Hannah Magill
Professor Debby Moninger
ENG1010: Expository Writing I
October 15th, 2012
Genetically Modified Foods and Their Effect On Society
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather; the Three Good Fairies from Disney's 1959 film
Sleeping Beauty, of course this shouldn't be the first thought that consumes a person's
mind when he or she wakes up in a hospital bawling, but to this particular homosapien it
began to consume her ever-waking world. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, the names
began to float around and attack from every angle, not because of the fact that they
starred in an illustrious movie she loved as a child, but because of the denotation of the
words. In Roman Mythology, Flora was the goddess of flowering plants. The more
literal meaning of the word flora is defined by the New Oxford American Dictionary as
being, "the plants of a particular region, habitat, or geological period." Fauna was also a
Roman goddess, except she dealt with animals. Basically flora is plants and fauna is
animals, while merryweather. . . let's take the word quite literally and assume that it
means good weather. These can be manipulated in our very own ecosystem to take a
closer look at genetically modified foods and understand their inner-workings, walk
through the flowers of the positive and negative effects of genetically engineered foods,
and the effects of food on society.
What are genetically modified foods and why should we care about them and the
possible effects on society today? Here are some of the effects on society today.
Scientists hypothesize a link between the declining health in America, including obesity,
"infertility, immune system problems, accelerated aging, disruption of insulin and
cholesterol regulation, gastrointestinal issues, and changes in organs" (1, Smith).
The first genetically modified food was sold in 1996, however research started as
early as the 40's. Basically, genetically modified foods are just cells that have been
engineered to overcome certain environmental conditions or poor traits. The New
Oxford American Dictionary defines being genetically modified as, "(of an organism or
crop) containing genetic material that has been artificially altered so as to produce a
desired characteristic." For example, scientists could switch out the DNA of an arctic
flounder and put it inside that of a tomato DNA because arctic flounders can withstand
extreme temperatures in the cold and tomatoes can't. "It is a cell invasion process. The
only way you can put the flounder gene into the tomato cell is to invade it and insert the
gene" (What is Genetically Modified Food?). The way the scientists do this is by using
bacteria and viruses. The desired DNA sequence is cut off a strand and put into gaps of
E. Coli DNA. Scientists have to force the issue and cover it in bacteria filled soil that
causes tumors in plants so the plant will accept the DNA. The E. Coli and desired DNA
combine in this bacteria infested environment and are then inserted into the plant where
the trait makes for a more resistant tomato to cold temperatures.
This is not the only way they can manipulate the variations in these plants and
their DNA. There is also a process where they electrocute the platelet cells so they are
susceptible to DNA and a gene gun method which blasts particles of gold covered with
the DNA into the plant cells. Of course, these cells have to be activated and need a
promoter gene which is the cauliflower mosaic virus. Coincidentally, that is a lot of
viruses, which should spark concern.
Even though the process causes so much concern well go over the positive effects
of genetically modified foods. World hunger is a serious problem and now biologists can
genetically engineer plants to become more pestilent resilient and survive serious
environmental problems like droughts or soils that contain too much or too little salinity.
These techniques make plants more readily available in countries where they have serious
environmental issues. An example, would be in third world countries that do not have
the tools or technology other countries have. Secondly, the world has about 6 billion
people in the world and one of the advantages of DNA modified foods is that they do
produce more food than regular crops. These plants grow faster, reproduce more
quickly, withstand insect infestations, grow in harsher conditions, and can grow about
anywhere. Another benefit that has brought $27 billion to farmers has been the ability to
put vaccines into bananas.
Although there are positive effects, unfortunately, they are not being very wellproven today. In some third-world countries they have burned the genetically modified
foods and refuse to grow it on their farms, because farmers have found their bodies
weakening, cancer forming, bones being easily broken, terrible digestion problems after
the plants moved in, and etc. There was also a study conducted showing genetically
modified food yielding less food instead of more food.
Struggling nations are not the only ones with concerns. There is research in the
negative effects of biogenetically enhanced foods and why society is so immersed in its
outcomes. First, people are afraid that plants are losing the diversity within the genes and
if a serious virus came along it would wipe out the entire ecosystem. There may also be
less round-up, but it is creating weeds that are resilient to pesticides. The bacillus
thuringiensis, which is the pesticide they have inserted into corn is killing insect larvae
like monarch butterflies indiscriminately. Not only that, Monsanto which is the number 1
seed company in the world is a classic example of GMOs gone wrong. Jerry Rosman, a
seed dealer and pig farmer had reproductive problems with his pigs. It wasn’t some of
them, it was 80 percent that were going through a fake birth, meaning these pigs would
go through the symptoms of being pregnant, but once their due dates came they would
either re-absorb the babies, or fluids back into their system or birth a sack of fluid. Mr.
Rosman tried to challenge Monsanto and they buried him in paperwork and bullied him.
He lost his farm and now tries to prove how bad their corn products are for animals. He
subsequently has fed Monsanto feed to his cattle and made them sterile as well and then
removed the feed and fed his cattle on a different feed from Monsanto and his cattle have
become fertile again.
The concerns do not end here. There is also the transfer of antibiotic resistance
markers, fear of world domination by few seed companies, dependence on industrialized
nations, violation of natural organisms intrinsic value, the horizontal gene flow, and not
even to mention the detrimental health complications that arise around, or after eating
these foods. In our ecosystem, if it is effecting the cattle and the pigs as Mr. Rosman has
shown us how it is effecting the human realm?
Which brings me to my final point, if cattle and pigs are being affected by these
genetically modified foods, what is it doing to our bodies in the human realm? What if
we could hypothesize a link between the declining health in America, including obesity,
autism, crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, allergies,
cancer, and chronic diarrhea? What are companies putting into our food that is giving us
an expanding wasteline, larger than our ancestors 100 years ago! They were eating foods
higher in fat, living longer then us, and not aging as quickly. How could they maintain a
high in fat diet while “20-29 year-old-women maintained an average weight of 128
pounds. By 2000, the average weight for a 20-29 year-old-woman was 157 pounds.”
(Women’s) Hopefully after looking at the inner-workings of GMOs, the positive and
negative effects of genetically engineered foods, and the effects of food on society today.
Although it may be argued that genetically modified foods may produce good things, the
hazards far outweigh the good.
Smith, Melissa Diane "Gmo Reality Check." Better Nutrition 74.8 (2012): 36-39.
OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 9 Oct. 2012.
"What Is Genetically Modified Food?" Video blog post.
Http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jAP6ZtfP9ZQ#!
AbbyMediaRoots, 16 Dec. 2009. Web. 1 Nov. 2012
"The Benefits of Genetically Modified Food Crops." Suite101.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05
Nov. 2012. <http://suite101.com/article/the-benefits-of-genetically-modifiedfood-crops-a218670>.
"Women’s Average Body Weight Increases 29lbs since 1960 « Stay Active and Live
Life Fully." Womenn’s Average Body Weight Increases 29lbs since 1960 « Stay
Active and Live Life Fully. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2012.
"When Did Genetically Modified Food Start?" WikiAnswers. Answers, n.d. Web. 05
Nov. 2012.
<http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_genetically_modified_food_start>
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_genetically_modified_food_start