Comida Transgenica (Inglés)

Montse Monje Gómez Transgenic Food Genetically Modified Food as solution to World Hunger Introduction

9ºB nº18

Transgenic food, also called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) is crops, plants, vegetables, animals or other organisms that have been genetically changed. These have been changed to make the qualities of an organism higher or add some extra qualities to them, for example:bigger fruits, more resistance to toxics or droughts, etc. This process is sometimes called Genetic Engineering. Development Transgenic food, as said in the introduction, is the change of the genes of an organism in a laboratory. This process is called genetic engineering and it is done to make some of the organism’s qualities higher or give it some other qualities from other organisms. Geneticengineering is sometimes confused with Selective Breeding, but they’re very different: genetic engineering is used to add qualities to an organism s that weren’t found in that organism naturally. Selective Breeding is the process by which you can choose the organism with the best genes to be born. Genetically modified organisms are made with genetic engineering. The biggest problem of the world rightnow, a part from the economic crisis (which is one of the causes) is the deaths of thousands of people on the east of Africa (Somalia, Kenya, etc). These deaths were caused by a huge drought that destroyed all the crops and the resources of food and water of the people that live in that area, who are mainly farmers, so, all their food supplies were destroyed with the drought, so, most of them movedto the cities, where the fruit and vegetable supplies are delivered to, but thousands of them died on the way to the cities. Some scientists think that genetically modified organisms (GMO) would be the solution in these cases of extreme climates (too much or too little water, the need to use herbicides, etc) but others aren’t so sure.

Advantages of GMO’s  Pest resistance: some type of insectsor plagues attack crops what can lead to

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crop loss. If the crops that are the nourishment and sustentation of farmers are lost because of insects or pesticides were back to the problem described above (in bigger or smaller scale). That’s why some people say that modifying the genes of the crops to make them pesticide-resistance would eliminate this problem and, if theymodify the genes to make them resistant to pests, the farmers wouldn’t need to use pesticides so they would save a lot of money and the crops wouldn’t be in contact with chemical and toxic pesticides what, in some way, makes them “more healthy” or “less polluted”. Actually, if the farmers don’t need to apply pesticides, the water supply wouldn’t be so much polluted and wouldn’t cause so much harm tothe environment. Herbicide resistance: to take away the weeds by pulling is not good for some crops, so, the farmers usually use sprays like herbicides which are very bad for the actual crops. By modifying their genetic composition and making them stronger and more resistant can help the farmers and make their job much easier, cheaper and much quicker. Monsanto created a type of soybeans that isinvulnerable to the herbicide called Roundup ®. Resistance to diseases: a lot of viruses, fungi, bacteria, etc cause plant diseases. Experts in plants are working using genetic engineering to create plants with resistance to the diseases caused by the organisms mentioned before. Tolerance of cold: sudden frosts can destroy sensitive crops. An “antifreeze” gene from fish that live in cold water hasbeen introduced into plants. This would help the farmers not to lose money and time. Resistance to drought and salt: as global population grows, more lands are used for houses instead of for food production. The scientists have created plants that can resist for a long time without water or with water with a very high salt concentration.

Cons of GMO’S  The developing of very productive crops...