... have been made to some soybean and canola plants to produce oils with a different fatty acid composition so they can be used in new food processing systems. They have engineered corn that carries a protein toxic to certain caterpillars, and some soybean plants carry a gene that makes it resistant to ... general the gene and its product (the enzyme that inactivates the antibiotic and thus confers resistance) would usually be destroyed during heat processing of the food material. The FDA does not allow antibiotics that are used to cure diseases and illness to be used as marker ... U.S. Depa...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... example of this has occurred in Canada when a weed species acquired resistance to three commonly used herbicides. The weed had acquired genes from three different plants - two GM strains and one conventionally bred which meant a fourth, more environmentally damaging, herbicide had to be used to kill it. This " ... the near future, which we already have started to enjoy, is enhanced yields and value-added quality produce by genetically engineering crop plants for pest resistance and enhanced shelf life. In another 20 years, our knowledge about the functional importance of most plant genes...

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... are actually good for us. Even though there is ongoing fear about the future health costs to consuming GMOs, humans have been growing and breeding plants and animals for decades. With an ever growing population, and an increase in world hunger, food production is in high demand. Genetically modified ... to see the benefits of using GMOs, it is important to understand what they are and where they come from. Agricultural products such as crop plants, farm animals, and soil bacteria have been genetically engineered to breed only those with specific traits that are better than others. These ...

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... such. The first attempts at gene manipulation made use of easily transformable varieties and easily identified genes such as those having to do with herbicide tolerance and pest resistance. Presently, plants are being grown commercially utilizing these approaches such as the Roundup Ready soybean, Bt corn (injected with Bacillus thuringiensis, a naturally occurring toxin used by organic farmers), and viral resistant ... papaya. Later, scientists grew more and more interested in using biotechnology for traits such as those that would permit plants to grow under foreign and/or adverse con...

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... It is because of this that it is important that the environment be cared for. Damage that is done to the environment cannot be easily repaired. Plants are huge contributing factors in the environment because they are a source of food to all species. Recently, there has been a serious amount of tampering ... make them resistant to insects, the insects and pests that these methods target have the potential to adapt to herbicides and pesticides. Furthermore, genetically modified plants may become resistant to the DNA changes that have been made in them. So while the DNA changes made to a ...

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... our food is genetically modified, the main culprit: corn and corn products. Genetically modified food is all around us; people with moral objections to meat and meat byproducts do not know that tomatoes, and most other seasonal plants have DNA fragments of some type of animal, mainly fish. Proteins produced by these crops could cause allergic reactions in people. Organic and local crop ... -up Ready products. Wild species mainly butterflies and moths (related to corn borers) are in danger of becoming extinct due to the introduction of Bt into the cells of these plants. If genetically alt...

• Word Count: 1338
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• Grade Level: High School

... herbicide and pest-resistant seeds (Hsu, K). "The farm has moved from being the centerpiece of agriculture to become but one part of an integrated multilevel industrial process including production, storage, processing, distribution, marketing, and retaining" (Knox and Marston 342). Agriculture has become more than planting and harvesting. It is now a food assembly line where each scale, from the private farm, ... One of these problems is the concern of unanticipated allergic responses to new substances in foods. Also many worry about the spread of pest resistance or herbicide tolerance...

• Word Count: 1992
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... is genetically modified food? Eric Schlosser elaborates on this in the film, Food Inc. The source of all genetically modified food is genetically modified organisms. Genetically modified organisms are plants, animals, or bacteria that have been genetically altered through the process of genetic modification. Transgenic food, genetically engineered food, and genetically modified food all refer to foods derived ... create characteristics and traits in organisms that could not naturally occur. All genetically engineered foods created so far are derived from genetically engineered plants. Wi...

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... My mom read an article that said scientists have revealed GM crops are no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques (White). As far as I'm concerned, GM foods can promote the quality of our eating by improving ... the tastes, keeping time, nutritional value, and productivity. "Genetically engineered foods have had foreign genes (genes from other plants or animals) inserted into their genetic codes" (Genetically Engineered Foods). GM foods are created when the scientists target specific DNA and extra...

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... in food made from the genetically engineered plant could be toxic or allergenic when eaten, and a comparison of the levels of nutrients in the genetically engineered plant to traditionally bred plants "(Genetically Engineered Foods). A team of Italian Scientists studied and analyzed 1728 studies on genetically modified foods and the safety of them. They appeared to find no critical evidence that harmful ... atmosphere or equal to removing 10.2 million cars from the road for one year (GMO Foods) With the technology of genetically engineered plants, scientist are able to modify the crops ...

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... be passed that requires genetically modified food to be labeled so that they can avoid eating genetically modified food. Genetically modified organisms are plant or meat products that been alter in a lab with genes from other plants, viruses, or bacteria in order to produce more food. Many of the foods we currently eat and feed our families are genetically modified, such as ... body weight of about 3.7% and also increasing the liver weight to 11% (Vendomois). Genetically modified corns are ingredient contained in salad dressing, breads, crackers, ice cream, candy, baby formula, processe...

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... known as "broiler" chickens which means that "broiler" chickens are bred and raised specifically for factories that use chickens just for meat production. According to the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) there are about 9,075,261,000 chickens that are slaughtered yearly and of those chickens, ... (Johnson). When chickens are treated with chemicals (GMO) to make them reach adulthood at an increased rate and make them grow bigger to provide more meat for every single chicken, it can lead to many health problems not only to the chickens but also to humans. According to Jeffer...

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... became more industrialized. This created a specialization in the food system, which is essentially the idea that farms could function more efficiently by focusing on fewer tasks. As food production and processing became more specialized, work became simpler and more routine. Mechanization, which is the replacement of human and animal labor with machinery that could aid in farmers' tasks, was then conceived ... warning labels like the European Union. All in all, the problems with mass-produced foods are overwhelming and need to be resolved. At the market, you can get more hamburger meat,...

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• Grade Level: High School

... from corn. Pollan also tracks a calf from its starting point in South Dakota to its miserable ending in a Kansas slaughterhouse. Pollan exposes the horrifying conditions of many of these industrial meat processing centers. One must also not forget that many of these Farm Bill protected companies employ cheap labor in sweatshop like conditions. According to Pollan, our organic culture is "floating ... ...

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... face of such a serious problem, GM technology can be used as our solution to save ourselves and Earth before it's too late. Studies have proved that nowadays, "insect-resistant plants (maize, soybean, cotton, etc.) have been obtained by introducing into the plant genome the gene of a bacterium (Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt) coding for a protein (called Bt protein) which is toxic ... food safety and takes relative measures such as put in place a supervision mechanism that monitors the whole production process from product design to the delivery of raw materials, production and processing...

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... and peasants elsewhere in the world, like Mexican peasants flooded with cheap U.S. corn under NAFTA. European milk is dumped in Central America, destroying its indigenous dairy industry, and the dark meat that is less prized in European and American chicken markets is dumped in Senegal or other countries, wiping out flourishing domestic poultry industries. The milk is subsidized, but the chicken ... to save and replant seeds. You may ask how does Monsanto keep producing these seeds? Monsanto has devised a method of activating the engineered seed-specific toxin gene after the farmer plan...

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... , agriculture. When a family gathers for a Sunday dinner of steak and potatoes, they are reaping the benefits of American farmers. When a vegetarian searches the grocery store isles in search of non-meat products, he or she is facing the effects of American farmers and their agriculture products. In short, American farmers" are responsible for supplying American's with their daily bread baskets. As ... the future. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, over 30 percent of American corn and at least 70 percent of American soybeans are genetically modified. That means the...

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... such as increased resistance to herbicides or to improve their nutritional content. Conventional plant breeding methods (hybridization) are time consuming and not very accurate. Genetic engineering can create plants with the exact desired trait very quickly and with great accuracy. For example, plant geneticists can isolate the gene responsible for draught tolerance and insert that gene into a ... and economic concerns. Environmentalists are concerned about a published report showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars. Even though mon...

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... for humanity and the environment. Imagine, if you will, the creation of new improved foods that taste better and are healthier for you. Plants can be genetically modified so that they contain more vitamins and nutrients. There are may examples of this already in the market place and many ... carotene producing rice. The use of genetically altered crops can help reduce the pollution due to the use of harmful pesticides and insecticides. These plants will deter insects and resist fungus with the minimum use of chemicals. This in turn means that less of these chemicals will make it ... int...

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... environment. The only problem with this, critics say, is that they also found that roots of the corn also exuded the toxin. Many plants produce a number of toxins and ant nutritional factors that are thought to provide resistance to natural herbivores. In most domesticated crop species, the ... health concerns. In other species, breeders routinely screen new varieties to make sure that toxins are within a safe limit. In genetically modified crop plants, toxins are of concern in any species in which unsafe levels have been found. Before marketing, genetically modified crops must undergo ...

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... so it is easy to see why so many people are surprised by this. Other crops that have been genetically engineered are "canola, corn, cotton, soybean, potato, and tomato plants" (Partial List 2). Genetically engineered foods have become widespread, yet the public seems almost unaware of the modified ingredients showing up in their foods. This raises one of the main objections ... of underproduction. Genetically engineered foods can also help reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides. These foods can be engineered to produce Bt, which is a pesticide to protect the plants from insects. By ...

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... types of foods are fixed, these types of foods should not be made available to the public. They argue that by adding foreign genes to plants, there is the possibility of creating food allergens that have never been seen before, which could make these altered foods potentially fatal. Food allergens ... do many things with these foods to help the farming industry. They help farmers increase their profits by reducing the time it takes for the plants to mature, increasing nutrient levels, and improving resistance to decease. By using these technological advances and growing altered crops, fa...

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... with a consequence, and the question is whether or not the good overpowers the bad. Many experts argue that Genetically Modified foods are actually beneficial to, not only people, but animals, plants, and the world overall. Some experts even state that, not only are they beneficial, but that they also protect the environment and aid food productivity. Most farmers actually recommend GMO ... recommend the use of genetically modified foods, because they are easier to grow, and are more profitable. An example of how they are easier to grow is that genetically modifying plants can make them m...

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... crops to withstand the freezing temperatures, heat, droughts, and other hostile conditions. Genetic modification also allows scientists to modify a plant so that it has the same traits that other plants have, such as greater leaf area or even a different color. It can also prevent a plant from manifesting certain genes. This process has become a highly controversial topic within the ... that was once unthreatened" (Garnham 2). There is also concern with new viruses being formed. Naturally occurring viruses can combine with viral fragments that come from the transgenic plants and many va...

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... crop came from the University of California at Berkley in 1982. The genetically modified crop had a gene that reduced the amount of frost damage. (Uchtmann 4-6) The first generation of these plants failed to achieve pre-market approval and were not sold to the general public. The second generation of genetically engineered crops began in 1995 when they became commercially used. By ... agree that the industry needs to be regulated. Perry Adkisson, PhD, professor emeritus at Texas A&M University and a supporter of the biotech revolution states, "The federal agencies responsible for regulati...

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