Promoting GMO's
By: Pradyumna Mishra
These are the reasons why we should promote GMO's
1. Health Benefits of GMO's
GM foods will have even greater benefits for the world's poor, supporters state. In developing countries, malnutrition is a grave problem, because people often have to rely on a single staple, such as rice, that on its own doesn't supply sufficient nutrients. Food scientists hope to genetically modify crops to add vitamins and minerals. One of the most promising is "golden rice," which can stimulate our bodies to generate vitamin A. In the developing world, vitamin-A deficiency kills two million children each year, and another 500,000 become permanently blind.
2. GMO's Helps Environment
If a crop boasts its own ability to resist invertebrate predators, then farmers can use far fewer chemicals. In 1999, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, cotton farmers in states raising significant amounts of cotton genetically modified to withstand pests sprayed 21 percent less insecticide and that is, they sprayed one to two times rather than eight to ten.
3. Scientists Agree with GMO's
Genetic modification couldn't be more natural, geneticists say. Plants, and animals genetically modify themselves all the time. That's the basis of evolution. They've been genetically modifying plants, and animals for millennium. That's the basis of agriculture.
A single species has generated such diverse vegetables as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. Altogether, the wild ancestors of grapes, potatoes, and all other fruits and vegetables you find today on grocery-store shelves are but pale shadows of their modern, highly modified descendants. All have gone through countless generations of careful genetic breeding to improve yields, taste, size, texture, and other characteristics.