The Modern Crop Species - Essay Example

Genetically Modified Foods

• Introduction

According to Jacobsen, Pedersen, and Weiner, (2013) the GMO crops are the modern crop species developed by molecular modifications through providing a capacity of selective breeding of crop genetics that can adopt distinct environments. The GMOs have been modified through technological advancements hat have assured the augment nature's diversity and increased the adaptive capabilities. GM crops have been identified like the saviour of the demand for food crops globally and hence, they are being adopted faster as compared to other agricultural advancements. According to Bawa and Anilakumar (2013), the GM crops are now the primary source of food supply globally. The GM crops are usually sold as commodities that are eventually processed. The GM crops include the fruits, vegetables, sugar, soya beans, and maize. The fresh fruits and vegetable include papaya, New Leaf potato while the sugar includes sugar beet and sugarcane. The article will be focused on discussing the bio-safety and health risks (Kamle & Ali, 2013), influence food security (Qaim & Kouser, 2013), and the public concerns (Bawa & Anilakumar, 2013). The Genetically Modified Foods are they safe and do they provide the necessary nutritional value that is required by the human body or does they raise more questions and concerns for consumers?

• Safety Issues

Genetically engineered (GE) or GM crops are safe

The safety of the GM crops is significant to ensure the population comfortably embraces its production. The massive food production has faced profound challenges globally, for instance, climate change, and the decrease of arable lands, water shortage, and population growth. Therefore, to establish the safety of the GM crops is best to evaluate its means of production ((Nicolia, Manzo, Veronesi, & Rosellini, 2013). The less environmental impact and non-renewable input, the healthier the food crops; hence, the GMO fall into the category. The plants have been found not to cause any harm to the environment or any organism that consumes it regardless of their development. Furthermore, for the last decade, the scientific research that has been conducted has not given any indication or discovered any hazards caused directly by the GME crops.

GM Crops Threaten the Cultivation of Minor Crops

The challenges facing the food production is growing profoundly, and this can be handled through the implementation of plan technologies. The main areas that require food technologies include drought resilience, crop yield, and pest and disease control. The GM crops are threatening the small-scale farming because the food production is being focused on plants that are evaluated as profitable especially by the large companies (Jacobsen, Pedersen, & Weiner, 2013). Therefore, when the companies are entrusted with the large-scale production of profitable GMO crops, it leads to small-scale farmers being disadvantaged and encourages the dependency of farmers towards expensive external inputs thus the negative influence on income gain.

Health risks associated with GM foods

Bawa and Anilakumar (2013) states that the health concerns associated with the consumption of GM foods include toxins, allergies, or genetic risks. The food hazards are categorized into three groups which include the insertion of the foreign genes and how they manifest their traits in the host plant. Secondly, the secondary and pleiotropic impacts of the disruption of the genome, and finally, the insertional mutagenesis-derived from gene integration. The modification of genes is what poses a threat because they plants might have unpredictable results because of the disruption or distortion of their genome. The new proteins developed could lead to allergic reactions. Prakash et al., (2011) stated that because of the insertion of foreign genes into any plants, this could result in diverse outcomes that might have health risks. Kamle and Ali (2013) states that the health of the people and the environment might be jeopardized through the emergence of a new disease, weed, and pests. The escalated disease burden might be experienced especially if the contaminated organisms is a pathogen or a virus. The weed and pest burden might be shifted if the harmful organisms are plants that might distribute the adverse effects to the species and their environment.

In summary, the integration of the genes might lead to the genes sequences being disoriented or distorted leading to interference or lack of stability to other genes. Therefore, it is essential to acknowledge that every gene supports distinct traits in the organisms. The insertion of the foreign gene can influence the entire genome of the original plant and have unintended outcomes which might not be predictable at the initial stages.

• Nutritional Value

The GM foods have gone through alteration of their genetic structure thus through the gene modification, the nutritional value of the crop might be decreased or increased. When a particular vitamin is grown in a plant, the level of the other vitamin tends to decrease respectively. Whitney and Rolfes (2016) states that the GM food contributes vitamin biofortification because the crops are altered to increase the necessary vitamins. Additionally, the GM crops produce more phytochemicals while providing less phytate to facilitate zinc absorption.

In summary, the nutritional value of the GM foods contributes to their longer shelf life, flavor, and adequate texture. The crops have pest and disease resistance and climate tolerance. The grain and the cereals are fortified with iron and vitamins without the need of gene modification because of the plant interbreeding.

• Public Concerns

The GM crops concerns began as early as the 1990s primarily focusing if the foods are safe for human consumption. The public concern is evidently focused on the conflict concerning the utilization of the technology to assure the insertion of foreign genes. The public debate has been associated with the population concern about the technology application that has led to Biosciences, which has resulted in several non-governmental organizations that have a conflict of interests (Bawa & Anilakumar, 2013. The public is influenced by the nutritional value of the GM crops, the environmental protection, the market concerns, the price, and the quality of the GM foods. The controversies surrounding the GM crops from the consumers include the tampering with Mother Nature because of the gene modification. Additionally, the secondary and pleiotropic effects tend to affect the plants by either decreasing or increasing their biochemical pathways.

In summary, the consumer concerns are associated with the theory of tampering with Mother Nature, which might result in unpredictable consequences and they might be unknown to science. Additionally, the consumers feel like it is their right to access the information concerning the composition of the GM foods they are consuming.

• Analysis and Findings

The advantage of the GMO foods is that variety of the new seeds can be developed faster as compared to the traditional crops. The GMO foods have a long shelf life, high nutritional value, resistance to diseases and pests, and climate tolerance. The GMO foods can also be added their food colors, flavors, and make them seedless. Additionally, they can be engineered to provide higher levels of nutrients such as iron, iodine, calcium, and protein. Bawa and Anilakumar (2013), states that the GM foods are significant because of the prevalence of certain diseases. The GMO foods are believed to have better taste, and because of their long shelf-life, they rarely get spoiled easily.

The GMO crops have proven to have seedlings that are expensive and poor marketing thus causing the small-scale farmers to be constantly in debt. The farmers are hyped by being promised higher yields and less input, only to experience unexpected outcomes such as low markets, low yields, and costly seedlings. Jacobsen, Pedersen, and Weiner (2013) states that with the increased production of the GM foods, the developing countries will shift their attention towards gaining help from the industrialized countries because of their technology advancement.

The advantages outweigh the disadvantages and thus the GM foods are appropriate to be manufactured and sustained. However, if it were vice versa, it would have proven the GM foods are unsafe and should be banned from being produced and consumed.

In summary, the GM foods are appropriate for human consumption since they have high nutritional value, tastes better, and long shelf-life as compared to the traditional foods. The disadvantages of the GM foods is that the are costly to grow and without proper marketing, the farmers suffer a loss.

• Recommendations

The researchers are dedicated towards assessing the cause of the public concerns. The GM foods have the potential of solving the world’s issue of starvation and hunger. Additionally, embracing of GM foods will ensure the conservation of the environment because of the increased yield of the food production while reducing reliance on the pesticides and herbicides. The public should be provided with sufficient information concerning the GM foods as well as its safety and risks. Additionally, the GM foods should be labelled to provide the public with the option of deciding whether they are fit for consumption. Finally, they should release the public reports and relevant press releases from regulatory food agencies to confirm safety or risks of the GM foods.

• Conclusion

The GM foods are safe for consumption because they provide the necessary nutritional value required by the human body but also the public has aired several concerns that have been looked into, such as the tampering with Mother Nature. The paper has looked extensively into the bio-safety, health risks, impact on food security, and public concerns. The nutritional value of the GM foods has been considered very high because of vitamin biofortification and production of more phytochemicals. Finally, it is best for the consumers to have extensive information concerning the GM foods to provide them with the opportunities to choose whether they are fit for consumption.