary concerns about these crops is it will drive most farmers, already struggling, out of business (Seuret, 2000). Engineered to be grown in any conditions, the farmer will no longer be needed to protect the seedling from harsh weather such as drought or flood. Furthermore, Seuret reveals GM crops are even resistant to pestilence; farmers would also not be needed to protect crops from bugs (Seuret, 2000). It is sad that many would lose their jobs, but also thrilling to think about the possibilities GM crops present. For example, scientists also genetically modified each seed to yield more crops than a traditionally natural seed, according to, “Letting the Gene out of the Bottle: The Population Genetics of Genetically Modified Crops (Chapman & Burke, 2006).” Not only could the crops be grown in the wet, swampy marshes of a jungle, but also in the dry desolation of a desert. More importantly, the crops would produce more food, feeding more of the world’s hungry people and, possibly, solving the long unanswered questions about world hunger.
While yielding more crops, withstanding harsh weather, and being resistant to pestilence appears to make genetically modified crops a scientific miracle, there are also drawbacks to the science. For example, as pointed out in, “Unintended Effects in Genetically Modified Crops: Revealed by Metabolomics,” the crops have also been found resistant to herbicides, meaning they seemingly cannot be killed (Rischer, 2008). These aptly named super crops are impervious to death, then, unless they wilt naturally on their own. This would be fine, unless it had not been found possible for the GMCs to crossbreed and mutate with surrounding weeds. A new breed of weed that was potentially as impervious to harsh climate as the GM crops, as well as resistant to herbicides could be a destriment to the already outrageous agricultural problem weeds cause the farming community. Moreover, the new genetically modified crossbreed of weed would have the potential to spread into the ecosystem, infecting it as it acclamated to its new habitat. The weeds could cause a violent disruption to the ecosystem that was so severe, it could cause the entire bionetwork to collapse (Chapman & Burke, 2006). Unfortunately, many simulations show that the transgene crossbreeding between GM crops and weeds is unavoidable in many situations (Jacobsen, Serensen, Pedersen, & Weiner, 2013). Furthermore, if weeds were to mutate into the GM crops, crossbreeding into the food we ate before we realized, it could cause serious, unknown health risks (Rischer, 2008). We would, effectively, become our own lab rats.
Many believe that if scientists can create a wonder crop, suited to be grown anywhere and withstand anything, surely, if they are given enough time they will be able to find a solution to crossbreeding between GM crops and weeds. This may be the case, but scientists have found other issues that stand in the way of their progress: the effect GM crops may have on our bodies. There is a comparative impossibility in predicting how a GM crop will effect a person’s body five, ten, or fifteen years from now when intake is steady, as stated in, “Potential Adverse Health Effects of Genetically Modified Crops (Bakshi, 2003).” However, Bakshi also points out that adverse effects have already been observed and GM crops are useless if they leave us dying, much like starvation has done (Bakshi, 2003). Metabolomics have been used to study human reactions to GM crops, allowing scientists to identify the molecules in the GMO in accordance with their potential impact on human life, but many fear if GMOs are resistant to weather and herbicides, they will eventually make us resistant to anything that may help us, namely antiobiotics (Rischer, 2008). The primary scientific concern is that several years after regular ingestion, genetically modified organisms begin producing antiobiotic resistant bacterial strains within our bodies; while they would be feeding us, we would fall ill and there would be no medicine on the market to help us (Rischer, 2008).
In sum, the science and technology behind genetically modified organisms began innocently, but the reprecussions are far-reaching. GM crops would feed billions. Withstanding any weather, and surviving pestilence and disease without a farmer, the crops would surely save lives. However, their ability to survive herbicides and mutate with weeds is alarming, as they would have an unstoppable potential to ruin entire ecosystems. Furthermore, the world’s population may be put at risk by eating these crops. They are resistant to every manmade venture that sets out to help them, or fight them; it is thought that one day, they may transfer bacteria strains into our bodies with the same qualities. For a time, the crop yields may save billions, but in the end the science and technology behind GM crops may end up costing more lives than they save when we find there is no antiobiotic to fight the bacteria GM crops leave within us.

References

Bakshi, A. (2003). Potential Adverse Health Effects of Genetically Modified Crops. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, 211-226.
Chapman, M. A., & Burke, J. M. (2006). Letting the gene out of the bottle: the population genetics of genetically modified crops. New Phytologist, 429-443.
Jacobsen, S.-E., Serensen, M., Pedersen, S. M., & Weiner, J. (2013). Feeding the world: genetically modified crops versus agricultural biodiversity. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 651-662.
Rischer, H. Unintended effects in genetically modified crops: revealed by metabolomics. Trends in Biotechnology, 102-104.
Seuret, F. (2000). Brave New Seeds: The Threat of GM Crops to Farmers. Sydney: Pluto Press.
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