Good Essay On GM Food

Introduction

Drought and desertification areas covered today more than 30 African countries, threatening hunger about 150 million people. The food situation of the population of underdeveloped countries demonstrates the incredible complexity of the food problem. We can certainly talk about the theoretical potential of the food of the earth, the doubling and even tripling the acreage, about the use of mankind to eat chlorella or breeding plantation on the ocean floor But the harsh reality reminds us that everything edible that makes humanity ultimately consumed and thus actually more than a billion people are chronically hungry. The world's population has exceeded 6 billion people and it will be doubled in the next 50 years. Providing enough food for the population of this amount will be a major challenge in the coming years. GMO foods promise to meet this need in several ways.

Body

Genetic modification can provide plants and foods, which is made of it, a number of signs. Most cultivated genetically modified organisms are resistant pathogen (virus and fungi), insect or herbicide. This greatly facilitates the cultivation, and also reduces the processing costs pesticides. Genetically modified crop or animal organisms whose DNA has been genetically modified to give a positive indication, such as resistance to pesticides or increased yield. The first genetically modified crops were introduced into the food in the 1990s, primarily by the company Monsanto. Many agricultural biotechnology companies believe GMO technology is ideal world hunger, especially in the world's population grows to 10.1 billion by the end of the century. Many environmentalists are concerned about the possible negative environmental effects of GMOs, but there are probably a lot of benefits of GMO technology. The use of genetically modified crops can help reduce the amount of pesticides farmer must spray. This is because the genes can be inserted into the DNA of a culture that produces the protein version of the same insecticide. One fine example is a Bt corn. Creation of Bt corn involves taking a gene from the naturally occurring soil bacterium called Bacillus Thuringiensis and inserting it into the DNA of natural corn. Gene taken from a bacterium produces a protein called Bt delta endotoxin which kills the corn borer, a common pest that destroys corn crop. Farmers usually grow Bt corn instead of regular corn because it dramatically reduces the need for pesticides. This helps farmers to save money and make their crops more attractive to consumers who may not want to buy crops sprayed with pesticides. Another advantage of using GM technology is that GM crops sometimes provide farmers with higher yields. For example, poor farmers in India have used Bt cotton and received between 80 and 90 percent higher yields than non-GM cotton, according to BBC News. At yield increase was due to pesticides produced by Bt cotton killed scoop common pest that affects non-GM cotton. However, some environmentalists are concerned that the long-term consequences of Bt cotton will have on the environment.
GMO technology has helped to fight malnutrition in many countries of the developing world on genetic engineering of crops to produce more of certain vitamins. For example, golden rice is a genetically engineered strain of rice that has been genetically engineered to high levels of vitamin A. The World Health Organization has stated that vitamin A deficiency affects more than 230 million children around the world and one million children die each year because of vitamin A deficiency A. Golden rice was used by rice farmers in developing countries to help combat vitamin A deficiency.
According to a study published by the USDA, the cultivation of genetically modified crops has many advantages for American farmers. The main reason for farmers to move to the cultivation of GM crops, is their higher yields. The decline in pesticide application and simplification of cultivation technology also contribute to the higher attractiveness of GM crops compared to conventional breeding varieties. A large number of American farmers believe that the cultivation of GMOs is producing tangible economic benefits, despite the significantly higher price of GM seeds compared to non-transgenic seed crops. Commercial growing of GM crops began in 1996. The main GM crops grown in the US are corn, cotton and soybeans. By 2013 the acreage of GM crops has grown to 68 million hectares, which is about half of the total arable land. The proportion of GM varieties of soybeans in the general area of ​​soybean planting is 93% GM maize - 85% of GM cotton - 82%.

Conclusion

In my opinion, genetically modified organisms are the best achievement of all modern biology of XX century. Genetic modification is a way to get less unprofitable agriculture. This is the peak of modern biotechnology because of its mass, due to the fact that the fuel for the people. Pros of GMO are that there can be a very good control of everything that happens on the fields, greatly reduce the losses due to pests, because of the frost, and much more. I believe that GMO is the future of agriculture, since only genetically modified organisms could get predictable, steady harvest crops with different quality, convenient in processing and so on. In spite of some opposition to genetic modification, of course, this would be developed further and further, and people will realize that everything is normal.

Works Cited

Whitehurst, Robert J. Enzymes in Food Technology. 2nd ed. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.