Genetically modified organisms are becoming more prevalent in our society. There are a plethora of companies now that are breaking into the business in one form or another. They can now modify plants, animals, and bacteria and viruses to help humans with research, creating medicines more easily, and producing food with greater yields and are more resistant to bugs. There are many benefits with the modified organisms and there are many controversies that have come up. Basically there are a lot of people out there that aren’t sold on the benefits of these organisms and the businesses involved aren’t putting enough into the research of long term effects to put those fears to rest. Aside from all of that there are financial reasons to be for or against genetically modified organisms. Some companies control huge portions of the market and can thus dictate how it is used. Also, there are a lot of governments from around the world involved. Government intervention can make or break this industry. So what is a genetically modified organism?
A genetically modified organism is a plant, animal, and bacteria or a virus that has been modified using DNA modification or “an organism whose genetic material has been altered using techniques in genetics generally known as recombinant DNA technology. Recombinant DNA technology is the ability to combine DNA molecules from different sources into the one molecule in a test tube. Thus, the abilities or the phenotype of the organism, or the proteins it produces, can be modified through the modification of its genes” (Wikipedia). There are a couple ways that they do this: They can attach a gene to a cell using a virus, physically insert the gene into the nucleus with a very small needle, or by using a gene gun which fires very small particles. The reason that they do this is to introduce into an organism positive traits that can help make that organism more useful to humans. The most commonly modified organism is crop plants. They modify it by making it pest resistant and also to have higher yields. They can also have them produce vitamins and nutrients not natural to that crop making them healthier. Other organisms have been modified to produce medicines such as insulin and Atryn, an anticoagulant. These are just a few of the many benefits that modified organisms can provide.
Here is a short list of pros of genetically modified organisms: Production of human insulin, use in gene therapy, creation of neo-organs, and usage in agriculture. For the production of insulin human cells are transplanted into another mammal such as a goat which acts as a medium for the human genes. The cells produce the insulin in the medium and are then the insulin is extracted and given to patients with diabetes. With gene therapy, modified viruses are used to treat genetic disorders like sickle cell anemia, muscular dystrophy, and cystic fibrosis. Neo-organs are perhaps one of the most important benefits. Organs for transplant are hard to come by. With the help of genetic engineering new organs could be grown for transplant from the cells of the patient so that no rejection occurs. This leads to safer transplant procedures. In agriculture some of the benefits have already been touched upon; greater yield, more nutritious, and pest resistance to name a few. With these benefits there are also some potential risks associated with this technology.
Some risks include: Harmful effects on crops, GM animals, Unnatural methods being used, risk of misuse, disruption of natural genetic information, and preliminary stage of research. The harmful effects on crops include the fact that all the crops have the same genetic makeup. If a strain of bacteria is especially harmful to one it is harmful to all of them. There is no genetic variety to protect the plants. With GM animals there are other problems that could be present. Animals are used to produce proteins, medications, and human organs. The animals could be cloned and if anything goes wrong they could be born with deformities and not live very long. Plus, there is the threat that if a pig is carrying a disease and the heart is used as a transplant, the disease could be transferred to humans. Genetic modification is not natural and some would argue that by going around the natural reproduction methods more problems could arise. And last of all genetic modification is still in its infant stage of testing. We are still finding out how it all works so we can’t be sure of what the long term effects will be. But what about the economic impact that these organisms can have on countries?
In 2009, of the 14 million farmers growing GMOs, 90% were resource poor farmers in developing countries: 7 million in China, 5.6 million in India, and 250,000 in the Philippines, South Africa, and 12 other countries. The global worth of biotech crops in 2008 was estimated to be $130 billion (Wikipedia). So where do these crops come from? There are a few firms around the world with ties to the industry but the largest of them is Monsanto. In 2007, Monsanto's trait technologies were planted on 246 million acres throughout the world. Why is Monsanto holding the largest portion a problem? Well they have patents on the seeds that they sell. To control that patent they have developed “Technology Protection.” There are two forms of this: One is the “Terminator” which means that the crops yield sterile seeds, and two is “Traitor” which requires the farmer to spray a chemical activator on the seeds to activate the genetically modified traits. These protectors will require the farmers to pay yearly to have the privilege of growing these crops. With farmers already under burdens such as shrinking land space and growing populations to feed paying to grow these plants on a yearly basis could become quite costly. It might also make these crops unattainable to the small farmers in under developed countries. On the other side of the spectrum it could be a boon for farmers because the extra cost of having to pay yearly for the modified seeds could be offset; they could cut down on the land needed to grow the same amount plus the money saved on pesticides and weed killer because those traits are engineered into the crops. There are definitely some economic risks and rewards associated with it but all of it could be for naught if world governments and activists have anything to say about it.
As of 2007 the US, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil accounted for 94% of all GMO plantings (Council on foreign relations). The European Union accounts for 1% of all GMO corn grown in the world. Japan has no GMO products grown in the country and consumers continue to resist importation of GMOs. A bylaw was passed making it almost impossible to grow GMOs in Japan. The Consumers Union of Japan participated in the Planet Diversity Conference in Bonn Germany where Kokestu Michiyo was quoted,” We don’t only need networks between people, but between people and plants, and people and planet earth.” In New Zealand no GMOs are grown and no medicines containing live GMOs are allowed. The list goes on. These governments at the behest of their citizens have cried aloud that they don’t want these GMO products in their countries whether that is due to the fear of the unknown, the lack of understanding of what a GMO is and what it can do, or if it is for economic or environmental reasons they are currently against using this technology in most all of its forms.
There are many benefits both economically and for the general welfare of the citizenry that could persuade governments and farmers to use these genetically modified organisms. But if the technology is embraced to quickly without the proper studies and test performed there could be damaging consequences in the future. It is such a new technology that we just can’t know what may lie ahead. Some issues that need to be addressed are what effect will this have on bio-diversity? Will the benefits of having a pest resistant crop outweigh the possibility of producing more resistant pests? Are we really better off doing it this way than the old traditional ways? For now the technology is pushing forward with more acceptance gained worldwide everyday. The fact of the matter is we are seeing benefits and we are reaping rewards for our technological ingenuity.
