Genetically
Modified Plants
The article that I read was titled, “Suggested
Improvements for the Allergenicity Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants
Used in Foods.” It spoke of a lot of the genetically modified plants that are
being grown today in fields around the world and how we are not too sure if it
is affecting the human population or not.
With the human population rising in great numbers
every day so is the amount of land that is occupied by humans. This forces the
farmers to grow on smaller areas and have less of an ability to have a crop
that might die. Having less room for error leads the farmers to genetically
modified plants that can withstand certain pests or diseases without having to
apply a type of pesticide. Today there is pest resistant corn, cotton, soybeans,
potatoes, etc. There are also plants that allow you to apply herbicide or a
pesticide directly to the plant without hurting it.
The modifying started globally in 1996 with farmers
planting 4.3 million acres in genetically modified plants and by 2009 were
planting 335 million acres. This is a huge jump in just a short amount of time,
but the farmers saw the great asset to having modified plants in their fields
that it would save them money in the long run. In the future this number will
increase greatly and will probably go to where all that the farmers are growing
are genetically modified plants.
Moving to all modified plants will not happen
overnight because of the fact that the testing of the plants to see if they are
going to work up to the standards of the farmers and the organizations that
regulate the modifications takes eight to twelve years. The FDA oversees the
Codex Commission which is the main organization that overlooks the development
of a genetically modified plant to make sure that there are no major problems
with the plants. The main thing that this commission looks at is the allergies
that people have and make sure that there is not going to be any allergic
reactions to the plants because of the use of a type of gene.
One of the main programs that the Codex Commission
uses to see if there is going to be any negative reactions to plants is by
looking at the sequence of the DNA through a program called BLAST. The purpose
of looking at the DNA sequence is to see if the plant is going to sensitize an
allergy in a consumer. These tests use heat to find the stability of the
proteins that are being used in the altered plants and make their observations
to tell the regulators of FDA and Codex if the plant passed or not.
The number one thing that makers of GM plants worry
about is if their plants are going to cause harm to the consumer of their
product. The harm that they most of the time think about is all of the
different allergies that people have to the proteins that are being placed in
the plants to make them resistant to certain things. The steps of precaution
that they take are very extensive to insure that they do not get lawsuits when
they release the new plant.
Genetically modified plants are something that I
think is going to take over in the agriculture industry and make it such a
better market for the farmers and the consumers. Although I do think that the
testing needs to be on point because we don’t need to have plants that are
going to do harm to humans.
Works Cited
Suggested Improvements for the Allergenicity Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants Used in FoodsRichard E. Goodman, Afua O. TettehCurr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2011 August; 11(4): 317–324. Published online 2011 April 13.
-Patrick
In the article, you spoke of how GM foods could have the possibility of harming humans if consumed. Do you know if there are GM plant products that are being used for other purposes than consumption? Are there products such as GM corn, sugar, or plants that are harvested for oil that are being grown to be used for biodiesel or other purposes?
ReplyDeleteSara Puckett
Yes there are genetically modified soybeans and corn. This actually is good for bio-diesel because farmers can get a high yield to meet the demand for bio-diesel. According to an article i found, GM crops have helped U.S. farmers to increase yields by 30 percent over the past 10 years. There was an Energy Bill passed by the U.S. which requires that biofuels account for 36 billion gallons of the U.S. fuel supply by 2022. GM plants should help in that aspect.
ReplyDelete-Nelson Elmore
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ReplyDeleteI chose an article similar in nature but talking about specifically lettuce. I like that you showed the broader range of the field and the increasinng demand. I agree that one day in the near future agriculture will be dominated by genetically modified plants or crops.
ReplyDeleteHunter Morris
How much risk do you see for potential consumers of these genetically altered plants?
ReplyDeleteHunter Morris
Huunter, I can answer this due to the fact that I am studying Horticulture and have alot of knowledge on GMO's. You might find it interesting that crops like round-up ready corn and soy beans have been on the market for a few years now and those are GMO's. This means that you have most likely consumed some form of those through any form of corn or soy beans. It has been proven through reasearch that those foods are fine to eat and cause no harm to humans.
ReplyDeleteMitchell Hardbower
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ReplyDeleteLooking at the environmental side of GMO. How damaging is it to the environment. Can it cause harm to the animals living near the GMO farm, could it cause a supper weed, and could it kill of the surrounding plants. What would the damage be if the GMOs causes mutation in the surrounding plants and all of the crops got that gene and then something happened that kill all of them off?
ReplyDeleteCorey Glessner
as to answer the question that stated how much risk do you see for potential consumers of these genetically altered plants? not really that much of an risk only that of the moving of the plants but it should not be because there are so many others that the consumers have at hanad and that of the population of them.
ReplyDeleteMost GMOs are just engineered to grow faster, and produce more food. It's not like eating these genetically modified organisms will affect you in a negative way. The modifications obviously are in the organism's DNA since the changes are passed down to subsequent generations. Eating these foods isn't going to alter our DNA. Most of the "say no to GMOs" fuss in the 90's was made by drop-out hippies who would rather eat foods laced with antibiotics and growth hormones.
ReplyDeleteThese antibiotics are probably a much more concerning problem, specifically, the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics. When overused, antibiotics lead to evermore resistant bacteria. All of us have most likely eaten genetically modified produce at some point. These modifications can lower pesticide use. We should be thankful for GMOs.
-Graham Byrd 4/23/2012