Genetically Modified Foods - Is it worth the risks?
Introduction
By : marioRating :
For over ten thousand years farmers have allowed nature to enhance their crops’ taste, hardiness and productivity using natural reproduction. This crossbreeding was used by farmers to produce and better ‘final’ crops. During the last century, this ancient technique was sped up with the help of more accurate, scientific attempts to oversee the breeding and selection process. Fortunately, new scientific developments are making it possible to create crops with far greater precision and far greater diversity than ever before. These crops are known as Genetically Modified Foods.
Genetically modified foods are produced by plants or animals that have had their genes changed in the laboratory. All living organisms have chromosomes, which are made up of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA for short. DNA is the chemical building block of all life (AgBiotechNet, 2003). By altering the genes, scientists can manipulated and modify the characteristics of an organism. Singling out a gene is a complicated process. First the DNA is broken down into gene-sized pieces using restruction enzymes (www.balwynhs.vic.edu.au). Next, the pieces of DNA are inserted into bacterial cells using DNA Ligase. These cells are cloned and stored in a DNA library. Genes are discovered using radioactive tags, and once a bond is formed, the gene can be identified and decoded. Using these this scientific practice, genes from other living organisms can be inserted into plant or animal DNA with impressive results (Labeling Genetically Modified Foods). The first transgenic crop created in 1983 was a tobacco plant that was resistant to herbicide. Ten years after that, tomatoes in which the ripening was delayed, were introduced in the U.S. market. It wasn’t long before the European market started selling genetically modified tomato paste.
Modifying genes to create useful crop takes a lot of work. Science has developed a number of techniques aimed at splicing a desired gene with a plant. One technique makes use of a soil bacterium, Argo bacterium tumefaciens. This microbe, dubbed the first genetic engineer, has evolved the ability to insert stretches of DNA into plants (Aqua Bounty Farms). The bacterium can cause disease in some plants by inserting its DNA into the plant cell. Once the plant cell is infected, the bacterium’s DNA can easily attach itself to the plant chromosome. Scientists get Agro tumefaciens to deliver genes of their choice. Another technique use is biolistics. This technique uses a high-pressure helium gas to fire the desired gene into plant cells. The foreign DNA is carried on tiny little pieces of gold-like particles. Examples of food modified by this method are wheat and rice. Another method scientist’s use relies on protoplasts method. These allowed plant cell that have had their tough walls removed. This gives the foreign DNA easier access to the cell interior. Once the DNA is inserted into the plant cell, these are grown into plants. Seeds harvested from these laboratory plants are put onto the market and are ready for purchase. All of these techniques depend on the remarkable fact that many plants can be regenerated from a single cell or small piece of plant tissue.
This technology begins with the scientists who create it and continually to modify and establish new techniques to help the genetic modifying process better. Farmers then take these processes and apply it to their crops to develop their GM food. This food then is distributed to the retailers who then sell the product to the consumers where it has an affect to all who buy this food.
Genetically modified foods are produced by plants or animals that have had their genes changed in the laboratory. All living organisms have chromosomes, which are made up of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA for short. DNA is the chemical building block of all life (AgBiotechNet, 2003). By altering the genes, scientists can manipulated and modify the characteristics of an organism. Singling out a gene is a complicated process. First the DNA is broken down into gene-sized pieces using restruction enzymes (www.balwynhs.vic.edu.au). Next, the pieces of DNA are inserted into bacterial cells using DNA Ligase. These cells are cloned and stored in a DNA library. Genes are discovered using radioactive tags, and once a bond is formed, the gene can be identified and decoded. Using these this scientific practice, genes from other living organisms can be inserted into plant or animal DNA with impressive results (Labeling Genetically Modified Foods). The first transgenic crop created in 1983 was a tobacco plant that was resistant to herbicide. Ten years after that, tomatoes in which the ripening was delayed, were introduced in the U.S. market. It wasn’t long before the European market started selling genetically modified tomato paste.
Modifying genes to create useful crop takes a lot of work. Science has developed a number of techniques aimed at splicing a desired gene with a plant. One technique makes use of a soil bacterium, Argo bacterium tumefaciens. This microbe, dubbed the first genetic engineer, has evolved the ability to insert stretches of DNA into plants (Aqua Bounty Farms). The bacterium can cause disease in some plants by inserting its DNA into the plant cell. Once the plant cell is infected, the bacterium’s DNA can easily attach itself to the plant chromosome. Scientists get Agro tumefaciens to deliver genes of their choice. Another technique use is biolistics. This technique uses a high-pressure helium gas to fire the desired gene into plant cells. The foreign DNA is carried on tiny little pieces of gold-like particles. Examples of food modified by this method are wheat and rice. Another method scientist’s use relies on protoplasts method. These allowed plant cell that have had their tough walls removed. This gives the foreign DNA easier access to the cell interior. Once the DNA is inserted into the plant cell, these are grown into plants. Seeds harvested from these laboratory plants are put onto the market and are ready for purchase. All of these techniques depend on the remarkable fact that many plants can be regenerated from a single cell or small piece of plant tissue.
This technology begins with the scientists who create it and continually to modify and establish new techniques to help the genetic modifying process better. Farmers then take these processes and apply it to their crops to develop their GM food. This food then is distributed to the retailers who then sell the product to the consumers where it has an affect to all who buy this food.
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