Generally people have little knowledge of the actual gist beside the term genetically engineered foods? It may sound like a harsh term, yet to some, it has little to no importance.
Genetic engineering basically means to remove genes from one organism such as a plant or an animal, and transferring it to another or altering genes from a plant or an animal in order to attain certain results. Much debating goes on about the issues in the controversy over genetically engineered foods. While some people do not seem to mind it, or choose to foresee the issues regarding it, some people have much stronger feelings against the practice. Many important issues evolve around genetically engineered foods, but a few of the main issues consist of whether consuming good generated via genetic engineering will prove itself as safe, helpful and beneficial to health. Many people have feelings of uncertainty about consuming genetically engineered food, as a result of uncertainty about the safety of doing so.
In the article, “Frankenfood Frenzy,” consumers and health activist groups find genetic engineering on food unsafe. In addition, Greenpeace calls genetically modified food “biological pollution” (Frenzy 1). People tend to feel that consuming genetically modified foods could have harmful results and could in the long run contribute towards the development of health problems (Frenzy 1). Yet on the other hand, to some people genetically engineered bear out safety. Gregory Jaffe and Doug Sherman, co-directors of the Biotechnology Project at the Center for Science stated that people should not portray nervousness about eating genetically engineered foods. He mentioned that in most cases, people do not actually eat those genes.
For example, by the time a genetically engineered corn plant gets processed into corn oil or corn syrup, virtually none of the genes remain in the food (Jaffe 2). Doug Sherman stated that genetically engineered food should undergo proper testing procedure because of two major concerns. One concern links to the new genes or proteins engineered and whether they might produce toxins that can harm in the short or long term, or whether the new gene might produce a protein that triggers an allergic reaction in a person who eats the food. No other worries involve this matter. (Sherman 2). Many controversial issues have existed about the helpfulness of genetically engineered food and many views on whether or not genetically engineered foods helped health got expressed.
Some say that genetically engineered foods can help. The article, “Frankenfood Frenzy” stated that researchers have found a way to enrich rice with beta-carotene by inserting genes from a bacterium and a daffodil. This way the body converts the beta-carotene into vitamin A. By adding another gene derived from a French bean, the iron content of rice can and will possibly double. This genetically modified rice could become available to farmers as soon as 2003. This genetic engineering promises to save millions of people in poor countries (Frenzy 1).
In addition to that, the article stated that products derived from agricultural genetic engineering available today include crops resistant to disease and insect, therefore resulting in fruits that stay fresh longer, and cow hormones that lead to increased milk production. These advances include foods containing vaccines and antibodies that fight diseases like hepatitis and cholera, and foods modified to eliminate common allergens (Frenzy 1). The article “Hybrid Vim and Vigor…,” also proved genetically engineered foods uphold its helpfulness. The author, William L.
Brown, researcher of George Shull’s experiments with inbreeding and crossbreeding corn, stated that the adoption of hybrid corn progressed steadily and dramatically in the Corn Belt. This leads to the increase of more bushels of corn per acre. In addition, the value of corn to the farmer advanced to several billion dollars per year (Brown 2). Genetically engineered foods have brought many controversial issues up amongst society in the past as well as in the future. Many people feel that without the help of genetically engineered foods, society would have many problems that exist beyond a reasonable doubt.
Such issues, such as genetically engineered food, give people different mind sets by which they adhere to. Some find genetically engineered foods to be beneficial, while some find it to be harmful. Many important issues evolve .
