What are the new “unexpected effects” and health risks posed by genetic engineering?
- Toxicity. Genetically engineered foods are inherently unstable.
- Allergic Reactions.
- Antibiotic Resistance.
- Immuno-suppression.
- Cancer.
- Loss of Nutrition.
According to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), there are no human clinical trials of GMO foods, but those done with animals indicate serious health risks linked to GMOs. These include: Infertility. Immune problems.
The vast majority of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) grown in the U.S. are engineered to produce their own pesticides, or survive direct application of pesticides. For example, Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops are engineered to survive direct application of glyphosate (the primary ingredient in Roundup).
In addition, over the two decades that GMOs have been on the market, there have been no occurrences of health issues due to genetically modified organisms. As GMOs stand today, there are no health benefits to eating them over non-GMO foods.
GE crops paired with their pesticide counterparts wreak havoc on the environment through: Increased herbicide use. Increase of herbicide-resistant weeds. The contamination of organic and conventional (non-GMO) crops.
Pesticides and human health:Pesticides can cause short-term adverse health effects, called acute effects, as well as chronic adverse effects that can occur months or years after exposure. Examples of acute health effects include stinging eyes, rashes, blisters, blindness, nausea, dizziness, diarrhea and death.
Impact on environmentPesticides can contaminate soil, water, turf, and other vegetation. In addition to killing insects or weeds, pesticides can be toxic to a host of other organisms including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-target plants.
Gene therapy holds promise for treating a wide range of diseases, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, diabetes, hemophilia and AIDS. Researchers are still studying how and when to use gene therapy. Currently, in the United States, gene therapy is available only as part of a clinical trial.
ABSTRACT: There are many risks involved in genetic engineering. The release of genetically altered organisms in the environment can increase human suffering, decrease animal welfare, and lead to ecological disasters. Economic risks are acceptable, if they are condoned by the corporations and governments who take them.
Some benefits of genetic engineering in agriculture are increased crop yields, reduced costs for food or drug production, reduced need for pesticides, enhanced nutrient composition and food quality, resistance to pests and disease, greater food security, and medical benefits to the world's growing population.
Genetic engineering allows scientists to select one specific gene to implant. This avoids introducing other genes with undesirable traits. Genetic engineering also helps speed up the process of creating new foods with desired traits.
Genetically-modified foods have the potential to solve many of the world's hunger and malnutrition problems, and to help protect and preserve the environment by increasing yield and reducing reliance upon chemical pesticides and herbicides.
The idea of germline gene therapy is controversial. While it could spare future generations in a family from having a particular genetic disorder, it might affect the development of a fetus in unexpected ways or have long-term side effects that are not yet known.
Many GMO crops are used to make ingredients that Americans eat such as cornstarch, corn syrup, corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil, or granulated sugar. A few fresh fruits and vegetables are available in GMO varieties, including potatoes, summer squash, apples, and papayas.
Insect resistance.Bacillus thuringiensis is used as an insecticide spray in organic farming. Genes for several Bt toxins have been introduced into many crops by GM. For example over 90% of the cotton planted in the USA, India, China, Australia and South Africa are GM varieties containing Bt toxin genes.
Insects need to develop a resistance mechanism against certain antimetabolites produced by plants to feed on them. However, insect-resistant plants can be developed by expressing genes coding for plant resistance isolated from the other plant species.
Genetically modified (GM) plants, also called transgenic plants, are designed to acquire useful quality attributes such as insect resistance, herbicide tolerance, abiotic stress tolerance, disease resistance, high nutritional quality, high yield potential, delayed ripening, enhanced ornamental value, male sterility,
Why do farmers use GMO crops? Most of the GMO crops grown today were developed to help farmers prevent crop loss. The three most common traits found in GMO crops are: Resistance to insect damage.
Pest resistant GM crops (primarily cotton and maize), have been genetically modified so they are toxic to certain insects. They are often called Bt crops because the introduced genes were originally identified in a bacterial species called Bacillus thuringiensis.
For example, the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produces a toxin extremely poisonous to certain species of insects. The gene which produces this toxin has been introduced into tomato plants. It gives them built-in resistance to a range of insect pests, but is not poisonous to humans.
Adjuvants are substances used with a pesticide to enhance performance. By themselves, they do not possess pesticidal activity. Adjuvants may be added to the product at the time of formulation or by the applicator to the spray mix just prior to treatment.
Genetically modified rice are rice strains that have been genetically modified (also called genetic engineering). The natural movement of genes across species, often called horizontal gene transfer or lateral gene transfer, can also occur with rice through gene transfer mediated by natural vectors.
Marginalization of Public Sector Research: Despite21 Just 5 firms – Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, Bayer and Dow – accounted for 98% of all biotech trait-acres.
They concluded that GM crops allowed an increase in yield of 6 percent to 25 percent, depending on the country, with the additional benefit of reducing mycotoxin levels by one-third. If GM crops didn't provide a significant yield benefit to farmers, they would simply choose to use conventional seeds.
Treatments like chemotherapy, flu vaccines, and insulin shots for diabetics are all GMO innovations. These advancements all improve the lives of at-risk populations.
Usage has fluctuated over the past 30 years and is largely correlated with crop prices, weather, pesticide regulations, and inventions of new pest resistant GE seed varieties. Today, around $15 billion is spent annually on pesticides, representing a five-fold increase since 1960 when adjusting for inflation.
Can genes escape from genetically modified crops and jump to other plants? No, genes cannot move from species to species without human intervention.
The fact is, GMO Farming methods let growers spray less often, and actually use fewer pesticides than other types of farming.
Most Common GMOs
- Alfalfa. Much of commercially available alfalfa has been genetically modified to contain a gene that makes it resistant to the herbicide Roundup.
- Canola. It is estimated that about 90% of US canola crops are genetically modified.
- Corn.
- Cotton.
- Papaya.
- Potato.
- Soy.
- Sugar Beet.
The bottom line is, organically produced fruits and vegetables may not be pesticide-free. Remember a pesticide is a product labeled to kill a pest. Therefore, organic products that kill pests are chemicals, just like their non-organic counterparts. The main difference is how they were created.
A major environmental concern associated with GM crops is their potential to create new weeds through out-crossing with wild relatives, or simply by persisting in the wild themselves. The potential for the above to happen is assessed prior to introduction, and is monitored after the crop is planted as well.
