Genetic Engineering isn’t as complex as it sounds.
Regardless of how different two species
appear, their genetic composition is largely the same, which means that specific
genetic traits are compatible in a variety of different hosts. Mice have been
modified with the gene from a firefly to glow in the dark like a light
bulb. These mice experienced no harmful
effects, because mice DNA and firefly DNA are hardly different at all. The gene for luminescence continued to function
properly, simply using a mouse as a medium instead of a lightning bug.
Humans share 98.5 % of our DNA with
chimps, approximately 85% with zebra fish, around 36% with fruit flies, and
about 15% with mustard grass. All living
organisms are closely related.
Usually
people don’t imagine animals being genetically altered, but in reality, research
into animal modification is well underway and cows that deliver pharmaceuticals
in their milk have already been developed.
Amusing Website for Shared Genes: http://genetics.thetech.org/online-exhibits/genes-common
Are
genetically engineered foods dangerous for your health? No.
Genetic modification is a way of speeding up a completely natural process;
unless geneticists were to purposefully engineer crops to be toxic, tweaking
the structure of the plants won’t harm us. Despite this, and because of public outcry, genetically
engineered foods are forced through rigorous testing before being sold. Genetically modified foods are actually the
safest options on the market because they are screened for afflictions that
slip by in traditional crops.
Why then, is there so much opposition to
genetic engineering? Well, one
explanation is that genetic engineering poses a very real risk to the environment. Sometimes, crops are modified to be so
resilient they spread beyond farmland and take over local ecosystems, destroying
bio diversity. As a solution, scientists
have engineered modern crops to not reproduce independently so that they won’t spread
beyond where they’re planted, but this has proved unpopular among farmers who
are then forced to buy new seeds every year.
Sometimes genetically modified foods
are engineered to be resistant to a specific pesticide. After they are planted, their fields are then
doused with massive amounts of that chemical, killing off everything besides the
intended crop. This, as you can imagine,
is not the most environmentally friendly use of genetic engineering. On the bright side, in recent years
scientists are moving away from that by developing crops with natural insect
repellent inside of them, so that pesticides will no longer be necessary.
Gradually we are becoming more aware of
the tools’ environmental implications, and we are engineering to avoid
them. Our world is home to seven billion
people, and organic farms are not efficient enough to feed us all. Rather than choke our fields in chemicals
that are potentially harmful to ourselves and the environment, why not invest
in something that has the potential to coexist with the natural elements of our
world?
Anti GE source,
“What is Genetic
Engineering?” ucsusa.org. 2003. Union of Concerned Scientists. Web.
February 24, 2012.
Pro GE source,
“Food: How Altered?”
enviroment.nationalgeographic.com Ed. Jennifer Ackerman. 2012.
The
National Geographic Society. Web. February 24, 2012.
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