Genetically Modified Foods Essay

Genetically Modified Foods (GMO) are crops that have had changes made to their genetic material (DNA) in a way that does not occur naturally through the introduction of a gene from a different organisms. The use of genetically modified foods has been debated about for some time now. One side argues that GMO is more sustainable and economically efficient. It is also argued that GMO has not been properly tested for any negative effects on humans, other animals and the environment. GMO foods are seen as the future in agriculture by scientist as it solves so many worldwide problems. Industries claim GMO foods have been changed to make the food last longer, give the crop herbicidal tolerance, resistance to insects and different climates, taste better and the crop will produce more food. This results in more food for the rapidly growing population of the world as less crops will spoil as a result of insects, while also increasing the nutritional value of the food. Foods that previously weren’t able to grow in varying climates will now be able to, this will especially benefit countries such as Africa where their climate is very harsh. It has been argued that scientists have not done enough research and have not fully tested their products properly. This has been the concerns of many people all over the world. Do the benefits really outweigh the negatives? While GMO products may be very beneficial to society in theory very few have been properly tested for how they impact humans and other organisms in the long term. Tests have been done on rats testing the effects of GMO products on their health, in all cases rats feed GMO products were more likely to develop tumours and suffer server liver and kidney damage. Recent studies also show that despite the claims of GMO food supporters GMO crops don’t produce larger amounts of food. In addition to these problems it has been found that weeds have crossed bread with these GMO plants resulting in herbicide resistant weeds which mean stronger pesticides are needed which possess a huge threat to none GMO plants. In 2010 Germany introduced a ban on Monsanto genetically modified corn as it was considered dangerous. In 2011 Peru passed a law banning genetically modified crops for 10 years, the same year Hungary also destroyed 1000 acres of corn that was found to be grown with genetically modified seeds which are banned. If countries are going to such lengths to keep GMO foods out there must be an issue with them. The main issue with GMO is that it is big companies that are creating GMO foods. They only care about making a profit. This results in sloppy long term tests and in some cases false information being provided to the public to promote their product. In most cases the negatives clearly outweigh the positives of GMO foods although that does not rule out all GMO products. If governments got involved more and incorporated better restrictions on the production of GMO foods results will improve. With more research and tests maybe GMO foods really will be the way of the future.