Opinion Piece

Marc Nelson
University of Texas at El Paso
GENETIC ENGINEERING 1
Opinion Piece
Are we a GMO experiment?
An editorial by Marc Nelson
After decades of development, genetically modied organisms (GMOs) have come to dominate
agricultural food production in the United States. GMOs are foods whose genes have been
manipulated to enhance their abilities and characteristics. Between 2001 and 2005, GMOs more
than tripled worldwide according to sfgate.com. GMOs have increased and facilitated the
production of foods and enhanced their durability, but are these foods safe for us to eat?
Currently, GMOs are a reasonable source to produce foods with quantity and efciency. They
have allowed farmers to reduce herbicide and pesticide use, more foods can be produced with
less land, greenhouse emissions are reduced due to less plowing, and have even provided the
potential ability to eliminate starvation around the world. According to The Hufngton Post,
93% of soy and 70% of corn in the United States are genetically engineered to resist pests and
herbicides.
Yet with all the positives that GMOs have to offer, there have been a growing number of people
who oppose them. According to USA Today, in 1992, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
said that GMOs are safe and no different from other foods. No tests were conducted to ensure
that these foods would not be a hazard for the future. By allowing supermarkets to sell these
untested foods it seems as if the FDA chose to use us, the people, as their test subjects for GMOs.
It is not like we have a choice too since we all need to eat to survive. GMOs are automatically
qualied as safe since there is not sufcient evidence to convince the FDA that they pose a risk
to human health.
Businesses like Monsanto, DuPont, Bayer, and Dow control most agricultural production in the
United States. This doesnt help ensure the people that genetically modied foods are safe.
Instead it leaves the impression that these corporate owners are more worried about making
money than what they already need while people just blindly buy their products. Since these
companies control the patents to GMOs, they are the only ones who can research the foods they
produce.
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Picture: GMO apple on the right. Organic apple on the left.
People need to know more about GMOs. Now a days, most Americans go into grocery stores not
even concerned about where there food comes from. Some probably dont even know what
GMOs are. It is important to therefor help educate the public on GMOs or to just simply let them
know where their food is coming from. The growing movement against GMOs will help people
be more aware of the foods they eat.
Our society is slowly becoming more and more dependent on GMOs. I am all for growing GMO
crops if it means that our country can be supplied with a sufcient amount of food, reasonable
prices, and produce safe product. There is so much potential in the eld of genetic engineering
that it is inevitable that scientists will continue to make more discoveries in the coming years. I
just think that peoples health should be the rst thing to consider when new methods of
producing foods are introduced. But it is up to us the people to be heard. If we want to make sure
Americans are eating safe and reliable food, society must demand the government to intervene in
GMO productions. However, if we are better informed about the foods we eat, people will be
able to make better decisions for themselves.

GENETIC ENGINEERING 3
References
Gosselin, Lisa (2011, March 25). Do You Know How Many Genetically Modied Foods You Are
Eating? 8 to Pay Attention To. The Hufngton Post. Retrieved from http://
www.hufngtonpost.com/eatingwell/gmo-
foods_b_849638.html#s264760title=Genetically_Modied_Food
Weise, Elizabeth (2012, October 28). Genetically engineered foods Q & A. USA Today.
Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/28/gmo-
questions/ 1658225/
Walls- Thumma (2005). Organic vs GMO. San Francisco Gate. Retrieved from http://
homeguides.sfgate.com/organic-vs-gmo-78392.html
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