Complete what I've done GMO

BAN GMOs

The issue of whether to ban GMOs has been widely debated for a while now. Despite the ongoing debate, the use of GMOs has continued to increase worldwide, especially in farming. GMOs plantation in US was first introduced for commercial purposes in 1996. During that time, farmers view them as an ideal alternative to their crops as it increased their yields as well as improving efficiency through cutting of cost of herbicides and pesticides. Coupled with vigorous campaigns by biotech firms, the belief in GMO continued to grow and spread to all parts of the world, leading to an increase in the use of GMOs. But, is GMO really good or bad? GMOs are absolutely bad and their use should be banned. They are bad because they pose unknown health consequences, contaminate our gene pools, reduces genetic diversity, and destroys our environment and most importantly, due to the skewed practices of biotech firms.

First, GMOs use need be banned due to their unknown health consequences. It is never a secret that every one of us would like to consume something that is safe. However, Scientist have failed to show that GMOs are safe for human consumption and eating them may have undesired consequences. According to Dr. Doris Lin (2016), the amount of time that scientist spend in testing for the safety of GMOs is short and, therefore, cannot be enough to prove the safety of GMOs. Numerous human studies have shown that traces of materials from genetically modified food are left on our system when we consume them. These materials, according to Jeffrey Smith (2011), have the possibility of causing more problems in our bodies. The unhealthy risks of GMO has been shown by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) action of arguing doctors not to prescribe GMO diet to their patients. AAEM understands the side effects that comes with consuming GMO. For instance, they cite animal studies which have revealed gastrointestinal disorders, immune disorders, organ damages, infertility and accelerated aging as the reason for recommending non-GMO prescribed diet to patients. I believe these unhealthy risks of GMO food can also affect a healthy person. The health risks of GMO can also be confirmed by the current trends in the health of the population. The current health trend indicates an upward increase in the incidence of chronic diseases and conditions world-wide. Chronic diseases and conditions such as stroke, cancer, arthritis, chronic respiratory diseases, heart disease, obesity and diabetes are now more prevalent than never before. These diseases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), are now the leading cause of mortality as they contribute to about 60% of all deaths. US, in particularly has been the most affected by this trend. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half of American adults suffer from one or more chronic disease. What do you think caused this increase? Probably, the increase in the number of Americans suffering from chronic diseases was due to cellular alteration of genes by GMOs.

Secondly, GMOs need to be banned since they contaminate our genetic pools and their contamination are long lasting. The main problem with GMOs is that it contaminates our gene pools with their altered materials. For example, in St. Louis, Missouri, many organic farmers have harvested GM crops with their non-GMO crops, which has resulted in a lot of lawsuit against them by Monsanto. These contamination of products occurred through natural processes of reproduction such as cross-pollinations. This means that GMO contamination cannot be avoided as long as we continue using them. The main problem with GMOs contaminations is that it threatens the existence of organic products, which are currently in demand. Moreover, when these gene pools are contaminated, they are difficult to fully clean them, which may lead to GMO pollution. According to Jeffrey Smith (2011), the effects of self-propagating GMO pollution will surpass those of nuclear wastes and global warming, which would threaten the existence of life. GMO contamination also causes economic losses as it contaminates products of organic and non-GMO farmers, reducing their earnings. These economic impacts of GMO was confirmed by a study by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). According to the study, GMOs pose a risk to the food and feed trade as GMO contaminated food are either blocked or destroyed by the importing countries. These risks are compounded by the current increase in genetically modified farming. With this increase in GMO farming, gene contamination will continue to escalate. What then can we do? The only solution to GMO contamination problem is to ban their use.

GMO should also be banned since it reduces genetic diversity. Genetic diversity is responsible for the large variety of animals and plants in existence today (Landry, 2015). According to Heather Landry (2015), genetic diversity is important for the survival and adaptability of organisms. With the current changing environment, genetic diversity is becoming more important than ever. However, GMO is threatening this genetic diversity of organisms as it tends to create similar organisms through the process of cross-breeding and uncontrolled growth. With the reduced genetically diversity, organism would find it hard to adapt the changing surrounding. One of the most documented effect of reduced genetic diversity is the planting of potatoes in Ireland in 1800s. During that time, Ireland depended on potatoes for its nutrition. The problem started when farmers started cultivating potatoes from sections of parent potato instead of planting them from seeds. This lead to all potatoes being clones of their parents, with the same genetic materials. Due to lack of genetic diversity, the entire potato plantation was wiped by invasive pathogen called P.infestans, which attacked the potato crops in Ireland. The destruction of potato plantation in Ireland, lead to a great famine, which affected the entire nation. Had farmers in Ireland planted different varieties of potatoes, then the extent of potato destruction would have been minimal. Like the potato farming in Ireland, GMO is creating organisms with similar genetic materials. These new organisms will find it difficult to survive in the changing environment. What shall we do then to maintain our genetic diversity? Just ban the use of GMOs.

GMO should also be banned due to the bad track record of big biotech firms and their skewed practices. Large biotech firms cannot be trusted to handle GMO since they are only driven by profit rather than public interest. These firms are ready to do anything to protect their profits. This has been confirmed by various incidence in which these firms have been found to cause massive toxic contamination and lying to the public. For instance, big biotech firms like Monsanto were caught lying to the public on the safety of DDT, Agent Orange and PCBs. To make matters worse, government institutions, which are supposed to protect the interests of the public have been found to have vested interest in these firms, making it difficult for them to execute their roles. The integrity of these firms is further put in questions by their actions of harassing and suing farmers for infringement rights. This usually occurs when the patented seeds of these biotech firms are found in farmer’s possession, despite the fact that the seeds cross-pollinated the farmer’s crops naturally. To worsen the matter, these firms have started selling sterile seeds to firms so that they cannot last for more than one season. Such actions put these firms’ integrity in question and should never be believed. Another reason why these firms should never be trusted is their treatment of scientist who discover anomalies with GMOs. According to Jeffrey Smith (2011), researchers who discover problems with GMOs are usually fired, gagged, threatened and denied funding. Why are these scientists treated like this? It is because they don’t want them to reveal the truth as it will hurt their business. What then should the solution be? The only solution to this problem is to ban these biotech firms and their GMO products.

GMO should also be banned due to their harmful effects on the environment. For the last decade, environmental conservation has gained some momentum. The only problem to these conservation efforts has been the rise in GMO farming. Toxicity may be caused by GMOs themselves or by fungicides, herbicide and pesticides that are commonly used with them. Numerous studies have shown that GMOs increases the uses of these compounds, especially herbicides (Hoffman, 2013). For a long time, these compounds have been known to be environmental pollutants as they pollute water, air and soil. These pollutions harm insects, birds, mammals, soil organisms and marine ecosystem. An example of the use of these products is the decline in the population of monarch butterflies by nearly half. If the trend in GMO farming continues, the destruction in environment will continue. In order to save our environment from destructions, we need to ban GMO.

In conclusion, the use of GMOs should be banned, or at the very least, its commercialization be stopped. It has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the use of GMOs have negative consequences not only for man and its environment, but also for other organisms occupying the planet. Some organisms are already extinct due to GMOs and if we continue with the current trend, tend we may risk losing the remaining ecosystems. Birds, fish, insects, amphibians and even mammals including human being at the risk of extinction due to these GMOs. If we ban GMOs, we might safe the remaining ecosystem from extinctions.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Chronic Disease Overview. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/

Food and Agriculture Organization. (2014). Steady increase in incidents of low levels of GM crops in traded food and feed. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/216311/icode/

Glass, E. (2013). The Environmental Impact of GMOs | One Green Planet. Retrieved from http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/the-environmental-impact-of-gmos/

GMO Awareness. (n.d.). GMO Risks. Retrieved from https://gmo-awareness.com/all-about-gmos/gmo-risks/

Hoffman, B. (2013). GMO Crops Mean More Herbicide, Not Less. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bethhoffman/2013/07/02/gmo-crops-mean-more-herbicide-not-less/#3608af473cd5

Landry, H. (2015). Challenging Evolution: How GMOs Can Influence Genetic Diversity - Science in the News. Retrieved from http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/challenging-evolution-how-gmos-can-influence-genetic-diversity/

Lins, D. (2016). Genetically Modified Organisms - Arguments Against GMOs. Retrieved from http://animalrights.about.com/od/animalsusedforfood/a/Arguments-For-And-Against-Genetically-Modified-Organisms_2.htm

Smith, J. (2011). 10 Reasons to Avoid GMOs - Institute for Responsible Technology. Retrieved from http://responsibletechnology.org/10-reasons-to-avoid-gmos/

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Chronic diseases and health promotion. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/chp/en/

Zeese, K. (2014). Dramatic Correlation Shown Between GMOs And 22 Diseases. Retrieved from https://popularresistance.org/dramatic-correlation-shown-between-gmos-and-22-diseases/