Genetically Modified Organism

What is a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)?

By definition genetically modified organisms are organisms whose genome has been engineered in the laboratory in order to favor the expression of desired physiological traits or the productions or the production of desired biological products. Genetic engineering has been going on long before the GMO's arrived from the laboratory.
 In the example of animal breeding, livestock production, and crop farming it has been practiced to select the best genes of species in hopes to produce offspring with desirable traits. Now with genetic engineering becoming so precise in the ability to alter a specific recombination DNA at a micro level, it allows alterations to create the perfect traits to be expresses.

GMO's Good or Bad?

Genetically modified crops have the potential to change how food is produced around the world. With the ability to change and alter genomes to produce higher yields, resistant varieties, salt tolerant plants, more nutritious foods and many more, I believe that this should be pursued. Although farmers have been practicing this for hundreds of years, the ability to genetically modify plants in the lab is a fairly new process and there will obviously be some concerning issues.  I believe that these issues are not something to be blown off, but I do believe that the positive effects of GMO's are worth pursuing, but extreme caution and safety measures need to be met.  

Concerning Issues with GMO's 

As I mentioned earlier there will be issues with the production of GMO's.  Some of these issues include, food safety, environmental safety, economic stability, even religious morals.  The issue of food safety is obviously a major issue, nobody wants to be eating unsafe foods.  I can see how this is an issue, but through testing, we have not found any major evidence suggesting that GMO food products are dangerous.  I do however believe that more testing needs to be done to ensure the people eating this food that these foods are safe to eat.  

The environment is another issue that is brought up when speaking about GMO's.  Many people believe that GMO's are bad for our environment, but the reality is that, with all the herbicide and insecticide varieties available, less chemicals are needed for the control of weeds and insects. I believe that these issues bring up a valid point but with testing and the proper safety measures, these issues can be resolved. 

Benefits of Using GMO Crops

There are many benefits to GMO crops.  These benefits would include, resistant varieties (resistant to herbicides and insects), drought resistance, more nutritious plants, stronger plants and disease resistance.  All of these factors play a role in allowing crops to reach maximum yields. With the number of people in the world constantly growing, we are constantly at war with the fight of producing more food with less available crop land.  We absolutely need to reach maximum yield in every crop to properly feed the world.  We do this through GMO's.  When we have plants that are resistant to many of the factors that hurt our yields, we are able to reduce the amount of crop loss each year, allowing for more readily available food at a lower cost.    

In recent years there has been research to produce what is known as Golden Rice. This rice was genetically modified to have a high level of pro-vitamin A. This research came about because many countries and citizens within are unable to consume a balanced diet, which leads to vitamin deficiencies. Many of these countries food source that is accessible is rice.With the idea of having a vitamin enriched corp like Golden Rice they have the ability to combat and one day rid themselves of vitamin deficiencies. 

Conclusion

The idea behind GMO's is to create crops with the the best traits quickly and preciscly. there has to be further research into this feild otherwise we will run out of food to supply the world adaquetly. Without food to feed everyone there will be bigger problems then genetically modifying crops.