Genetic Engineering Ge Or Genetic Modification Gm Essay Example

Nations, there is a mandate regarding food:

Ensuring food sustainability and respecting human rights are vital concerns in the realm of food. However, this issue is complex. Projections indicate that over the next 20 years, there will be a twofold increase in grain demand and a significant rise in global cereal demand from 0.3% to 1.4%. At present, there is merely 300 million hectares of arable land available. With an annual population growth rate of 2%, food production needs to grow by 3.2% each year, a challenge that traditional farming methods cannot meet.

One scientist argues that agriculture should not be seen as a picturesque rural backdrop, but rather as a challenging endeavor to produce food for a growing population despite natural obstacles. GM crops act like rescue-robots in the battle against hunger and human suffering by generating more staple foods without needing additional land.

Genetic modification (GM) plays a crucial role in safeguarding certain food items we currently eat. Take the banana, for instance. Unless scientists can improve its resistance against parasites through genetic enhancement, the banana supply will be depleted within a decade. The advantages of

GM are vast. In a study conducted in 1999, it was discovered that 96.2% of GM plants could withstand freezing experiments, while only 9.5% of traditional plants showed the same resilience. The contrast is indisputable.

The lack of Vitamin A affects almost 500,000 children. However, the sale of "GM golden rice," which contains a high amount of Vitamin A from a daffodil gene, can help address this issue. Furthermore, the development of transgenic crops enriched with iron may offer a solution to anemia, responsible for around 20% of maternal deaths in Asia and Africa. Many medicines currently used incorporate plant extracts that aid in treating major diseases like Hodgkin's lymphoma, AIDS, and carcinoma. GM technology can contribute to the progress of these treatments and potentially even facilitate vaccine creation.

GE technology provides various environmental advantages. For example, it facilitates the creation of plants capable of extracting toxic metals from polluted soil, thus restoring previously unusable land. Moreover, it reduces the need for harmful herbicides by developing crops that are resistant to them. As a result, farmers can spray less frequently and at a later stage in the season, benefiting insects with shelter and increasing the food supply for small mammals and birds. In addition, GM presents a solution to mitigate the detrimental environmental impacts of certain agricultural chemicals by enabling the production of more efficient and renewable sources of biodegradable fuel such as Bio-diesel.

GM plants have the potential to function as bio-factories for industrial raw materials and the disposal of toxic industrial wastes, similar to how traditional breeding methods introduced high yielding varieties of wheat and rice during the Green Revolution after 1960. Although the

Green Revolution increased food availability, GM technology has the ability to surpass these achievements and greatly benefit human endeavors. Nevertheless, there are counterarguments against this assertion.

There is a concern that implementing technology may have more risks than benefits, which could result in a regression in technology and further distance us from an enlightened society. One argument revolves around the lack of knowledge and research on the effects of genetic alterations in farming. While some gene alterations are tested on animals, it is questioned whether these animal models are sensitive enough. Another issue relates to the control mechanisms governing the production of GM food - how controlled are they and what type of control is exercised? Moreover, GM research has primarily been carried out by chemical companies and focuses on chemically dependent crop varieties rather than staple foods.

This is the practice of controlling seed germination so that it cannot be used again in the next season. It may well put farmers under the control of large companies and corporations which have no interest in benefiting the community at large. Scientists fear for the livelihood of some 400 million farmers in India, as the company takeover has already driven some to suicide.

there is a risk of placing herbicide resistant plants' genes into non-target wild species, leading to the emergence of invasive, herbicide-resistant weeds.

The easy achievement of pollen dispersal poses significant risks, leading to concerns that GM technology implementation will result in a market dominated by GM food. This dominance would ultimately drive non-GM farmers out of business, undermining fundamental societal values such as automatism, justice, and consumer choice. Moreover, this emerging technology inherently challenges existing values and systems including traditional ideas surrounding nature and human identity. Additionally, the location for widespread GM farming remains uncertain as intensifying agriculture in already cultivated areas would lead to environmental deterioration while expansion would result in the loss of ecosystems.

REBUTTAL.

Extensive research has shown the successful use of genetically engineered (GE) products, such as insulin produced by inserting a human gene into bacteria and yeast for diabetic patients. The British Royal Society confirms that current GM crops pose no greater risk to human health or allergies than traditional crops. They consider any potential health hazards to be insignificant.

Moreover, genetic engineering technology allows precise manipulation of genes, making previously allergy-inducing crops non-allergenic. Therefore, it is unlikely that genetically modified foods will cause allergies in unsuspecting consumers.

Based on these facts, it is time to move forward and stop questioning the potential risks associated with GE products.

The widespread prevalence of genetically modified crops cannot be prevented, as research will persist despite regulations. Research has demonstrated that 70% of processed foods consumed in the United States have undergone genetic modification without causing any harm to health. It is crucial to acknowledge that genetic engineering does not seek to replace conventional plant breeding methods but

rather aids farmers in cultivating enhanced crops, a process that has naturally taken place for many years. The effectiveness of genetic engineering relies on its implementation and integration into society.

The precautionary principle is a concept used to assess genetically modified (GM) food. It states that we should not proceed with new technology or continue using old technology unless its safety is guaranteed. This principle highlights the importance of taking precautions, even when the cause and effect relationships are not fully understood, if an activity poses risks to human health or the environment. Additionally, an ethical matrix has been proposed as a checklist for evaluating GE technology, considering the well-being, justice, and autonomy of biota, producers, and consumers. However, there are opposing arguments against these ideas due to potential testing issues and inherent risks associated with introducing something new.

While I support the use of the precautionary principle, I believe that excessive caution does not offer any advantages.

The suggested guidelines for this product are as follows: (1) Identifying the target consumers and purpose of the product. (2) Assessing whether the plants contain harmful selectable markers

for the environment or health. (3) Evaluating potential cross-pollination of engineered plants with wild relatives and its impact on the environment. The future will require increased food production, leading to more chemicals and pollutants being used, greater space requirements, environmental degradation, and loss of ecosystems. Therefore, any positive contributions that genetically engineered (GE) products can make in reducing pollution and deforestation without causing additional problems should be considered technologically and ethically advantageous. Encouraging public involvement is crucial, as accessible knowledge about GE build trust in the regulatory system. Ensuring GE isn't solely controlled by commercial interests prioritizes beneficence, autonomy, and justice in integrating GE. In conclusion, selective breeding has been practiced for centuries to improve plants; thus making it a relevant factor in the debate on using genetic modification to enhance food quality and quantity.

Science has had a significant impact on humanity, introducing many innovations to enhance our lives. Therefore, if carefully tested and properly implemented, the use of GE technologies can revolutionize the nature of food. However, according to Dr George Wald from Harvard University, genetic engineering poses unprecedented problems for our society. It gives humans the power to redesign living organisms, which until now, have evolved slowly and had ample time to adapt to new forms. Now, overnight, entire proteins can be transformed into completely new combinations, with unpredictable consequences. Once these creations are made, they cannot be reversed. It is crucial that we approach this issue cautiously and establish safety measures while adhering to a more lenient version of the precautionary principle.

The potential benefits of GM technology for the future of humanity are so significant and essential that any alternative approach would

be indefensible.

London, Routledge 6) D Concar "Dispatches from the killing fields" (1999) New Scientist 27th Feb, 7) Edward Craig, Mark Tester "Genetic Modification" (2000) Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, London, Routledge. 8) John Evans "Playing God? Human Genetic Engineering and the Rationalization of Public Bioethical Debate" (2002) The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 9) Esra Galun, Adina Breiman "Transgenic Plants" (1997) Imperial College Press, London p 171. 10) Kathrine Hauge Madsen, Peter Sandoe "Ethical reflections on herbicide-resistant crops" (2005) Pest Management Science Vol 61, p 320 11) B Hubbell and R Welsh "Transgenic crops: engineering a more sustainable agriculture?" (1998) Agriculture and Human Values Vol.

15 p 43. 12) J Jackson, H Linskens, "Molecular Methods of Plant Analysis" Volume 23 (2003) Springer, Germany. 13) S Jones "The Language of the genes" (1994) Famingo, London, p347. 14) Emy Lucassen "The Ethics of Genetic Engineering" (1996) Vol. 13 issue 1, Journal of applied ethics, p 54. 15) Belinda Martineau "First Fruit: The Creation of the Flavr Savr Tomato and the Birth of Biotech Food" (2001) McGraw-Hill, USA.

16) S Mayer wrote an article titled "Let's keep the genie in its bottle" in 1996 for New Scientist, page 51.
17) Salleh Mohd Nor discusses the

challenges biotechnology faces in meeting future food demands for developing countries.
18) Jonathan Robinson conducted a review on the ethics of transgenic crops in 1999, published in Volume 2 of EJB on page 74.
19) Paul Rylott's contribution can be found on GM Jury.org in 2005 at www.gmjury.org/evid-paul.html.
20) Peter Saunders argues that the Precautionary Principle is based on science in a publication by the Institute of Science in Society, dated 2003.
21) R Service's article "Seed-sterilising Terminator Technology' sows discord" can be found in Science, Volume 282, page 850 from 1998.

22) Anup Shah "Genetically Engineered Food" (2001). 23) Peter Shewry, Johnathan Napier, Paul Davis "Engineering Crop Plants for Industrial end Uses" (1998) Portland Press Ltd, London p 111-112. 24) Vandana Shiva "Poverty and Globalization" Reith 2000 Lectures, BBC. 25) Bruno Sobral "The Impact of Plant Molecular Genetics" (1996) Birkhauser, Boston. 26) David Suzuki and Peter Knudtson "Genethics" (1989) Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

27) Paul Thompson's article "Value Judgements and Risk Comparisons. The Case of Genetically engineered Crops" (2003) can be found in Plant Physiology, Volume 132, pages 10-16.
28) S Uzogara's review titled "The Impact of genetic modification of human foods in the 21st century" is published in Biotechnology Advancements, Volume 3, page 179.

29) A book titled "Mutation Breeding - Theory and Practical Applications" (1998) by A. van Harten, published by Cambridge University Press in the Netherlands, mentions on page 237.
30) The Food Ethics Council's publication "Novel Foods: Beyond Nuffield" (1999) includes information on page 24.
31) The Center for the Study of American Business discusses the application of the Precautionary Principle to genetically modified crops in an article dated August 24, 2000, available at

www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/gmo/GM-precautionary-princ.htm.
32) The Nuffield Council on Bioethics released a report titled "Genetically modified crops: the ethical and social issues" in London (1999).

33) "GM quotes" http://100777.com/node/447