Pros and cons of genetically modified food - Research Paper Example

But what is vital is to know that whether the emergence of the genetically modified food comes as a blessing or a curse to the human kind. It’s a boon on one hand as it enables the farmers to grow crops in areas where standard crops cannot be grown, thereby feeding people as well as helping in generating income for the population in the developing nations. This also reduces the reliance on harmful and dangerous pesticides. But it has to be admitted as well that till date much has not been known about these foods and hence it is justifiable when some express their concerns about the effect of the food on the health of the animal and human.

Some are also concerned about the effect it has on the environment and the local economies and most importantly on the biodiversity. (Freedman, 2009, pp. 4-5) The ongoing debate on whether these foods will stay in the market or will become an extinct cannot be answered directly but the present scenario is marked with the escalation in the demand of these foods throughout the world economy. The Genetically modified food (GMF) has been readily adopted and accepted in the United States which still persists to grow since its appearance in the market.

This GM variety products have been predicted to spread in the “big- four” (Weasel, 2009, p.198) industrial crops which includes the corn, cotton, soy and canola in United States. (Weasel, 2009, p.198) It is very unlikely that genetically modified food presents any direct risk to the human health but the distinctive nature of these foods may cause harm to the human health in the future, due to the transfer of the genes between the species while they are produced. Hence they have to be carefully monitored, as the outcome of transgene effect is still not predicted.

Apprehension has also been expressed as to whether there is a possibility of allergic reaction due to the consumption of the genetically modified food. There is also a fear of possibility that the living bacteria which are present in the human gut may gain resistance to the antibiotics due to the presence of the marker genes in the transgenic plants. (Nottingham, 2003, p. 91) Now the question arises how the consumers have accepted the genetically modified food. There are two opposing viewpoints regarding this, According to the industry leaders the consumer accept these foods because there has been a willingness from the public to consume it.

As taking the case of America, where most of the milk is produced by using the bST hormone despite the fact that bST free milk are freely available, but even then the sale of the bST hormone free milk were initially very weak and hence it has disappeared from the market. Some national Survey in US has confirmed the fact that consumer’s concerns regarding GM foods are less. While some are of the opinion that the consumers are extremely worried about the GMF and are keen to pay extra to avoid GM foods.

(Radas, Teisl and Roe, 2008, p. 335) Introduction Genetically modified (GM) foods also known as the genetically engineered foods are produced by inserting genes into the DNAs of other species. There are several reasons for producing genetically modified foods like in some cases to prevent the incidence of allergies after they are being consumed while there are instances where they are being developed for the betterment of their