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Alexander Nguyen

Professor Vyvial

ENGL 1302

25 April 2017

What Can You do with GMOs: The Master Plan

Over the last decade or so, genetically modified organisms and plants have become an

intriguing and prominent discussion throughout the world. Genetically modified organisms or

plants, otherwise known as GMOs, have played a major key role in todays society. Genetically

modified organisms have become a commonplace in modern society. They are present in foods

and products such as high fructose corn syrup and the feed given to livestock animals. In

addition, GMOs have created more and more jobs for the economy; therefore, resulting in the

economy rising due to the inflation in job demand. There are more and more rising concerns

about GMOs and how they are affecting the people of Earth. Some speculate that genetically

modified organisms and plants can be harmful to humans and the environment in a wide variety

of ways.

The long-term effects of genetically modified organisms and plants are not certain. Pests

such as insects and bugs that are targeted by these agricultural methods can adapt to pesticides

and herbicides and can be even more harmful to humans. In order to fix this, humans should rely

more on organic organisms and plants. There are fewer risks of chemical intake as well as more

nutritional value in organic organisms and plants. In addition to the DNA changes in genetically

modified or GM organisms and plants, GMOs can become an invasive species that can affect

humans and cause problems to the balance of nature. Insects and bugs affected by the pesticides
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and herbicides can adapt to carry the toxins within their bodies and can transfer the herbicides

and pesticides to humans. Modified organisms and plants should be kept in a contained and

isolated area that separate from the outside world. This would allow for the continuation of

genetically modified organisms and plants while reducing the risk of spreading the chemicals.

Food labeling companies and food supervisions must change up their system of labeling

to include GMOs. GMOs have created a new ripple in the pond that is the food labeling

business and these companies have to adapt to this new change. But these changes effect the

producers or consumers. The consumer have a right to know what theyre purchasing. They

have the right to know what ingredients they are using to nourish themselves and their families,

companies shouldnt hide the fact they use GMOs in their food products. But recently labeling

an item as having GMOs gives it a false name and assumption that it is harmful to the consumer

thus affecting the capital of the company. This conondrum is one situation in which companies

and consumers may never find equal grounds. No logical company is willing to give up income

for consumers, and free consumers arent willing to give up their freedoms. GMOs have put

food labeling companies between a rock and a hard place they are the ones getting attacked by

both the companies and consumers to find a middle ground. The FDA believes GMOs are not

different from traditional food so they believe they shouldnt be labeling processed retail food

containing GMOs, the FDA is the lead federal agency and has the administrative authority to

prevent false and misleading labeling of foods and drugs (Acosta 2014). Because, as a matter of

policy, the FDA views genetically engineered food as not materially different from traditional

food products, there is no need to specifically label these products as GMO retail processed food

or change the name of the food product (Bashur 2013). The FDA views such a label statement as

implying to consumers that GMO food is inferior or unsafe (Bashur 2013).


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Furthermore, there are many rising problems that genetically modified organisms and

plants have in the mass production and agriculture industries. Genetically modified organisms,

also known as GMOs, are for use as human foods or animal feeds are a commonplace nowadays.

Farmers are growing insect-resistant to enable farmers to produce more products without the

interference of insects. More than a third of the worlds potential crop production is lost each

year to pests, such as weeds, insects and diseases. GMOs also can bring financial security risks

to farmers. More genetically modified organisms and plants means more investments and high

risks of losing those investments due to theft or vandalism. Therefore, farmers should hire more

security guards and more cameras for their farms to ensure maximum protection. Furthermore,

there should be an insurance plan implemented to provide coverage in case of property loss.

Farmers are having more and more difficulty eliminating specific kinds of parasitic plants

because they have evolved through cross breeding with certain GMOs to create plants that are

resistant to pesticides. Farmers should relocate and isolate the genetically modified organisms

and plants from the organic ones. This will make it so that the two types of organisms and plants

do not interbreed and develop new genes that can cause harm to the agriculture industry. The

mass production industry has having trouble dealing with all of the rules and regulations when it

comes to producing genetically modified organisms and plants.

There are concerns of what genetically modified organisms and plants will do to the

environment. Certain chemicals and toxins are being used to manipulate the organism and

enhancing it; however, this can affect the environment because the chemicals have the potential

to pollute the environment. toxicity is major issue surrounding chemical pesticides and

herbicides, used commonly with genetically modified plants. In addition, chemicals inherited by

the plants can cause harm to the entire ecosystem and affect the environment. If the plants and
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organisms were isolated and separated from organic plants and organisms, cross breeding and

invasive environmental damage will decrease. Bees incredibly important to the environment and

are a part of the reproduction process of many plants. Bees provides pollination of many food

crops and plants, but are unfortunately extremely endangered by modern agricultural techniques,

such as genetically modified, also known as GM, crops. Changes such as relocation of the

genetically modified organism farms can be made to stop GMOs from harming the bees and

saving the environment. Moreover, farmers could also get more food with less land and better

quality and better taste with GMOs. Healthy soil is fundamental for crop growth and food

production. Herbicide-tolerant GM crops enable farmers to turn over and break up the soil,

preserving topsoil and helping to prevent erosion. Therefore, by creating a filter to separate the

chemicals and dispose of it properly to avoid contamination of the environment.

Furthermore, there are many issues surrounding the surveillance and monitoring if

genetically modified organisms and plants. The FDA and other food monitoring agencies are in

charge of overseeing the production and distribution of foods to the consumers. More and more

GMOs are being produce daily and the demand for genetically modified organisms and plants

are increasing. Consumers should have the right to know what kind of product they are buying

and what is in that product. A solution to this problem would be to making labeling GMO

products mandatory so all foods that contain genetically modified organisms or plants are

known. Therefore, by labeling a product that contains GMO has no effect or outcome of the

decision making of the consumer. The label is there for people that are concerned about

genetically modified organisms and plants. Furthermore, there are problems arising from the

overflow of genetically modified organisms and plants. There are not enough regulation rules

and people to monitor the interactions between GMO products and humans In additions, to
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ensure maximum quality and assurance, there should be an agency dedicated to monitoring and

the regulating of genetically modified foods, organisms, and transgenic plants. Currently the

FDA and other related food monitoring agencies are in charge of this process; however, GMOs

require massive amounts of attention because there are more and more GMOs being created and

manufactured every day.

In Conclusion, in order to make genetically modified organisms and plants more efficient

and effective there need to be changes made to certain aspects of GMOs. Changes should be

made to the environment, the effects on humans, the mass production and agriculture industries,
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