Effects of Genetic Engineering of Crops
...formation. Every organism has DNA in each cell for how to introduce all the proteins that organism will need during its entire life. All the DNA is extracted out of an organism that has the desired trait. Once the gene of interest has been cloned, genetic engineers modify it to express in a specific way when inside the plant. After gene modification, the new gene is inserted into a single plant cell using one of the transformation methods. Plant cells total potency. Every time the cell replicates and divides, all of the chromosomes, meaning a circular strand of DNA in bacteria that contains the hereditary information necessary for cell life, are copied including the new gene. The result is a transgenic plant with the new gene in every one of its cells. Backcross breeding is then used to move the transgenic into a high yielding elite line, and the resulting hybrids are tested and evaluated for release. Figure 1: How to make Transgenic Plants (the University of Nebraska) Deborah B. Whitman states that gThe world population has exceeded six billion people and is going to double in the next fifty yearsh (2). Hunger is going to become a bigger problem in the future. Consequently, GMO food will be a solution to hunger. Producing engineered crops costs less than producing natural crops. For example, farmers do not need to deal with harmful insects and weeds when producing genetically engineered crops. The author mentions that gcrop plants genetically-engineered to be resistant one very powerful herbicide could help prevent environmental damage by reducing the amount of herbicides neededh (Whitman 2). Moreover, genetic engineering can be used to speed up the natural processes of plants so that farmers are able to control both the amount of crops and the quality of crops produced. Additionally, poverty is ordinary in developing nations. Poor people living in the developing nations depend upon a single crop plant, such as rice, for their main source of nourishment (Whitman 3). However, rice does not comprise a sufficient amount of nutrition to decrease starvation (Whitman 3). She also mentions that gResearchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Institute for Plant Sciences have created a strain of egolden ricef containing unusually high content of beta-caroteneh(Whitman 3). In order to decrease malnutrition, the improvement of egolden ricef is one of the successfully genetically engineered crops. Tangley, Laura writes, gNow scientists at the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute are crossing the experimental rice with another variety that is consumed throughout Asiah (3). Additionally, they anticipate agriculturalists are going to commence planting egolden ricef, which is going to be provided free change in two to three years (Tangley 3). Not only do genetically modified crops help hunger, but also they cause environmental hazards and risks for the human body. Genetic engineering is not traditional breeding. A genetically modified organism is a plant, animal, or microorganism that is created by means that overcome natural boundaries. Genetic engineering can involve crossing species that could not cross in nature. They are not intended to harm other organisms, but glast year a laboratory study was published in Nature, showing that pollen from B.t. corn, a type of genetically modified organism, caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear is that, if pollen from B.t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants ...