Are GMF's good or bad ?
What are GMF's ?
The term GM foods or GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecu- lar biology techniques.
Benefits of GMF's
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Pest resistance Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastat- ing financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries.
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Herbicide tolerance For some crops, it is not cost effective to remove weeds by physical means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides (weed killer) to destroy weeds, a time consuming and expensive process, that requires care so that the herbicide doesn't harm the crop plant or the environment.
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Disease resistance There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases.
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Cold tolerance Unexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene from cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato.
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Risks of GMF's
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Reduced effectiveness of pesticides Just as some populations of mosquitoes developed resistance to the now banned pesticide DDT, many people are concerned that insects will become resistant to B.t. or other crops that have been genetically- modified to produce their own pesticides.
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Gene transfer to non target species Another concern is that crop plants engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance genes from the crops into the weeds.
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Allergenicity Many children in the US and Europe have developed life-threatening allergies to peanuts and other foods.
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Unknown effects on human health There is a growing concern that introducing foreign genes into food plants may have an unexpected and negative impact on human health.
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There is no way to tell if genetically modified foods can have an effect on the genetics of people.
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My Opinion
Works Consulated
Web Site
Web Page
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Archive & annotate pageAction Bio Science. N.p., June 2001. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/pusztai.html>.
Created: 03/04/13 09:15 AM 0 New Edit Copy Delete
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Web Site
Web Page
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Archive & annotate pageCSA. CSA Discovery Guides, Apr. 2000. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. <http://www.csa.com/
discoveryguides/gmfood/review.pdf>.
Created: 03/04/13 09:09 AM 0 New Edit Copy Delete
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Archive & annotate page"Top 10 Dangers of GMF." Invigorate 360. N.p., 29 Apr. 2009. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.invigorate360.com/reviews/
top-10-dangers-of-genetically-modified-food/>.
Created: 03/04/13 09:12 AM 0 New Edit Copy Delete
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