Genetically Modified Foods
Research papers on genetically modified foods are custom written to focus on any aspect of food engineering you need written about. Paper Masters has science witers that will help you understand the complex scientific, health and ethical issues with GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms).
Plant breeding has been a partner of the farmer for centuries. However lately the development of recombinant DNA techniques has allowed desired genes to be inserted into the plant genomes resulting in plants that are extremely different than their parent. Cloning, DNA sequencing of genes, and the reassembly of DNA fragments into chimeric genes that can alter an organism's trait or characteristic have moved from science fiction to the laboratory to everyday life. Advances in molecular biology has allowed genetic mapping and assays for the plant line development using selected combinations of traits.
Genetically modified foods (GMO), also called genetically engineered or transgenic crops are generally made of a genetic marker, for example, herbicide or antibiotic resistance, and a well-characterized gene expressing a trait that is valuable to the industry or economy. Snow described the gene coding region commonly fused to the 35S promoter from cauliflower mosaic virus to promote higher expression levels and growth of desired new genetic materials. The DNA used can come from any source. It is direct and can develop new gene constructs. However, risks are high, including development of new viruses and viral resistances, and the development of new proteins and enzymes harmful to humans.
Research into GMO and its use has moved forward steadily. The prime danger has been its use without extensive testing, and the free development of products without strict government regulations. The promise of GMO is tempered with the hazards to the unsuspecting public.
Adding to the difficulty in discussing the practice of genetically engineering (GE) is the fact that GE is not the only way in which to refer to the process. Genetically modified foods are known as the following:
- GMO (genetically modified organisms)
- Biotech foods
- Pharm-crops
- Recombinant DNA technology
- Polluted crops
- Frankenfoods
GE, GMO, and GM are synonymous, and used interchangeably throughout this paper and the relevant literature. While using a single acronym was considered, it was determined important to continue to remind individuals that these things are one and the same.
Perhaps it is because genetically modified foods come under so many names, and initials, that people have a difficult time determining what they are, and what they are not. People argue that food crops have been altered significantly and consistently since the beginning of time and long before and since Mendel studied short and tall beans. But genetically modified foods are not simple cross-pollinated foods. While many hybrids have been produced to maximize certain characteristics in plants, they are arranged by crossiinsecticideng similar plants, manipulating the environment so that two plants will procreate a new and better strain. Genetic modification and engineering is something more, something relatively new. The World Health Organization defines GMOs as "organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally" and that "it allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between non-related species". This means that a scientist must go into the DNA sequence, the genome of a plant and in some way alter the natural make-up of the DNA. It can be manipulation to change a gene or add a gene. For instance, insect resistance has been cultivated by incorporating a gene to produce the toxin Bacillus thuringiensis into the plant, a toxin used in conventional agriculture and proven safe for human consumption which is then produced by the plant itself, requiring less insecticides be placed on the plant as it grows. The plant has been modified, on a genetic level, to produce its own insecticide.