GMOs Lab Report
Rachel Bohnenberger
Professor Van Doorn
ENVS 150-002
27 April 2015
GMOs Lab Report
Introduction
As the population of Earth increases exponentially, so does the demand for more food. One of the solutions to the question of how more food can be produced is Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not GMOs are more beneficial or harmful to society. Some of the benefits to GMOs are: growing plants, such as corn, that are resistant to weeds and pests, larger yields of crops that create more efficient land use, better textured, flavored, and nutritional foods, longer shelf lives of foods, and genetically modified foods create a sustainable way to feed the world (Benefits of GM Food). There are also disadvantages to GMOs that include money—making GMOs is not cheap and one main goal is also to make products that last longer and sell more, gene splicing is not natural and can have adverse impacts on animals and humans that consume the product, disruption of the natural environment, insufficient government regulation, and more (Cardillo). As shown in the flowchart below, the process of splicing genes into food is a very meticulous process that can be costly and take a long time.
Materials and Methods For this lab, we used a mortar and pestle, a scale, 50ml centrifuge tubes, deionized water, 2ml microcentrifuge tubes, 2ml pipettes, and QuickStix Strip Tests.1 We first used the mortar and pestle to grind our food samples down to a fine powder weighing three to five grams. The powder was then put in a 50ml centrifuge tube with 40ml of deionized water to dissolve the powder. The 2ml pipettes were used to transfer a small amount of the dissolved sample to 2ml microcentrifuge tubes. The sample was then tested using QuickStix Strip Tests for the presence of proteins responsible for pesticide (Cry 1Ab) and herbicide (Roundup Ready) resistance.
Results
The class as a whole tested a total of twelve different foods that
Professor Van Doorn
ENVS 150-002
27 April 2015
GMOs Lab Report
Introduction
As the population of Earth increases exponentially, so does the demand for more food. One of the solutions to the question of how more food can be produced is Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not GMOs are more beneficial or harmful to society. Some of the benefits to GMOs are: growing plants, such as corn, that are resistant to weeds and pests, larger yields of crops that create more efficient land use, better textured, flavored, and nutritional foods, longer shelf lives of foods, and genetically modified foods create a sustainable way to feed the world (Benefits of GM Food). There are also disadvantages to GMOs that include money—making GMOs is not cheap and one main goal is also to make products that last longer and sell more, gene splicing is not natural and can have adverse impacts on animals and humans that consume the product, disruption of the natural environment, insufficient government regulation, and more (Cardillo). As shown in the flowchart below, the process of splicing genes into food is a very meticulous process that can be costly and take a long time.
Materials and Methods For this lab, we used a mortar and pestle, a scale, 50ml centrifuge tubes, deionized water, 2ml microcentrifuge tubes, 2ml pipettes, and QuickStix Strip Tests.1 We first used the mortar and pestle to grind our food samples down to a fine powder weighing three to five grams. The powder was then put in a 50ml centrifuge tube with 40ml of deionized water to dissolve the powder. The 2ml pipettes were used to transfer a small amount of the dissolved sample to 2ml microcentrifuge tubes. The sample was then tested using QuickStix Strip Tests for the presence of proteins responsible for pesticide (Cry 1Ab) and herbicide (Roundup Ready) resistance.
Results
The class as a whole tested a total of twelve different foods that