Essay --

Genetically Modified plants have changed how food is grown, although they have become very controversial. The purposes of Genetically Modified plants are to decrease time to maturity, increase resistance to disease, increase in nutrition, and reduce the use of herbicides. Genetically Modified plants can be very beneficial in many aspects not only to the United States but also to many underdeveloped countries such as Africa. The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines Genetically Modified Organisms as: â€Å"An organism whose genome has been engineered in the laboratory in order to favor the expression of desired physiological traits or the production of desired biological products† (Diaz and Fridovich-Keil). Genetically Modified plants are created by altering the DNA of the plant. The alteration, which is known as genetic modification, causes the DNA to be genetically different than how it would be naturally. Genetic modification makes it possible to transfer genes from a non-related species of plants. Genetic modifications are performed on many organisms such as: animals, plants and bacteria. Some products produced by genetic modification include feeds, medicines, vaccines, foods and fibers. Feed and products grown for food, are the most well known and most controversial genetically modified products. In the United States, genetically modified foods were approved for human consumption in 1995. â€Å"By the end of 2010, genetically modified crops covered more than 9.8 million square kilometers of land in 29 countries worldwide- one-tenth of the world’s farmland.† (Diaz and Fridovich-Keil). According to EB â€Å"60% of all processed foods consumed in the United States contained at least some genetically modified ingredients† (Diaz and Fridov... ...e U.S., according to recent analysis from the U.S. Department of Agriculture† (â€Å"Food†). Since the majority of the population does not benefit from genetically modified organisms they tend to want to reject them. Consumers do not want to pay higher prices for the food they consume, but without increasing the yield per acre, farmers cannot recoup the higher costs of machinery, fuel, fertilizers, and seed used to produce the food. There are many positive attributes to genetically modified plants, farming is less harsh on the environment, it can help feel the ever growing population of the world on less farmland, and produce more nutritious food. With the acceptance of this technology many problems facing underdeveloped nations could be solved. With more education everyone can benefit from genetically modified organisms and more research would be possible.