GMO’s: More Than Public Health
[Name of the Writer]
[Name of the Institution]
GMO’s: More Than Public Health
Introduction
The advent and use of genetically modified crops has taken place over a span of many centuries, most likely alongside the advancements in agriculture. Genetic modification in earlier times consisted of seed preservation, with farmers preserving the seeds with powerful survival, resistance and production skills for their use. Genetic modification in crops saw and increased interest, control and research based on the work of Gregor Mendel in the 19th century. This led to the practice of the phenomenon of ‘Conventional Modification’, in which geneticists interbred species with close resemblance to bring forth new hybrids which were more efficient and had numerous beneficial variations from their parent plants. Relative to the current population’s need, the United States Census Bureau predicts (on the basis of collected information) that there will be a 50 percent rise in the need for food in 2030 along with the population increasing from 7 billion to 9 billion by the year 2050.
Background
Conventional genetic crop is highly dependent on environmental factors and susceptible to them. To overcome such hurdles, the technique of genetic engineering has been applied to isolate desired genes and insert them into crops to gain desirable traits and variations. The genes possessing desirable traits may be isolated from a variety of sources which include other plants, bacterial or viral organisms and completely non-related organisms whose genes can be modified and later inserted into the rice crop’s genome to obtain intended results. Moreover, creation of artificial genes is possible. The addition of new genes extends the gene pool and provides an extensive diversity and potential for rice breeding and cultivation (GENETIC MODIFICATION OF OUR FOOD: SAFE OR DANGEROUS 2000).
Discussion
Identification
Climatic factors...