Genetically

Modified
Crops
ARGUMENTS
Overview
 Forthousands of years, human beings
have modified nature's organisms for
usage in agriculture. New technology
has furthered this trend: recombinant
DNA technology allows biotechnology
firms to insert DNAs into plant genomes,
thereby creating plants that express the
desired traits.
Overview
 Use of such genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) has prompted
controversy, especially for its
role in ensuring food security. As
such, the use of transgenics
merits a serious discussion
regarding its relevance to food
security.
This discussion…
 Elaborate benefits and costs of
utilizing GMOs, as well as the
benefits they have brought –
saving land, reducing pesticide
use, and promising to alleviate
third world hunger.
What to do..
Wait for greater availability of
biotech organisms
unassociated with large
agricultural corporations, and
for additional scientific data.
In depth examination of..
The two most widespread
types of transgenic
organisms: herbicide-
tolerant crops and
insecticide-producing
plants.
ARGUMENTS FOR
GMO
1. GMOs increase crop yields
and promote efficient land use.
The two most widespread
types of transgenic
organisms: herbicide-
tolerant crops and
insecticide-producing
plants.
1. GMOs increase crop yields
and promote efficient land use.
What does food production
need/use?
Food production uses a
significant quantity of arable
land and natural resources.
GMOs hold promise to alleviate
this burden on the Earth.
1. GMOs increase crop yields
and promote efficient land use.
Ifeveryone in the world used
as much land per person as
the average United States
citizen, we “would need four
Earths” to sustain ourselves
(Cribb).
1. GMOs increase crop yields
and promote efficient land use.
Consequently, conserving land
to produce more food is a
necessity for any long term
plan.
Biotechnology firms claim that
transgenic crops promise more
food with less land.
1. GMOs increase crop yields
and promote efficient land use.
GMO crops have been found to increase
yields, with a 10 percent change to a
genetically modified herbicide tolerant
crop yielding a roughly 1.7 percent
increase in productivity (USDA).
Biotechnology companies state that such
varieties of crops will improve the
livelihood of farmers around the
world(Cummins).
2. GMOs reduce the use of synthetic
chemical pesticides that are harmful to
the environment.

 Use of transgenic plants

increases yields and decreases the
need for pesticide use, thereby
preventing significant ecological
damage.
 GM pesticide-producing crops are
engineered to produce Bt toxins.
2. GMOs reduce the use of synthetic
chemical pesticides that are harmful to
the environment.

 BT-TOXINS are crystal protein

naturally synthesized by the
bacterium bacillus thuringiensis.
 has found that These toxins do not
activate in the human gut, and
pose no risk to human health
(United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)).
2. GMOs reduce the use of synthetic
chemical pesticides that are harmful to
the environment.
 The endotoxins are insecticidal and exhibit
low environmental persistence (meaning
they degrade quickly), making them ideal for
expression in crops (Sharma, 2010).
 Although Bt is lethal to many insects,
multiple scientific studies have found them
to be harmless to wild mammals, birds, pets,
and humans; Bt endotoxins may as well be
considered “biopesticides” (Sharma, 2010).
2. GMOs reduce the use of synthetic
chemical pesticides that are harmful to
the environment.
 Herbicide-resistant crops are
engineered to be resistant to glyphosate,
an herbicide with relatively low toxicity
levels, which allows for the spraying of
glyphosate on crops to kill weeds.
 An example of such a plant is the Roundup
Ready soybean produced by Monsanto,
and the EPA has labeled glyphosate with a
“low toxicity” rating (EPA).
Overall, we believe that
biotechnology has great
potential to bring about
many benefits to provide
for food security,
especially in the third
world.
Benefits of GMOs:
 Include, but are not limited to, the
reduction of crop loss to environmental
stress
 The prevention of vitamin deficiency
through more nutritious crops
 The prevention of food spoilage before it
is brought to market
 The alleviation of soil degradation in the
Third World
Benefits of GMOs:
 The potential use in agroforestry
systems to create more efficient and
non-competitive nitrogen fixers
 The potential to synthesize more potent
biopesticides for organic farming
 The potential to create plants built to
bioremediate contaminated soils
 The potential to create plants that thrive
in rooftop or vertical farms.
 However, although promising,
agricultural technology has not yet
delivered on the aforementioned fronts.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
GMOS
1. GM technology remains
underdeveloped and unsuited for the
regions that need them most.
 Itis not currently built for poorer
regions, as most plants are only
engineered for herbicide and pesticide
tolerance, with the needs of developed
countries in mind (GMF).
 Biotechnology today is largely driven by
agricultural corporations such as
Monsanto, whose seeds are expensive
to poorer farmers (Ho).
2. Consumption of GMOs may have
yet-unknown effects on human health.
 Unknown health consequences are
a common objection to GMO
organisms.
2. Consumption of GMOs may have
yet-unknown effects on human health.
 Arpad Pusztai- renowned
scientist who made a most
condemning research done on an
organisms.
 He found evidence of intestinal
damage caused by genetically
modified potatoes.
2. Consumption of GMOs may have
yet-unknown effects on human health.
 Many critics are still opposed to
GMOs, citing that GM foods are
unnatural.
 On the other hand, “nature does
produce GMOs.
2. Consumption of GMOs may have
yet-unknown effects on human health.
 Swedish researchers discovered
an enzyme-producing gene in a
meadow grass that naturally
crossed into sheep’s fescue about
700,000 years ago.
2. Consumption of GMOs may have
yet-unknown effects on human health.
 While conflicting opinions exist
within the scientific community,
the limited evidence available
seems to suggest that existing
GMO varieties are not harmful to
human health, although further
studies are needed to support this
claim (Randerson).
3. The long-term ecological impacts
of GMO crops are yet uncertain.

The influence of
agricultural corporate
giants on the availability of
GM seeds may also lead to
farmer exploitation.
4. GMOs currently lack
sufficient oversight.
 Cross-pollination with the wild type of
GM species may lead to genetic
contamination of the wild type, which
could alter local ecosystems.
 Genes are difficult to control, and wild
types of certain plants have been found
to contain transgenic genes.
Unapproved genetically engineered
grass has been found in Oregon
(Pollack)
Conclusion:
 Othertechnologies available have
fewer scientific unknowns, less
possibility of forming cycles of
farmer debt, and have led to
equally significant reductions in
hunger.
Conclusion:
 Integratedpest management,
organic farming, and other
improved farming practices may
increase yields just as effectively
as would introducing transgenic
organisms.
Conclusion:
 Assuch, we will not promote their
widespread use until more
research has been done on long
term health effects, GMO seeds
are available outside of corporate
agriculture control, the biological
effects of gene insertion are better
understood, and research confirms
that the presence of GMOs will not
harm the native species in an
ecosystem.