Genetically Engineered Foods - Essay Example

Insert The year is 3000 AD and the world is in complete contrast with what was a millennium ago. Almost everything is done through technology, and machines have become integral in the life and dealings of mankind. There have been witnessed tremendous advancements in global politics with democracy as a system of governance strongly embraced in every region of the contemporary world. Health is also different as the last few decades have witnessed numerous breakthroughs in research and treatment of diseases that previously claimed trillion of human lives on earth. Diseases such as HIV/ Aids, cancer and Ebola have been completely wiped out from the earth surface through approaches such as (global) vaccinations and invention/ discovery of cures. Moreover, the use of gene therapy as a common treatment regimen has rendered many humans, animals and plants relatively immune to a host of human diseases. There have equally been great improvements in the field of agriculture in terms of soil (fertility) management, crop and animal resistance/ tolerance to environmental extremes, pests and diseases (pathogens), field management practices, crop marketing, price controls, and so on. In addition, several peace treaties have been signed in the past millennium that have ensured that no more lives are needlessly lost through violent conflicts such as previously witnessed in terrorism. The world has become a happy global village with the human population thriving under capable and sound leadership that has ensured that unemployment is no longer a matter of concern in the modern economy. Poverty has thus been dealt a heavy blow with the world population currently set in the middle income and the rich classes only. This improved financial welfare of the global population has ensured that crimes such as robberies, murder, rape, extortion, gang violence, theft, and so on, are no longer a means of survival and so such previous life threatening tendencies have significantly plummeted. Annual trend analyses show that global crime is ever on the wane and is fast approaching zero. The education sector has equally undergone major reforms and every person alive has been to school to a basic level. As the world continues to lavish in this earthly paradise, mortality rates continue to drop and at the same time, many people, such as professor Wilkins, are starting their own families and raising own kids due to the financial ease of the times. Also, since the menace of drug and substance abuse has been sufficiently tackled, research shows that most marriages are able to remain stable hence. Psychologists around the world also say that this observed stability in marriages has been a doing of the new universal laws that discourage/ punish cheating spouses and polygamy. In the end, all these factors have led to reduced maternity deaths (as a result of improved and personalized healthcare) and longer life spans with most people dying at advanced ages (due to rampant global health promotion strategies which ensure people appreciate the benefits of healthy nutrition, regular exercise activities, sufficient clean water consumption and minimal drug and substance abuse). Because of the said trend in birth (increased) and death (reduced) rates, population continues to grow as mankind begins to encroach into previously un-inhabited lands. Moreover, land previously set aside for agricultural purposes have been widely turned into living apartments, mansions, bungalows and villas for the rich and carefree world. Consequently, food production takes a considerable tumble, and with the trending rates of blooming global populations, the food produced on farms is barely sufficient to sustain the huge and demanding world population. With each passing minute, the world governments are constantly under pressure from the masses to provide a lasting solution to the food problem as the threat of global starvation grows ever real. World news stations and channels are rife with matters food policies, with experts after expert advancing theories and ideas for sustainable food/ agricultural production. Professor Wilkins, moved by the trending events, retires into his laboratory with his students trying to think out and research ways that can salvage the situation. A brilliant idea comes to mind, and the professor shares it with his students who are on the verge of losing hope. ‘Alas!’ exclaims Joe, one of the students in the lab upon hearing what the professor had to say. He continues, ‘Ureka, we have found it.’ The group sits down and spends countless hours on end testing and grooming their idea with an aim of global presentation. Although they realize that it will elicit mixed reactions, they all agree that it is an idea worthy of a try in line with the current times. The researchers, led by Professor Wilkins, manage to gain audience in a gathering of world leaders deliberating the global food situation. With the entire world watching, the professor sees this as a perfect platform to make his argument. He says, “The world is desperate because there is no decisive action to end the food shortage, and with a starving world, there would be a loss of all the developments and global peace that have been realized over the decades of hard work and dedication as social tensions, conflicts and migrations are bound to inevitably take place. With world resources being used faster than they can be replenished, we propose a full and open embrace of genetically engineered foods.” These remarks spark the curiosity of the audience who are eager to hear what more he has to say. The professor begins his compelling presentation by arguing against each remedy that has been forwarded for consideration to the summit leaders. He argues convincingly against the favored increased use of antibiotics in agriculture to enhance farm production and outlines the dangers posed by the approach on human and livestock health, ‘such as increased resistance to antibiotics which would cause more deaths than the predicted food shortage itself. However, our genetically engineered foods will basically come from organisms with DNAs that have been altered using techniques of genetic engineering. These methods result in far enhanced traits in the organisms than what is possible with conventional mutation breeding and selective breeding. In genetically modified foods, a desired characteristic is identified and it is introduced in a target plant leading to a new strain of plants and animals. In the same wavelength, a bad/ unwanted gene can be excised from plants and animals.’ Impressed and compelled with the idea of GMOs as presented by Professor Wilkins, the leaders set out to sell this idea to their people. United States’ President comments on the CNN, ‘the proposal elicits conflicting views and opinions from the human race with some opposed to it while others regard it as a modern advancement worthy of immediate embrace in line with the desperate situation. Proponents of the GMOs as the future of food reckon that the addition/ removal/ inactivation of genes of plants and animals carry with them a plethora of benefits that would single handedly ward off the threat of impending global starvation. I agree with this line of reasoning and request our people to embrace this idea.’ Because of these and other remarks from world leaders, many people start to accept that GMOs can help alleviate hunger. A researcher friend of Professor Wilkins, Doctor Ferguson adds, ‘GMOs are even more beneficial as they have improved storage lives which means that more GMO harvested foods can be stored for longer periods for future use when supplies of food get scarce. Moreover, it has also been proved in the laboratories that genetically engineered foods can often come with enhanced/ improved nutritional content. This has been possible with golden rice which has beta-carotene (absent in normal grown rice) which yields vitamin A for the body. In addition, the technology can be utilized in enhancing the taste of foods that are tasteless or have bad tastes so that the world is provided with a rich variety of tasty and nutritious foods to pick from. It is truly a brave idea worthy of consideration.’ One of Professor Wilkins’ students, Jenifer, is invited to a live debate on television with another group opposed to the adoption of the GMO strategy. In her response to a question from the audience, she adds, ‘GMOs are also resistant to a number of adverse situations. Genetic manipulations can impart to agricultural plants and animals resistance against insects/ pests, fungi, viruses and herbicides thus making better capable of reaching maturity and harvest period. Apart from this enhanced survival capacity obtained from genetic engineering, this technology is useful in reducing the time taken for a plant or animal to reach harvesting stage or maturity thus helping alleviate hunger.’ At this point the station receives a live call from Joe, a fellow student of Professor Wilkins. He supports Jenifer’s position and observes that another advantage of GMOs cited is that modified vegetables and fruits such as bananas can be made to contain vaccines and reduce costs of healthcare. ‘By simply eating a fruit, one attains immunity against a disease. Basically, these are monumental benefits for a world on the brink of starvation,’ he concludes. However, stubborn and unconvinced, those opposed to the total adoption of this innovation in the management of food shortages argue that this is a field that has not sufficiently been explored and unlike gene therapy which affects the individual (and their offspring as is the case with germ-line gene therapy), the use of genetically manufactured foods can have effects on both those who embrace it and those who do not. One audience quips, ‘You come to us with this much confidence but I am more convinced that you are fooled by your affection for the Professor Wilkins. We all know that very little is yet understood about possible persistence of the genes after harvesting of GMOs, the stability of genes, loss of biodiversity/ spectrum reduction of other plants, and susceptibility of non-target plant species to the gene product. The effects of GMOs on the environment and nature can also be catastrophic especially via cross-breeding/ mixing up of GMO genes with unintended wild plants and animals through uncontrollable phenomena such as pollination through insects and wind. It is also predicted that these ‘foods of the future’ could cause increased incidences of (fatal) allergies.’ A local preacher also observes that even though the idea could help save lives, ‘huge sections of the human population still hold that GMOs are unethical and an attempt to play God by altering nature and natural make-up of plants and animals.’ In the end, because of this balanced international debate, the world begins to appreciate the fact that both the proposers and those who oppose the use of GMOs have valid points. It is thus agreed that in as much as GMOs offer hope in tackling the food mayhem, care should be taken in its full pursuits. Through votes, the world decides that tests and trials must be conducted in safe and controlled environments (with great rigor in regulating the exercise/ process of GMO production) only and safe genetically engineered products’ packages be clearly labeled as GMOs. This labeling is stated as mandatory. GMOs are however not to be introduced into the open farms without the consent and knowledge of the world population. Such decisions are to be arrived at only via a referendum/ voting process. Read More