There’s no escape. You are consuming mass quantities of genetically modified food. The milk in your cup this morning came from a genetically modified cow, and the cornflakes for your breakfast are genetically modified. At lunch you’ll enjoy fries from genetically modified potatoes and perhaps a bucket of genetically modified fried chicken. One of the most important issues of today is genetic engineering of our food. It's a complex issue, involving human health, the environment, and ethics.

But, what is genetically modified food? Long before you were ever born, farmers were manipulating seeds to produce better plants. Genetic modification used to be called "breeding," and people have been doing it for centuries. Last century Mendel was cross-breeding plants to create specific outcomes, such as pink flowers from red and white ones. But with the help of Genetic engineering it's done quickly and artificially.
GM is a special set of technologies that alter the genetic makeup of such living organisms as animals, plants, or bacteria. Genetic engineering, or genetic modification, means changing the DNA by transferring genes between and within different living things. For instance, you could take a gene from a fish that lives in very cold seas and insert it into strawberry DNA, so it can survive the frost. It is made for many different purposes such as making food stay fresher for longer, grow more resistant crops to pests, to produce more of the crop etc…

Genetically modified (GM) food has been around for a number of years and. Though few may realize it, many people consume genetically modified foods as a regular part of their diet. The most common genetically modified foods are maize, cotton, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, soybean and sugar beet. These food items can be found in bread, pasta, chips etc. At the moment there is a lot of debate whether GM foods are good or bad. But is GM food really safe to eat?


What are the benefits of Genetic Modification?

• It is kinder to the environment, by using less pesticides, fertilizers and water.
• It can increase production and lower the cost of food.
• Gene modification can boost immunity and develop inbuilt vaccines for livestock and poultry.
• Crops could be grown in areas suffering from drought and salt.
• GM crops are faster and cheaper.
• G M Foods have longer shelf life
• Food that can deliver vaccines - bananas that produce hepatitis B vaccine
• More nutritious foods - rice with increased iron and vitamins
• Faster growing fish, fruit and nut trees

What are the disadvantages of Genetic Modification?

• Objections to consuming animal genes in plants and vice versa
• GM crops can contaminate other crops simply by pollen being blown by wind.
• Sometimes GM crops have allergenic effects.
• Loss of nutritional value.
• New viruses could evolve from the mass production of GM crops.
• The more that gene technology is used, the worse the environment will become.
• Pests may develop resistance to GM crops that have been designed to kill them.
• Humans do not have the right to genetically alter nature for their own convenience and profit.
• GM crops may produce ecological side effects.
• Too much money spent on Gene Technology could have been spent on other things.
• GM food can change the genetic code of both adults and children.
• GM food causes cancer and is the source of food poisoning.
• GM foods make humans unsusceptible to treatment with antibiotics.

Genetic engineering holds out the potential to solve many of the world's hunger and malnutrition problems. Yet there are many challenges ahead for governments, especially in the areas of safety testing, regulation, international policy and food labeling. Many people feel that genetic engineering is the inevitable wave of the future and that we cannot afford to ignore a technology that has such enormous potential benefits. However, we must proceed with caution to avoid causing unintended harm to human health and the environment as a result of our enthusiasm for this powerful technology.