Safety Of Genetically Engineered Foods - Essay Example

Safety Of Genetically Engineered Foods Introduction Various news agencies have spread the news of genetically modified foods. Organisations across the world that advocates for the public interest have strongly opposed against GM foods. They view the cons of the foods have outweighed the pros. Recent controversial reports have spread the news about the negative effects of the GM foods. They indicate the health implications, which may result from consumption of these foods. Genetically modified foods come from molecular biology procedures. Experts argue that biological procedures are time consuming and sometimes inaccurate. The inaccuracy could cost the genetical food user in the future. The paper shall highlight the negative effects of genetically modified foods. Effects of GM foods Various organisations across the world have raised concern about the use of GM foods. The organisations have criticized the agribusiness sector for maximising their profits without taking the health of citizens into consideration. The government too is facing the blame for not passing policies that could regulate the foods. The genetically modified foods cause environmental hazards. The foods cause harm to other organisms. Experts gave the example of pollen grains from modified corn plan. It resulted to increase in mortality rates in the butterfly caterpillars. It is obvious butterfly caterpillars do not consume cones, but the wind could blow toxins from the cones into their food (Carter, 2011). Toxins from GM foods kill many organisms. Researchers have found it hard designing toxins that could only be harmful to bad insects. It is a proof that the toxins pose potential risks to survival of organisms. GM foods pose a threat to the effectiveness of pesticides. They make pesticides that fight harmful insects to be useless. Example of this is the DDT pesticide. The toxins from GM foods made mosquitoes be resistant towards the pesticide. There are objections against this point of view. Some researchers argue that the toxins being a threat to the effectiveness of pesticides are a good idea (Subramanian, 2007). They argue that pesticides cause ecological damage. The researchers do not consider the harmful side of the insects. GM foods produce Bt toxins. The researchers argue that the Bt toxins would help clear the effects of synthetic chemical pesticides. The GM plants could be harmful to beneficial insects. The Bt toxin could kill insects within a very short time. There are insects that assist in controlling maize pests, for example, the green lacewings. The insect is prone to the negative effect of the toxin.GM possesses the Cry1AB toxin. The toxin is often dangerous to honeybees. It affects the learning curves of these bees. The GM plants pose a threat to the soil's ecosystem. The Bt toxin interferes with the subterranean fungus normally present in the soil. The fungus is important in forming the symbiotic bond with roots. The bond results to the plant acquiring more nutrients with exchange of carbon. In the end, the plant shall run low on nutrients and will wilt. The toxins affect the nutrition content of the soils. Furthermore, the fungi depend on the plant for reproduction. Introduction of these toxins would cause genetic changes to the plant. The GM plants pose a risk to aquatic life. There was a research on the effects of Bt corn on caddis flies. The toxins increased their mortality rate significantly. Furthermore, the toxins could cause swapping of pests. Studies indicate that there are emergences of new pests. They replace the pests that died due to the effects of Bt toxins (Board, 2004). The GM technology suffers from underdevelopment. They could not serve some areas that require GM foods most. Poor countries often are behind when it comes to biotechnology. They do not have necessary resources such as scientists who could help manipulate the technology. Experts argue that developers of GM technology only considered making plants that are vulnerable to herbicides and insecticides. Furthermore, the developers created expensive seeds. Poor countries could not afford the prices of these seeds. Land in poor countries, especially Africa, has poor productivity. The few crops in these lands have to endure harsh conditions and some of them do not produce as expected. The people in the poor countries experience food insecurity, as a result. GM foods would serve them better, but they are expensive. It is usually very expensive to bring GM foods to the market. The process is very long and may cause significant losses to the farmer. Various institutions come up with plant engineering technologies. The technologies often cause patent infringements to GM plants. It is evident with continuing patenting of GM plants the prices of their seeds shall increase. Poor farmers and mostly third world countries will not have access to these seedlings. In the end, the gap between the poor and the rich shall broaden. It would be difficult to conduct patent enforcement. The experts have to go back to the drawing board and introduce another gene that would fight patent infringement. It will result to additional costs because farmers would require extra costs in buying new seeds every year. The plants will only survive for a year, and after that period, they will develop sterile seeds. It is the reason farmers will have to spend more on seeds every year. GM foods will cause the transfer of genes into other species that are non-intended. The crops in this technology have the ability to resist herbicides and insecticides. With this ability, the GM plant could crossbreed with weeds and transfer the ability. In the end, the weeds would develop ability to resist insecticides and herbicides. Researchers call these types of weed as superweeds. It would be hard to control these super weeds and in the future, farmers will face challenges while conducting farming (Smith, 2007). The pass of genes from GM plants to other plants could cause many losses. Example of this happened in Monsanto company sued farmers for using GM seeds without the company's consent. Farmers defended themselves that they obtained the seeds due to the possibility of interbreeding. Scientists have developed various solutions to help solve the interbreeding problem. They suggested for the introduction of male sterile GM plants. The males would not transfer any pollen grains. They further suggested for modification of the pollen grains, which would not contain the introduced gene. With the sterile male in place, there would be no cross-pollination. Furthermore, scientists recommended for creation of buffer zones. The zones would be near the GM plantations. An example is plantation of non-GM plants around the GM plants. After the growing period, there would be no harvesting of non-GM plants. There will be no cross-pollination because pollen grains would not pass beyond the buffer zones (Sheehan, 2006). GM plants pose a threat to human health. They may cause allergies. The allergies react to the proteins present in the GM foods. The common GM foods that cause allergies are soybeans. The food has intrinsic allergens present in them. The allergens are very dangerous to sensitive people. It is dangerous to their health. It has called for action from administrative bodies. For example, the South African nations rejected any form of food aid from America. They argued that the foods caused allergies to their people. Various strategies are in place to reduce the risks of allergies. Scientists recommend the best way is to eliminate allergies by suppression. A GM approach aims at using gene suppression technology. There have been experiments in various laboratories testing the efficiency of the technology, and it has proven to be a success (Whitman, 2000). The GM foods have caused both known and unknown effects on human health. Some situations in US and Europe have occurred where children suffered from allergies and health complications after consuming GM foods. It is highly possible that the introduction of genes into the GM foods may result to the creation of new allergens. The allergens are the main cause of allergic reactions. Scientists have abandoned various researches about genes due to fear of unexpected allergic reactions. There are various unknown effects on the human health. Various organisations have raised concerns that GM foods may have unexpected impacts on a person's health. For example, there was a research aimed at studying the effects of GM foods. The effects were felt on the digestive tracts. The researcher gave a GM modified potato to a rat and a non-GM potato to another rat. The results of the experiment discovered that there were differences in the intestines of the two rats. The one that consumed GM potato suffered from severe reactions. The research attracted many critics from the scientific field. Scientists do not believe GM foods have effects to the human health. GM foods pose a health risk to pregnant women. Research indicates that Bt toxin could cross the placental boundary. It would be toxic both to the mother's and foetus' health. The research failed to indicate whether the toxin would be dangerous across the placenta (Greenpeace, 2011). GM crops have their own herbicides. The herbicides are useful during the planting of these crops. They could pose health risks to mammals. The risk comes when the herbicides affect their hormones. Glufosinate is the herbicide that causes these risks. Statistics shows that many animals are dying due to effects of GM foods. For example, in India, farmers lost thousands of sheep after they consumed GM plants. The post-mortem report indicates that the plant caused severe irritation and left black patches on the intestine and the liver. Investigators blame the Bt toxin for being responsible for the mortality. GM genes remain inside a human body. After consumption of GM foods, the genes get into the intestines and start to live. A person will be prone to harmful effects of the genes. GM plants lack oversight. There is no sufficient oversight that would help mitigate the effects of Bt toxins. There are no enough safety screenings of GM foods. It would be hard to minimise the risks the toxins pose to health, reduce environmental pollution and fairly balance the ecology. Most governments across the world have an agricultural corporation. The corporations have a role in promoting agricultural activities in any country. Their influence on the distribution of GM seeds is very strong. With their influence, they may cause farmer exploitations (Mogilna, 2012). The cost of transgenic is very expensive. There is no transparency in the corporations that control agricultural activities in various countries. It has made it hard for poor farmers to obtain these seedlings because of no transparency. The only solution is giving debts to these farmers. The debts would be a great risk in food security. There is the lack of leadership in agricultural corporations. People lack direction on the use of GM foods. They just consume the food without a go ahead from their leaders. The leaders have to coordinate the distribution of seeds without threats of debts. In addition, they should lead the way in improving food security. Large agricultural corporations should not participate in the distribution of GM seeds. It will give farmers the hope of saving the seeds for the next growing period and prevent any form of exploitation. Conclusion Consumption of GM foods is like gambling with a person's health. It is evident the introduction of GM food was done in secret. There was no stipulation that required industrial countries to use GM foods. The biotechnology industry did not understand risks in using GM foods. They continued to manufacture GM products, and it is a clear indication that they are gambling with people's health. The government should take charge and prevent this gambling. Government leaders should ensure food companies have indicated if the foods are organic or GM product. It is a way of reducing the risks of consuming GM products. Furthermore, there should be more education campaign across various countries advocating against consumption of GM foods (Whitman, 2000). Various governments across the world are working tirelessly to control the effects of GM foods. They have established regulatory bodies that could reduce the negative effects of GM foods and develop new varieties of GM foods. The varieties are less harmful and cheap. It could help mitigate the food security and increase the levels of food production. Government strategies vary across the world because there are differences in both economic and social conditions. For example, Japan's government made GM foods testing to compulsory. India's government has not formulated any policies concerning GM foods because the foods have not reached the markets yet. Experts indicate that India is on the supporting side of GM foods. They predict that India would pass policies that favour GM foods because India is on the verge of food insecurity. In Brazil, the government has banned completely the use of GM food. It formed collaboration with Greenpeace and other organisations to advocate against GM food products. The Brazil people are on the contrary because most of them smuggle GM seeds into the country. European countries, there have been a rise in demonstration against GM foods. There has been food scares in Europe, for example, mad cow disease in Britain. The scares have reduced consumer's confidence in the European foods. They believe the government's information about GM foods is unreliable. European government heard the people's plea. Government officials made it a mandatory to label GM foods in stores. In addition, the American government has established three corporations that look into the need of GM products. The first is EPA, which looks into environmental safety; USDA is the second, and it looks into safety of growth. The third is FDA looks at the safety of consumption. References Read More