SCientitical

Posted by Graydon on April 15, 2007, 6:04 p.m.

Here is my opinion paper on Genetically modified organisms. Who ever reads it gets a cookie.

There are many issues in the world that scientists and people are faced with every day. One of these things is genetically modified organisms, that people are faced with every single day. They have to make the choice that in most common ways is to eat foods that are genetically modified. People have to eat genetically modified meats and vegetables every day of there life and sometimes they don’t even know it is happening. It is like a giant experiment that people across the world are participating in every single day. But personally I am one of those people that are for the issue of genetically modified organisms, because of the many ways it helps today’s society. Some of the good things about genetically modified organisms are: That they make you healthier, that it gives farmers more choice in produce, and the chance of using the organs of animals to help humans have a chance to live longer with a transplant.

There are ways that our food has become healthier over the years because of it being genetically modified. For example they can add more vitamins to a vegetable so that it will give you more of that vitamin, which you wouldn’t have gotten if the food wasn’t modified to have this new healthier trait. About 60% of foods today in the supermarket are genetically modified. Most of those foods are chock full of vitamins that you now achieve because of there new healthier to our body’s genetically modified structures. All of these foods are labeled so that they can show you what foods have these new vitamins, and which foods are just normal without the new healthier vitamins that we are getting. Also a lot of the new foods are using the growth hormone which can speed up the growth of our body and the speed that our cells are dividing. This is good for people that are sick because the growth hormone would help your damaged cells to divide and be fixed so that you can be not sick anymore.

Another amazing help to society of the use of genetically modified organisms is that farmers now have a lot more choice in the produce that they can grow, which makes them feel better because of the now huge amounts of foods to be grown. Since there are genetically modified foods, farmers can choose a whole new range of foods such as crops that can handle the cold better or crops that grow faster in a place that has a smaller growing season. The traits that a scientist can give crops have greatly increased the amounts of crops that farmers can grow, and the amounts of things the plants can endure. The most important things that have been added to the crops is the ability to withstand bugs and weeds, which helps the plants to be fertile almost anywhere.

The next thing that genetically modified organisms have been working towards, I think is the most important of my reasons to be for genetically modified organisms. This part is the part where animals are being tested to have there organs used for a transplant. These animals are having organs grown and tested on, so that one day they can be used in surgery so that people that never get that organ they need from a human can use an animal organ in a last resort to keep them alive for a few months, or even years longer. So far a test where a pig heart was transferred to a baboon worked, which is great development in the research of this animal to human organ transplants. Hopefully this method of surgery will be usable in the next five to ten years, which would help family’s that today would lose there family members from not having an organ transplant.

From what you have read, there are many good things about genetically modified organisms that help people in everyday life, and will help save the live of many in the years to come. From farmers having a successful crop, to you having a better diet because of the food you eat, to the very successful organ transplants that will save huge amounts of lives in the future. I am for the use of genetically modified foods.

Comments

Tasm 17 years, 7 months ago

That's quite an argument you have there. Where can I find one of these genetically modified animals? Put me down for a dozen.

WaleedAmer 17 years, 7 months ago

I read it. Give me my cookie, bitch.

WaleedAmer 17 years, 7 months ago

Oh yeah, also, I wanna say that I agree with ya.

Shork 17 years, 7 months ago

Round-up ready crops are the most common GM crops being used today. Corn and soybeans are the most common round-up ready crops in the United States. The plants that modern corn was bred from still grow wild in parts of Mexico. The wild versions become a problem becuase they grow as weeds in farmers' fields. They still have enough in common with modern corn that cross-pollenation is common. This has led to the round-up ready gene being transfered to the wild corn, creating weeds that cannot be killed. This is not only a problem in Mexico, but China has banned the use of round-up ready soybeans becuase the soy-bean's ancestors are common there. Even without being near the wild version of the plant, this can still be a problem. The farm next to ours alternates between corn and beans, both round-up ready. Every year there is more corn in thier beans and more beans in their corn, all of which is unkillable with round up, and more general herbicides would kill the wanted crop along with the weed. There is one benefit to genetic engineering, before the careful modification of one or two genes, seeds were exposed to cobalt-60, a radioactive isotope that would randomly mutate genes, and the wanted traits would be selected for later, often leaving unnoticed mutations that cause allergen proteins in with the good genes.

Scott_AW 17 years, 7 months ago

Can't we all just breed the animals naturally and splice plants without spending millions on genetic splicing? I mean its cool and all but seems kind of excessive just to make meat have more neutrients when we can feed the cow corn instead. And simple use mineral enriched soil to improve the neutrients of the corn. But thats just my opinion.

Graydon 17 years, 7 months ago

You all get your cookies. Go buy them at the supermarket.