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GMOs in the Medical World

GMOs have been an emerging topic in todays society because of their medical
concerns. Regardless of facts or fiction, when there is emerging knowledge in medical
information it reaches the forefront almost immediately through the media. News
coverage has a large impact on what the public thinks about and, with a topic so
controversial, the key is to know what information can be trusted and what is just an
image. Heard any of the following accusations? GMOS cause autism, cancer, allergies...
the list goes on and on. Safety is a big concern these days, and these thoughts have people
wondering about the safety of GMO consumption. Of course, science isnt geared to
causes problems; it is working to fix them. The foundation of GMO development is to
solve problems like food shortage and malnutrition. What people are trying to decide is if
they are medically beneficial or detrimental.
Clearly people are concerned all around about consuming GMO products. They
have a right to be too. It is scary for parents to feed kids certain foods after hearing it can
cause all sorts of medical problems. In fact, they may not be too keen on eating it either.
After doing further research, there are still many factors to be examined from both
perspectives.
Ultimately, the goal of GMOs is to help. They were not produced with the
intentions of harming anyone or anything. This is an attempt to find solutions at, quite
frankly, a lot of medical problems already in the world today. RoundUp ready corn is one
way GMOs are trying to help save the world. In an interview Dr. Bellonzi (2013)
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explains the idea behind this is for corn to grow it's own pesticides/herbicides to prevent
putting them out in the environment. This was designed so that farmers could produce
higher yields of their crops. Although there is some controversy over if there are actually
higher yields produced, the idea is there. It is a step in trying to find a way to prevent
starvation and meet the growing demand for food as the world's population proceeds to
grow.
Another fine example of GMOs doing good is the creation of Golden Rice.
This is a GM rice that has a gene from corn put into that of rice in order for it to be a
source of Vitamin A explains N. Benson (2014). He says the way the rice is modified is
by taking the portion of the DNA that codes for making carotene and inserting that part of
the gene into rice so it too makes carotene. Carotene is converted into Vitamin A by the
human body, so by introducing this gene, rice becomes a source of Vitamin A. There is
Vitamin A deficiency in many third-world countries that is causing blindness and, as
Project Golden Rices website says, this GM is aimed to fix the problem using their
current food source to their advantage.
Does it have to be food though? Other than just food, GMOs are being used to try
to solve other medical problems across the world. With Malaria being such a prevalent
problem for many African countries as well as elsewhere, using GM mosquitos may just
be the answer or at least a step in the right direction reports ABC New writer, Maria
Cheng. Scientist are now successfully working to modify mosquitos so they prevent
spreading the disease. Elizabeth Braw (2014) continues to explain how the release of
sterile mosquitos is working to prevent Malaria spread. When the sterile insects
reproduce with fertile ones no offspring will be produced and the mating mosquitos will
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die off as well. The future goal, however, is to use mosquitos to actually counteract
spreading disease by giving them vaccinations so they are immune to Malaria, thus
preventing spread and reproducing immune offspring. Regardless of whether that will
work or not, these GM mosquitos are being used to fight disease.
Though GMOs are out to save the world, there is lots of apprehension about
whether they are causing more bad than good. Many people argue the benefits are not
worth the risks, and there are serious reasons to be concerned. Gene crossing is causing
confusion in a variety of different ways as Kristen Harding (2011) discusses in her article
Is You Immune System Confused? A Look at GMO Foods. Food allergies have been on
the rise for quite some time and there are a number of reasons it could be happening.
However, there is certainly reason to believe GMOs are causing or at least contributing to
the increase in food allergies. As genes get crossed the boundaries are becoming less
clear as to what things really are. Now rice has corn DNA, and corn has Roundup ready
DNA. As more modification take place, the contents of products become complicated and
less easy to distinguish. It is like "world wide inbreeding of plants".
Food allergies are a popular topic in health news and word is starting to get out
about GMOs having something to do with it. Another ABC News article done by Sydney
Lupkin (2014) discusses just that. For understanding purposes, here is an example. Let's
say a person has a peanut allergy. What if the peanut plant has a characteristic that would
be great to help corn grow? So, peanut genes are implanted into corn. Now that person
has a reaction to corn because it contains peanut DNA. Now think about all the things
that are made of or with corn. The person could potentially start having reaction to those
items. What if we take the already genetically modified corn and implant its DNA into a
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different plant, like rice? Then the peanut DNA is potentially in the GM rice. To be clear,
this example is fictional and over exaggerated, but this is the idea. Exchanging genes is a
slippery slope that can get complicated really quickly. It may not be the only reason, but
it definitely can be a contributor in the spread of allergies.
Clearly, genetically modifying plants causing them to have a different
composition. Another concern that is being brought to the forefront to the GMO health
debate is how the human digestive system is being affected. Dr. Bellonzi gives a
descriptive explanation of how new composition of old things can be confusing to the
body. He explains, GM tomatoes may not be recognized by the body the same way
regular tomatoes are. If the body doesnt recognize it, there has to be a decision about
what it is and what to do with it. Though there is not tons of research on the subject yet, it
is a reason to be apprehensive. Plus, research can be hard on the subject because it is
highly individualized by product. This idea is what has sparked the idea that GMOs can
cause Gluten disorders, autoimmune disease, or even neurological problems reviewed in
an article by Nicholas Scorrin (2012). Because of difference in structure the body is not
able to recognize and breakdown items such as gluten that has been modified. This
causing people to have reactions, just like that of allergies.
Another problem that can cause reactions is toxicity. Dr. Bellonzi also points out
the interesting topic of eating plants that produce their own toxins. With plants like
Roundup ready, plants are making pesticides so that when insects try to eat them, they
die. Well, what does that do to humans? The plants clearly do not have enough toxins to
kill humans like they do insects, but they are still there. Even at low levels, what are these
toxins doing to the human body?
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So what does this all mean? The tricky part about the GMO health debate is there
is no answer. The products are both good and concerning which is creating confusion
among people. Yes, they are working to create good, but is it worth the risk to carelessly
consume them anyhow? For now, that is a personal call because, as Dr. Bellonzi points
out, there simply isn't enough information out there yet. These products are too new to
know what kind of effects they are causing. Tests are being done, but nothing incredibly
long term has been done because they haven't existed long-term yet. Therefore, they are
unknown. There is no conclusive decision if they are harmful or not thus far.
As with every unknown, there is a risk. The risk of GMOs is comparable to that of
any other new technology, and people take these risks all the time. There is reason to
believe cell phones are equally if not more risky to human health than GMOs. In fact,
some studies show a connection between waves emitted from phone to cancer, as
expressed in Balikawus (2012) article on the comparison between GMO and cell phone
health risks. On the other hand, people continue to use their cell phones without a second
thought. Why do people respond so differently to these two items when they both present
potential health risks? Arguably, it is because the benefits outweigh the risks. Phones
have become such a convenience for people; they are willing to push aside health
concerns to keep them around. How does this differ from GMO products? Because there
is no clear good or bad on GMOs, it remains a personal call to weigh the risks
individually. When things are new, it cannot be certain what they will cause in the future.
The reason for emerging technology is to improve things; however, benefits often come
with costs, and it is up to individuals to decide how the costs and benefits add up. There
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is no doubt there are medical risks associated with GMOs, but there are also medical
gains.