Gmo's Are Genetically Modified Organisms
GMO’s are Genetically Modified Organisms. Many people argue that GMO’s are a problem and hurt the ecosystem, economy, and health of society. GMO’s are important because they help the food industry thrive, protect the crop to help it grow, and make the crop more efficient. First, GMO’s are important because they help the food industry thrive. This is because many GMO’s are manufactured and sold as a convenience to people, thus prompting them to buy the product. GMO’s greatly impact the food industry because it is estimated that upwards of 75% of items that consumers buy in a grocery store contain some sort of genetically modified ingredient (Food Safety 1). Therefore, a very large portion of profit must go towards the companies and farmers
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Many crops are genetically modified to protect the crop from fungal infections and bugs. Plants, like humans, are susceptible to infections, parasites, etc. Scientists are able to alter a plant’s genome to resist and protect itself against these harmful diseases and organisms. Fungal infections are extremely deadly to plants. For example, the impact of the Dutch Elm Disease in the mid-1900s. Dutch Elm Disease is a contagious fungal infection that only effects Elm trees. It is caused by Ophiostoma ulmi, which is a species of fungus that makes the tree’s leaves and branches wilt and die (D’Arcy 1). Dutch Elm Disease had a great impact on the population of Elm trees in North America and Europe. This issue was fixed in 2001 when scientist created a genetically modified Elm tree that could resist the fungus (Daily Science 1). To resist fungus, plants must be modified by adding bacteria encoding enzymes like chitinase or glucanase to their genes. These enzymes break down their counterpart, chitin or glucan, which are essential components of fungal cell walls (Jalil 1). Once the cell wall of the fungus is broken down, the organism can be easily destroyed because the cell wall is what protects the cell from unknown and unwanted substances. Another example of an organism that is genetically modified to protect it is corn. About 88% of corn grown in only the United States is genetically modified (Dupont 1). One reason why most corn is genetically modified are because of insects that destroy the crop such as the European Corn Borer. The insect carves tunnels into the stalks and ears of the corn plant and cause it to collapse. This insect caused a large amount of corn to be destroyed every year and because of that, scientist decided to try to resolve this problem. The result of the scientist doing experiments on the corn plant was that corn now has a large threshold of resistance insects and
Many crops are genetically modified to protect the crop from fungal infections and bugs. Plants, like humans, are susceptible to infections, parasites, etc. Scientists are able to alter a plant’s genome to resist and protect itself against these harmful diseases and organisms. Fungal infections are extremely deadly to plants. For example, the impact of the Dutch Elm Disease in the mid-1900s. Dutch Elm Disease is a contagious fungal infection that only effects Elm trees. It is caused by Ophiostoma ulmi, which is a species of fungus that makes the tree’s leaves and branches wilt and die (D’Arcy 1). Dutch Elm Disease had a great impact on the population of Elm trees in North America and Europe. This issue was fixed in 2001 when scientist created a genetically modified Elm tree that could resist the fungus (Daily Science 1). To resist fungus, plants must be modified by adding bacteria encoding enzymes like chitinase or glucanase to their genes. These enzymes break down their counterpart, chitin or glucan, which are essential components of fungal cell walls (Jalil 1). Once the cell wall of the fungus is broken down, the organism can be easily destroyed because the cell wall is what protects the cell from unknown and unwanted substances. Another example of an organism that is genetically modified to protect it is corn. About 88% of corn grown in only the United States is genetically modified (Dupont 1). One reason why most corn is genetically modified are because of insects that destroy the crop such as the European Corn Borer. The insect carves tunnels into the stalks and ears of the corn plant and cause it to collapse. This insect caused a large amount of corn to be destroyed every year and because of that, scientist decided to try to resolve this problem. The result of the scientist doing experiments on the corn plant was that corn now has a large threshold of resistance insects and