Note Taking on the Current issues and the potential future of GM foods - Essay Example

Taking on the Current issues and the potential future of GM foods By: Self test Column What are GM foods? What are some of the GM crops grown globally? Are all these crops subjected to direct consumption? What are common traits of the GM crops? Standard Notes GM foods are genetically modified foods used as food reserves particularly for nations where the conventional food crops are insufficient. Some of the global GM crops include: Maize, soybean, cotton, canola, sugar beet and alfalfa; products also include some nutritionally improved oils. Direct human consumption is limited to sweet com, papaya and squash; more often than not, consumption is also extended to the processed fractions (Baram, and Bourrier, 2014, p.5). The common traits of GM crops include: herbicide tolerance, insect and viral resistance and nutritional enhancements. Summary Genetically modified foods have been applied widely and globally to help improve the sufficiency of food supplies in most regions. The crops majorly include maize, soybean, cotton, canola, sugar beet and alfalfa and whose direct consumption has been limited to certain types only. They have various beneficial traits key among them being their herbicide e, and insect and viral resistance. Additionally, they also have some nutritional enhancements. Self test Column What are the various risks and safety issues related to GM food and feed? The technologies that have propagated these risks Some of the key issues critics have used to dissuade people from the GM crops use. Standard Notes Food allergy has been a major concern to most people on the use of the GM crops. This has related much to the amount, type and synthesis of the proteins in these GM crops. There are other risk issues but these too have had little to do with most of the technologies applied (Baram, and Bourrier, 2014, p.10). The technologies used which have propagated some of these risks have included; forced crosses, plant embryo rescue, and chemical and radiation induced mutagenesis Other critics have alluded to the sterility of these crops and sued farmers of inadvertent wind-blown pollination in a bid to dissuade farmers from the GM technology. Summary; Risks and safety issues relating to the use of the GM food and feed have been of particular concern to the masses. Allergic reactions have been experienced by some users and thus safety assessments must be carried out for these foods and the technologies used in producing them. Based on these concerns, critics of the technology have engaged in various activities to dissuade consumers of the products using facts that are not true and whose results are pegged on misinterpreted data sets from inappropriate test systems (Goldstein, 2014, p.195). Effects of the GM crops 1. The effects of the GM crops on the existing cultures The release of the Bt maize has been opposed by various people as a result of the release of the GE maize in its centre of origin. The main reason being that the GM maize would come with it var. cultural consequences (Parrott, 2010, p.549). The trad maize would be incorp with some unrelated species of genetic material making this type of agriculture alien and disturbing to people with stricter religious and cultural beliefs. This form of agric would also threaten most of the indigenous cultures by interfering with the indigenous and existing knowledge people have gathered over time. 2. Contamination by the GE crops The indigenous maize would be contaminated by the GM maize when planted in adjacent areas. This however, according to the various evidences gathered would not have much of a destructive effect to the existing indigenous maize The gene flow btwn plans is countered by selection. Farmers participate effectively in selecting of the phenotypes they desire. In the selection process, new traits considered desirable are retained by the farmers while those that are not, are discarded. In most cases, the GM technology only produces small notable changes in the overall gene expression in plants. The conventional breeding processes, environmental effects and the natural genomic instability, contrary to popular belief contribute to more variations occurring in plants as compared to the GM tech. Most crops are modified by the domestication processes. Overally, the DNA in crop plants are dynamic in nature and only changes majorly in response to human selection and other evolutionary forces plant (Parrott, 2010, p.546) The major effect of this contamination on maize; it would threaten the food sovereignty for people who have in the past relied on maize as their primary source of food (Goldstein, 2014, p.200). Issues surrounding the use of GM technology with regard to its Future List of abbreviations and symbols Var- various Trad- traditional Incorp- incorporated Agric- agriculture Btwn- Between Tech- technology GM- Genetically Modified DNA- Deoxyribonucleic acid Reference Baram M., and Bourrier M. (2014). Governing Risk in GM Agriculture. Cambridge Books Online, ii(3), pp. 1-12. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511976582 Goldstein, D. A., (2014). Tempest in a Tea Pot: How did the Public Conversation on Genetically Modified Crops Drift so far from the Facts?. Springerlink.com, x(1), p. 194–201. DOI 10.1007/s13181-014-0402-7 Parrott, W., (2010). Genetically modified myths and realities. New biotechnology, xxvii(5), pp. 545-551. Read More