Gmo Essay
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism that has had their genetic make-up altered. The most common organisms that are genetically modified are plants and animals. But, some bacteria and other organisms can be genetically altered, or modified. The genetic modification process starts when genes from two different organisms are crossed forcibly. Since, the organisms are having their genes transferred; they are often called ‘transgenic’ organisms. This process to create the GMO’s is often labeled as Genetic Engineering (GE) in addition to Genetic Modification (GM). The GE process is done in a variety of ways, depending on the organism. For example, the new genes may be put into viruses and then given to the organisms or they may inject the new genes into a fertilized egg. Genetic engineering has its advantages but some experts say that the process is way too risky. There are many benefits and a lot of consequences to genetic modification and it is a debate to be had by almost everyone at some point. The major advantages to GMO’s are that it often yields more of the product, especially in the case of food, and that it makes crops and other organisms less susceptible to error or something going wrong. When they genetically modify an organism they do it for a reason. Most of the time, animals for example, are modified because they will be used for food. So, the producer of the food will want more meat for the money he pays, so he may pay the farmer/herder money to have his animal ‘modified’. This will make it have more meat or grow faster. Thus, the producer gets more meat and makes more money. Also, the animal or crop may be modified in order to be less susceptible to harmful diseases or to grow in sub-par conditions. This would also increase the amount of product that survives to be made into food. The short-term impacts of these advantages are that it would boost production of products, thus boosting the economies of the companies who make these
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