The Terrible Gene

Sean R. Ross

Dr. Rick Frank

ENGL 1010-066

12/12/2010

Table Of Contents
- Pg. 5 The Terrible Gene
- Pg. 9 Work Cited
- Pg. 12 Addendum #1
Genetic Modification
- Pg. 14 Addendum #2
Annotated bibliography

The Terrible Gene

12/12/20010

ne Sunday afternoon, the sun was beating down on the desolate parking lot almost

melting tires to the asphalt, I was at the supermarket buying some fruits and vegetables.

As I stared into the large trough of fruits all red and juicy, I picked the one anyone would have. It
was perfectly plump and ripe. I could smell its succulent juices though it lay far from my nose in
the basket. As I arrived at the checkout, my mind wandered back to the tomato now on the
slowly moving conveyer belt stopping and going towards the placid cashier, as though made of
stone staring blankly off into the distance and dully asking me how I was. I foamed with
anticipation as the thought of biting into my succulent tomato ran through my head. As soon as I
finished paying the total, I rushed home almost running three lights along the way.
I fumbled the keys as my mouth watered with desire. As soon as I came through the
door, frantically out of breath, I placed the bags on the counter and reached in frantically excited
to receive my prize. I took the largest bite I could out of my new tomato, stretching my mouth
almost as far as a snakes. I felt the crunch of the skin as my teeth sank in and the juice poured
out like water over a steppe waterfall. And then it hit me, making the hair on my neck stand on
end and my taste buds shrivel. My stomach turned over like the engine in an old pick up way
past its prime. The texture was that of a rotting tomato, mushy and grainy as
though containing tiny bits of mush in a sea of goop. It was like nasty
unsweetened cream of wheat. I just about lost my lunch all over the clean
counter in front of me. The remnants of my stomach surged through my
throat burning and bubbling their way up. I stifled it, and choked down the
overly large bite. Needing to know just what these tomatoes were, I
rummaged around my pockets and through my wallet. At last, holding the
receipt in my hand, I closely examined the section where my tomato was. Flavor Saver

The Terrible Gene

12/12/20010

0000000tomatoes it said in plain black text. What are these so called flavor savers I asked

myself? So I was off like a horse at the races, on to the internet it was for me. After some slight
research, I found that the tomatoes were a form of G.M. (genetically modified) crops.
Most people today have no idea of just what they are eating, not from an actual substance
point of view but on the genetic scale. Almost all the corn grown in the US is genetically
modified, and almost everything sold today contains corn. From popsicles to soda pop, they all
contain cornstarch or corn syrup, a cheap form of sweetener. And so I ask you do you trust what
scientists are splicing into the food of tomorrow? If we question what some
people do to Halloween candy, for the safety of our children, we should also
question what some company is doing to our food. We shouldnt trust some
complete stranger in a lab making corn that can withstand herbicides.
How would you feel if you knew that the piece of corn you just ate
produces its own pesticide? It is very scary knowing that the food we are eating excretes a poison
from its husk to kill known pests. Are we to become just like these pests? If we continue to let
companies experiment on us through our food, then we just might. Knowing this now, how do
we trust that our families and ourselves are safe eating things that contain genetically modified
foods? These foods can increase the risk for cancer and have also been known to cause extreme
allergic reactions in some individuals, causing loss of brain function and sometimes death. The
allergic reactions could be avoided by labeling foods and products containing these crops. GM
foods have also been spliced with an antibiotic resistor. Because cells absorb the nutrients we
eat, there may be a chance that over time we may absorb these as well, ultimately rendering
antibiotics useless.

The Terrible Gene

12/12/20010

Even though the companies responsible for GM products already know the side effects,

as though they dont care at all, they would have you believe that genetically modified foods are
helping the globe. They say that they are feeding the masses and increasing the health in third
world countries. When in point of fact, they are already making millions of dollars selling these
seeds to farmers in North America, and it seems they are just looking to increase that revenue.
They even have many ex-employees in government offices, which may be the reason they have
few, if no regulations, on their work.
Labeling is a thing that we have found necessary in the past, and if so, then why does the
government feel that GM products dont need to be labeled? They create foods without the moral
obligations we expect of them. They label the peanuts that didnt even make it into my chocolate
bar but they wont label the potentially dangerous cancer causing corn syrup that did. Why is
that? Is it to save less than a tenth of a cent on packaging? As American citizens, dont we have a
right to know what we put into our bodies? I say, yes, every American should know what they
and their families are eating. Then why do they not label what is in our foods? And once again, is
it just to make a couple more cents off of each person they place in danger?
Almost all of these products do not go through testing. The choice to test these products
is all up to the companies who produce them. By not testing these foods, the companies may be
killing all of us. They say these products are not harmful, but how do they know if they have
never witnessed the effects these products have on humans. The government has testing
regulations for almost every other product on the market from soaps and shampoos to childrens
toys, but no testing for a spliced seed made in some lab that can kill bugs and withstand poison.
Not testing these foods has been saving the companies tons of money, putting our lives on the
line.

The Terrible Gene

12/12/20010

They have been performing these acts of atrocity on the public for many years now. Do

we expect them to change their ways? It is the way they are accustomed to making loads of
money. After all, that is all any large company seems to care about these days not even caring for
their own workers or their own country. It is time that the government takes a stand to uphold the
rights of its people and meet their expectations, placing more government regulations on the
companies that engineer our crops.

Works Cited

What are Genetically Modified (GM) Foods? Genomics.energy.gov. Humane Genome Project
Information, 5 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

Herbert, Martha. Genetically Altered Foods: We Are Being Exposed to One of the Largest Uncontrolled
Experiments in HistoryChicago Tribune 3 Sept. 2010, Print.
One delegates view of the European conference on GM-free regions. CropGen.org. Crop Gen, 29 sept.
2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
Klinkenborg, Verlyn Why I Still Oppose Genetically Modified Crops. e360.yale.edu. Yale environment
360, 17 Sept. 2009, Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
Jiao, Li.In China, No Meeting of the Minds on GM Crops. News.Sciencemag.org. Science Insider, 15
Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

Addendums

Sean R. Ross
12/12/2010

12/13/2010

PROS

Increased nutritional value,

higher yields, & stress
tolerance for crops.
Longer shelf time.
Greater resistance for
diseases, pests, and
herbicides.
Higher profit for farmers.
Reduced chemical usage.
Increased food security in
rural countries.

CONS

Potential human health risks.

Possible severe allergic
reactions.
No mandatory labeling in the
U.S.A.
Tampering with Nature.
Fewer crop diversity.
Possible uncontrolled growth.
Unknown effects on other
organisms.

Genetically Modified (GM) can also be referred

to as Genetically Engineered (GE), or
Transgenic.

There are many health risks associated with

genetically modified crops, some known risks
are:

Recombinant DNA Technology is when we

combine genes from different organisms, in
which the resulting organism is considered to
be genetically modified.

The transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between organisms,

may render drugs useless.
useless
May increase what some say is the link between behavioral
disorders in children to the foods they have eaten.
Could cause a boost of asthmatic children born in the US.
Unknown long term effects of insect repellant plants on human
life.

In many other countries the people are fighting

against genetically modified foods.
As in china where there are many protests on the
mater of the effects of transgenic crops
And in Europe were the public is fighting for GM
free zones

12/13/2010

Countries
The USA grew 53%
of 252 million acres,
of genetically
modified crops in
the year 2006. These
numbers
b
h
have b
been
increasing in the
past four years, with
an exponential rate
in third world
countries.

Percentage of crops grown in

2006
U.S.A.

Argintina

Brasil

Canada

India

China

Paraguay

South Africa

The Federal Drug

Administration and Biotech
Industry require no testing on
new Genetically Modified
organisms, claiming they are
just like other foods.

Through
Th
h cross pollination
lli ti some
companies claim to own the
rights to others crops.

Few large companies will

dominate the industry.

Adding nutrients to food.

Other
3%
6%

4%

1%
3%
2%

11%

53%
17%

The largest transgenic seeds on the

market now is Round Up ready corn and
canola.

These are plants that do not die when

sprayed with Round Up.
They are also pest repellent.

A POLL ON WHICH TYPE

PEOPLE WOULD RATHER BUY

p
Flavor Saver tomatoes were pulled
off
the market in the late 90s but it is
unknown if they are for sale again.

The flavor savers were meant to taste better

and last longer but ended up tasting strange,
and people did not like them.

Organically Grown

Genitically Modified
More
likely to
buy

5%
36%

Less likely
to buy
59%

No
difference

More
likely to
buy
37%
53%
10%

Less likely
to buy
No
defferance

What are Genetically Modified (GM) Foods? Geneomics.energy.gov.

Human Genome Project Information, 5 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
Herbert, Martha. Genetically Altered Foods: We Are Being Exposed to
One of the Largest Uncontrolled Experiments in History Chicago
Tribune 3 Sept. 2010, Print.
One delegates view of the European conference on GM-free regions.
CropGen.org. Crop Gen, 29 Sept. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
Klinkenborg, Verlyn. Why I Still Oppose Genetically Modified Crops.
e360 yale edu Yale environment 360,
e360.yale.edu.
360 17 Sept.
Sept 2009.
2009 Web.
Web 13 Nov.
Nov 2010.
2010
Jio, Li. In China, No Meeting of the Minds on GM Crops.
News.ScienceMag.org/ Science Insider, 15 Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Nov.
2010.
Effects of Genetically Modified Food YouTube.com. 16 Dec. 2009.
Web. 16 Nov. 2010, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjRX0NwuS04>
Genetically Modified Foods YouTube.com. 12 Feb. 2009. Web. 16
Nov. 2010, < www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTfuAbzAeB8>
Langer, Gary. Behind the Label ABCNews.Go.com 19 June 2010.
Web. 18 Nov. 2010.

What are Genetically Modified (GM) Foods? Genomics.energy.gov. Humane Genome Project
Information, 5 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
This article shows the statistics of how many people are using GM products on their farm, and the
deference in each major country. It tells us a bit about how GM products work, as well as it shows some
of the possible pros of using GM products. I liked this article because of how strait forward it is. I did not
like how the article is completely for GM products but does not show very many arguments against them.
This article is good for all the stats but is geared towards pro GM. This article uses bullet points and very
short sentences to show any of the cons to planting GM.

Herbert, Martha. Genetically Altered Foods: We Are Being Exposed to One of the Largest Uncontrolled
Experiments in HistoryChicago Tribune 3 Sept. 2010, Print.
tis article explains the health risks that are a major problem with GM foods, and how not labeling that
food in supper markets may increase these risks. It ties asthma increases and behavioral disorder increases
to GM foods. This article is not written very well be cause it exhibits signs of card stacking. I also like tis
article because it is on the same lines as my concerns about untested genetically modified foods reaching
the markets. I feel that this article is not very good but some of the information in it is accurate and
necessary to look at in this argument.

One delegates view of the European conference on GM-free regions. CropGen.org. Crop Gen, 29 sept.
2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
This article seams in a sense to be for GM foods although it hardly states any reasons for its claim. In
this piece is a part about how much others would like to go back to the agriculture of the 1850 s were
there was hardly an machines in use, this argument feels like a slippery slope falsie to me. I like the strong
source the information has come from, and I would like to learn from what is happening in other countries
like in Europe for example. I would like to see jobs in the market of agriculture to increase but to do so
first we would need to stop the reign of these large companies such as Monsanto from dominating the
market. This article feels like it is speaking on how the other people feel in an attempt to sway us away
from feeling the same way.

Klinkenborg, Verlyn Why I Still Oppose Genetically Modified Crops. e360.yale.edu. Yale environment
360, 17 Sept. 2009, Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
this article speaks on how corporations are taking a foothold in the farming world and taking it away from
the farming public. It is definitely against GM foods. In this article witch is the explanation of one man
and why he has not been enticed in to liking GM products, he also seams to hate the companies that are
responsible for the Genetically Modified crops spreading rapidly throughout the country.

Jiao, Li.In China, No Meeting of the Minds on GM Crops. News.Sciencemag.org. Science Insider, 15
Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
In this article the author tells us of some very far-fetched and outlandish concerns from the Chinese public
about GM crops, and goes on to tell us that there are real concerns about Gm foods. This article in a way
seams to be for the Gm crops. But never out right states it. It is also a very short article.