Genetically Modified Organisms
Due to population and consumption growth, people are using more and more resources. One of the primal need resources for any heterotrophic organism is food. People are no exception. Now there are more than 7,5 billion people on Earth, which is 7,5 time more than even 200 years ago. (Gurău, & Ranchhod, 24) This big increase made a consumption revolution. People are craving more food and the field can not provide enough. For this reason, people had genetically modified crops, who are better in surviving, are more productive and spoil slower. That said, this change in food has been a very controversial topic. Sometimes people are against this type of food because they have a lack of understanding, what actually are GMO, but maybe people are right. To put it another way, are GMOs the answer to a lack of resources, or are they the next plaque, as they are described in media?
In order to understand the pros and cons of GMOs, it is only right to start with a definition. As it is put in a work written by Peter on the topic of GMO in 2011, a genetically modified organism is an organism, with the exception of human beings, in which the genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or by natural recombination. (Peter, Mojca, & Primož, 879) There are several ways to alter genetic material. In the last decade, biotechnologists have had some major accomplishments, which have to lead to a wide range of different techniques, that are modifying the genetic material.
It can be seen from the above analysis that, there are two major pros for genetically modified organisms. The first is that they have a wide range of agronomic benefits. They are producing more crops from the same land. As it was stated in the work of Chen Zhanga and others, only in the period 1996 to 2013, it was estimated that biotechnology was responsible for the additional global production of 138 million tons of soybeans, 274
million tons of corn, 21.7 million tons of cotton lint, and 8 million tons of canola. All this, with no field expansion on new land. This is an important factor because this would need hundreds of millions of acres to cultivate as fields. Moreover, the tons of fertilizers or irrigation, and work. There is also, however, a further point to be considered, because alteration of already made ecosystems may lead to the extinction of species, climate change, and others. (Zhanga C., Wohlhueterb R. and Zhangcfor H., 5) Secondly, this technique can improve food qualities in a number of reasons. To start this, scientists can incorporate vitamins, unsaturated fatty acids, alimentary cellulose and probiotics in food, that …
