GM Foods essays

GM Foods essays Genetically modified food (GM food) refers to crops plants created for human and animal consumption using the latest biotechnology. This genetic engineering is very accurate and exact traits can be injected into plants opposed to the traditional methods of crossbreeding, which was very time consuming and not always accurate. Scientists, to add the desired traits such as drought resistance, resistance to herbicides or higher yields with less fertiliser modify the plants in a laboratory. Specific genes are scientifically taken from certain organisms and placed into the other. The genes themselves can be transferred from species to species in a variety of ways. They can either be injected using needles made from bucky tubes, introduced through a virus or bacterium or they can be shot into the organism with a gold bullet. The genes can be transferred from plant species to plant species and also from non-plant species. A good example of this is the use of B.t. genes in corn. The B.t. bact erium is naturally occurring and is lethal to insect larvae so when it is transferred to corn it enables the corn to produce its own pesticides against insects. Genetically modified foods have not yet taken off, as there are still many arguments for and against the production of theses plants. The worlds population is expected to double within the next 50 years and concerns are being raised as to whether there will be enough food to support this kind of population. GM foods promise to meet these needs in many ways such as pest resistance, herbicide tolerance, cold tolerance, drought tolerance, nutrition, and pharmaceuticals. Farmers use tonnes of chemical pesticides annually to prevent devastating crop losses from insect pests. Many people do not like eating crops that have been sprayed as they see it as a potential health hazard and harming to the environment. Growing GM foods such as B.t. Corn can help eliminate the use of chemical pesticides a...