Advantages and disadvantges of the genetically modified crops - Essay Example

For instance genetic engineers can extract a gene that causes drought resistance then insert it into another plant. The genetically modified plant now possesses the trait of resisting drought that is a trait of the first plant. This practice can be applied even for genes from non-plant organisms (Bijaya, 2013). A noteworthy point is that even though this practice can be applied on plants and animals, it is more commonly used on plants rather than animals. One advantage of GMOs is that they grow more rapidly than traditional organisms.

Conventionally, traditional crops can only be grown during the season and only in the climate that is conducive for the growth of that plant; genetically modified crops on the other hand can be grown out of season and even in unfavourable climate. Despite the cost of genetically modified seeds being higher, the overall cost of production is marginally lower than that of traditional crops (Bijaya, 2013). Another advantage of genetically modified crops is that they are more nutritious than traditional foods according to Kantor (2013).

This is because there is no limit to the kind of manipulation that engineering can do. Swiss scientists are said to have created a strain of rice that contains high amount of vitamin A (Health Research Funding, 2013); this could go a long way intohelping eradicate blindness in third world countries caused by vitamin A deficiency. Most also agree that genetically modified foods taste better and do not rot as quickly as traditional foods (Health Research Funding, 2013). Some properties of traditional crops is that in their natural state, they contain allergens and can, therefore, not be consumed by people allergic to them.

With genetically modifying these plants, these properties can be removed (Bijaya, 2013). Genetically modified plants are more resistant to pests; farmers can, therefore, use less amounts of pesticides; most people prefer crops grown with