Over the past several decades, there has been an ongoing dispute about the safety of genetically modified food. Some people believe that this food is as healthy as conventionally grown, while others provide evidence opposing this point of view. This paper will attempt to explore the benefits and the potential risks of genetically altered food.
It’s widely accepted that such kind of food has benefited in a number of ways. First of all, it can help people around the world who suffer from starvation or malnutrition, in countries like Africa and India, as crops will yield more if the DNA structure is altered at a molecular level, due to the fact that this changed structure helps fruits and vegetables to be tolerant to pests during outbreaks, be frost resistant and simply more protected from potential dangers. Besides, engineered food has more value. For example, genes responsible for producing the precursor of vitamin A have been inserted into rice plants, which have higher levels of vitamin A in their grain, as a result Golden rice appeared. This rice can be a solution to a vitamin A deficiency, since it feeds 50 per cent of world’s population.
Despite the obvious benefits production of genetically modified food can lead to tremendous problems. First and the main of which is contamination of the environment and to be more precise – land pollution. In attempt to grow such crops, farmers make a lot of efforts like using chemical fertilizers and pesticides to protect the harvest and make it tolerant to pests. However, because of these actions soil becomes infertile, as it takes in all chemicals which were used in order to grow crops, as a result nothing can be planted in this soil and it will take hundreds of years to recover. Moreover, it still not confirmed that eating genetically altered food is absolutely safe and does not have any health risks. According to the experiment, conducted on rats by American scientist in 1994, consuming this food may affect spleen and gut and lead to serious medical conditions if even not to death.
To conclude, it is obvious that debates about advantages and disadvantages of food altered at a molecular level will never end, so it is crucial to understand both points of view, which means not to disregard possible benefits of it, but still remember about potential risks and try to minimize them.
Over the past several decades, there has been an ongoing dispute about the safety of
genetically
modified
food
.
Some
people
believe that this
food
is as healthy as
conventionally
grown, while others provide evidence opposing this point of view. This paper will attempt to explore the benefits and the potential
risks
of
genetically
altered
food.
It’s
widely
accepted
that such kind of
food
has benefited in a number of ways.
First of all
, it can
help
people
around the world who suffer from starvation or malnutrition, in countries like Africa and India, as crops will yield more if the DNA structure is
altered
at a molecular level, due to the fact that this
changed
structure
helps
fruits and vegetables to be tolerant to pests during outbreaks, be frost resistant and
simply
more protected from potential
dangers
.
Besides
, engineered
food
has more value.
For example
, genes responsible for producing the precursor of vitamin
A
have
been inserted
into rice plants, which have higher levels of vitamin A in their grain,
as a result
Golden rice appeared. This rice can be a solution to a vitamin A deficiency, since it feeds 50 per cent of world’s population.
Despite the obvious
benefits
production of
genetically
modified
food
can lead to tremendous problems.
First
and the main of which is contamination of the environment and to be more precise
–
land pollution. In attempt to grow such crops, farmers
make
a lot of
efforts like using chemical fertilizers and pesticides to protect the harvest and
make
it tolerant to pests.
However
,
because
of these actions soil becomes infertile, as it takes in all chemicals which were
used
in order to grow crops,
as a result
nothing can
be planted
in this soil and it will take hundreds of years to recover.
Moreover
, it
still
not confirmed that eating
genetically
altered
food
is
absolutely
safe and does not have any health
risks
. According to the experiment, conducted on rats by American scientist in 1994, consuming this
food
may affect spleen and gut and lead to serious medical conditions if even not to death.
To conclude
, it is obvious that debates about advantages and disadvantages of
food
altered
at a molecular level will never
end
,
so
it is crucial to understand both points of view, which means not to disregard possible benefits of it,
but
still
remember about potential
risks
and try to minimize them.