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Some believe that GMOs, genetically modified organisms, are radical, unstable, and treacherous forms of food that should not be eaten. The truth is far from what many have heard. In actuality, a GMO is an organism that has had its DNA modified by scientists in order to change a part of that organism for the better. GMOs have been proven safe by scientists around the globe, but GMOs are still considered to be dangerous by many. GMOs have been submerged in controversy due to mixed opinions on the morality of their very existence. GMOs can carry more nutrients and can be healthier than traditional and conventional foods. GMOs are an adequate source of food for many countries around the world, providing those in need with healthy diets. GMOs should be given a second look because they are easy to grow, have nutrients that normal foods do not have, and can efficiently solve dietary issues, and even diseases.
It is thought that GMOs are harder to grow, while the truth is in the hands of the farmers who handle crops daily. GMOs are almost effortless to grow, as their genes have been molded to survive in the harshest of circumstances. GMOs are verified to grow with speed and ease, as a study showed that genetically modified fast growing salmon can reach market size in 18 months, roughly half the time its non-genetically modified counterpart, and requires less feed (Nesbit, 2017). This confirms that GMOs are not only faster, but also easier. The genetically modified salmon requires less food than other salmon, allowing farmers to grow more food. GMOs have proven themselves in the lab, but farmers need to test GMOs in the field. The GMO dispute affects everyone, especially in Arizona, where a farmer named Kevin Rogers is ready to plant his cotton for the season. Cotton in Arizona has been plagued with pests, and GMO technology has made Cotton resistant to these pests, without potentially harmful pesticides. Rogers explains that if it were not for GMO technology, the cotton industry in Arizona would not be thriving or sustainable (Johnson, 2014). This reveals that farmers need and benefit from GMOs in order to thrive. Without GMOs, cotton farmers, like Rogers, would not have a sustainable source of crops. GMOs are needed, especially for farmers who rely on easy growth. GMOs can be grown with ease, but they also carry nutrients that normal foods would not carry.
Many assume that GMOs have less nutrients and are unhealthy. In reality, most GMOs are created to carry more nutrients within them. These GMOs are called biofortified foods and crops because they are fortified with mass amounts of nutrients. For example, Omega-9, an extremely healthy canola oil, is a high stability liquid oil made from patented specially bred Nexera canola seed from Dow AgroSciences (Dow AgroSciences, 2014). Omega-9 canola oil has a reduced amount of linolenic acid, and an increased amount of oleic Acid, which will increase the amount of healthy acids, and decrease the amounts of saturated fats. Omega-9 canola verifies the fact that GMOs carry more nutrients and can be healthier than conventional foods. Golden rice is another example of a healthier GMO substitute to conventional foods. Golden rice has been modified to carry more beta-carotene, a pigment that is broken down to vitamin A after consumption. Golden rice has a successor, called the super banana, which was named one of Time magazines Best Inventions of 2014 (Norero, 2018). Both golden rice and the super banana demonstrate that GMOs can have added nutrients that conventional foods do not have. The invention of golden rice and the super banana presume that GMOs will have to play an important role in the future, including helping with combating dietary issues and disease.
Dietary issues exist in many countries around the world because of an inability to provide a sustainable diet for families. GMOs are a cost-effective solution that can help provide those in need of a more nutritious diet. One case of GMOs solving dietary issues is golden rice and the super banana battling vitamin A deficiency. Every year, vitamin A deficiency causes 500,000 cases of irreversible blindness, Xerophthalmia (the inability to create tears), and over two million deaths worldwide (Norero, 2018). These deaths mainly occur in children, most typically under the age of five (Norero, 2018). Golden rice can help solve this problem because of its increase of vitamin A. Golden rice has enough vitamin A that 150 grams of this rice provide the [daily] recommended amount of vitamin A for a child (Norero, 2018). According to the Golden Rice Project, golden rice will cost around the same amount of money as regular rice, making it a cost friendly solution to vitamin A deficiency (Mayer, 2019). Adding to the many people who are deficient in vitamin A, it is estimated that around 800 million people are malnourished around the world today (Burnett, 2015). With an estimated 9.8 billion people in the world by 2050, we will need novel solutions to meet the worlds increasing food needs (Burnett, 2015). Many GMOs are trying to help fight the hunger problems that the Earth is facing. One of these GMOs that is trying to combat world hunger is AquAdvantage salmon. AquAdvantage salmon, the first genetically altered animal to be cleared for commercial sale reaches commercial maturity in half the time of wild salmon, using 25% less feed doing so (Burnett, 2015). AquAdvantage salmon makes more for less, which is the ratio we need to feed the steady growing population. Without GMOs, feeding an exponentially growing population would be next to impossible. GMOs not only help fight hunger and malnutrition, but can also help fight off disease.
GMOs help fight many diseases, including Malaria. Every 30 seconds, a child dies from Malaria, totaling at 3000 children dying everyday due to extreme disease (Unicef n.d.). 405,000 people were killed by the deadly disease in 2018, over 67% of the deaths occurring in children aged five years and under (World Health Organization, 2020). The battle against Malaria has been tough, but a study at the University of California-Irvine may have the answer. The 20-year-long study has resulted in the insertion of genes from mice into mosquitos, that provide them a strong immune response against the malaria-bearing Plasmodium parasite (Burnett, 2015). The added genes make the mosquitoes resistant to malaria, and able to pass the resistance to offspring. The mosquitos have been extremely effective, and similar principles are being applied to fight diseases like yellow fever, dengue fever, and chikungunya (Burnett, 2015). Even though GMOs have proven themselves to be nothing but beneficial to the world, opposition to GMOs still exists around the world.
According to the GMO Watch, 28 countries in Europe alone currently ban GMOs, believing that they are dangerous and immoral (GMO Watch, 2019). The GMO Watch also believes that GMOs cause cancer, liver damage, and kidney damage. The MD Anderson Cancer Center has proven this wrong, stating that sticking with a plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains outweighs any GMO health concerns . Many people also believe that GMOs are morally wrong. A nutritionist, Susan Schenck, has stated that GMOs are the worst thing happening in food right now (Hovet, 2018). Schenck has done many things to avoid GMOs, including moving to Ecuador, where GMOs are illegal (Hovet, 2018). Schenck says that GMOs are immoral, and that changing genes in organisms is nothing short of genocide (Hovet, 2018). Schenck and others who speak against GMOs without research need to wake up. With 7 billion people, and many more on the way, it is more morally wrong to ban an efficient way to provide nutritious food for all who need it.
In conclusion, GMOs deserve renewed attention because they have proven to have many pros: they are safe and easy to grow, contain more nutrients than other foods, and can effectively address nutrition and disease issues. GMOs will help farmers across the world with the growth of their crops, not mitigate the growth of crops. GMOs are created to carry more nutrients and prevent disease, and do not cause disease. The banning of GMOs will result in the starvation of many due to disease and hunger. Tomorrows children will benefit from a world where GMOs create a sustainable future. The morality of GMOs is less significant than the morality of the death of millions.
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