The subject of genetic engineering on food has earned a lot of positive and negative criticisms. Some consider this a good option because the modification will allow crops to be more resistant to infestation and drought. This will likewise result to the availability of more regular meals for people.
Meanwhile, those who oppose this concept consider this process to be a dangerous proposition. Some of the most notable concerns include allergic reactions and damage to the intestine. Thus, people would want to avoid food that have undergone genetic engineering because it was found out that it will affect the internal cell structure, unexpected deaths, and abnormal growth of tumor. Here are a few pros and cons of genetic engineering foods to justify all these claims.
List of Pros of Genetic Engineering Food
1. Improve Overall Taste and Quality.
Modifying food genetically can enhance the flavors. For this reason, pepper can be even spicier or sweeter. Likewise, corn can also be sweeter, while other difficult flavors will become a lot more palatable.
2. Resistance to Disease.
Plants and animals genetically modified will become a lot resistant to disease and problems of disease. You may consider that plants and animals can be vaccinated, but this one will be encoded into the genetics, giving the subject more resistance to diseases.
3. It Can Offer More Nutrition.
Modifying food can enhance the nutritional benefits in them. Thus, it can provide more vitamins and minerals to offer better nutritive benefits for people who eat them. Developing countries aren’t always able to get access for the needed resources.
List of Cons of Genetic Engineering Food
1. Damage to the Environment.
In raising livestock or growing plants in places that aren’t their ideal location, it is important to note that it can incur potential damage to the environment. This can be observed in crossbreeding using genetic engineering. Weeds for instance that could be crossbred with plants that are genetically engineered can be seen as an example.
2. No Economic Value.
Growing foods that are genetically engineered will take a certain amount of time to mature as it would take much effort of growing. Therefore, there is no economic value when growing plants through genetic engineering in comparison to those that are grown otherwise.
3. Allergies in the Population.
Any person who has consumed foods genetically engineered should have allergies based on studies. For instance, if a certain plant was engineered genetically then it was consumed by a livestock, the person who partakes the meat of that animal may have high chances of getting allergic reaction.
Final Thoughts
It is very important to evaluate the existence of genetically modified organisms to ensure that the benefits from this effort will really outweigh the risks so as mass production can be justified. For areas where food and resources are scarce, the use of this technology to modify the genetic structure or plants or animals should make sense. Nevertheless, it is still important to consider the ends as it can be used to justify the means.
Crystal Lombardo is a contributing editor for Vision Launch. Crystal is a seasoned writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has been an editor of three popular blogs that each have had over 500,000 monthly readers.
