Captain's Log: Day 30

Today we will venture into AnKei's geeky side! FUN! Why? you might ask... well i'm sitting here, virtually alone in the library, and it's kind of creeping me out. My typing noises breaks the creepy silence. Oh! no wait, there's some other creepy guy in here too... not sure if that makes it better though :P

Genetic Modification. What is it? in short, you're messing around with the genes in an organism's DNA to change certain characteristics of that organism... In North America, there are not many modified foods, in fact, there's only a handful, corn, cotton, canola, and soya beans. Most people don't want the genes in their food messed around with, believing that GM foods can cause devastating effects on their bodies and health. Sure there are certain risks about consuming GM foods, but so far, there hasn't been really any study to prove any kind of health disorders due to consumption of GM foods. In addition, everything we do, every choice we make has a certain risk factor associated with it, but we still make choices and live on with our risky lives no? However, there are many people out there who are demanding for labels to be put on GM foods, there are protests against the selling of GM foods because they are believed to be 'contaminated' or 'polluted' foods. Where's the proof? In fact there are people who wants GM foods to be banned. Ok, so we all have our opinions, fine. I respect that. You can prefer organic foods, fine. Suit yourself. But maybe there are people out there who prefer GM foods too, so shouldn't they also have a choice?

I'm not a PhD in genetics or anything, but from what I've learned in the past, and the present, I personally don't have any problems with GM foods. In fact, I think I'm pretty pro GM foods. People who are absolutely against GM foods may simply be uninformed, and it is a part of human nature to fear the unknown. But think about it for a minute. Firstly, as I have mentioned already, there have been no concrete proof to show that GM foods have any kind terrible health effects. There are some studies showing that animals long term consumption of GM potatoes (for example) have shown to have decreased immune system. But that particular study have already been disproved, since the experiment/study was itself flawed and not properly carried out. The risks associated with GM foods are not exactly big, however, the benefits that can come out of this technology can change the world, and in the long run can solve many bigger problems. I believe that introducing a small risk to solve bigger issues is not an issue at all (kind of like introducing Chlorine into water in order to purify the water, which eliminated serious diseases such as cholera and typhoid).

Let me give an example. Growing cotton is very environmentally unfriendly. Cotton growing uses a lot of water and a LOT of pesticides. China, one of the major cotton growing countries, has started using genetic modification to grow cotton, and this resulted in a significant decrease in pesticide use, this is beneficial not only to our environment but also to the health of the farmers growing cotton.

Another thing, if we could identify the genes which gives plants a resistance, or tolerance, of aluminum in acid soils (which accounts for over half of the world's arable land) then we'd be able to farm on much more land, and greatly increase food production world wide, providing food to many people in undeveloped countries, and allowing them to produce their own food on the not-so-fertile-lands that haven't been used for industrial purposes yet. Furthermore, genetic modification can be used for phytoremediation (removing pollutants from the soil). One can increase the ability of certain plants to 'clean up' the earth, and that as well will benefit many people all over the world, not only in food production, but also the health of our environment and ourselves. There are even researches being conducted now to improve the nutrients in crops, such as increasing vitamins etc... and this is can be done through genetic modification.

So do these benefits outweigh the risks? You can think about that yourself.

What is GM?

*I am very much enjoying my world of chem course ;)