Genetically Modified Foods Essay

In the world, many people are not getting the balanced amount of nutrition-needed daily. There are many vitamin deficiencies that can lead to illnesses, malnutrition, and death. However, biotechnology has made this pandemic decrease through genetically modified foods. Many people think that these foods are unhealthy for people, and they are harmful. They think that this type of food is untraditional. I believe that genetically modified foods are good for countries that have high malnutrition rates. They are also good to help preserve food against pesticides. The purpose of this essay is to show how genetically modified foods are good for countries with malnutrition. Genetically modified foods are food that has received a segment of DNA or genes from another organism through biotechnology engineering. Biotechnology is the exploitation of biological processes for industrial and other purposes, especially the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, and etc. The most commonly known genetically modified food is golden rice. Golden rice is engineered to contain a higher amount of vitamin A to improve the health of unskilled laborers in undeveloped countries. Golden rice is mainly used in Asian countries or countries whose staple food is rice. Originally, rice doesn’t have a high amount of vitamin A, and in those countries there are high amounts of deficiency in Vitamin A. Vitamin A plays a significant role for healthy vision, strong bones, supple skin, normal cell regeneration, reproduction, and helps the immune system fend off infections. A deficiency in Vitamin A can result in eye diseases such as Nyctalopia (night blindness), Xerophthalmia (dry eye syndrome) , and/or total blindness. Golden rice is enhanced with multiple DNA, including DNA from daffodils. Also, this rice has a higher amount of beta-carotene. In my opinion, golden rice is good for undeveloped countries whose staple is rice because this rice contains DNA from another plant. Therefore, it doesn’t have a lot of chemicals that could eventually be harmful to people’s body. There are more foods that are genetically modified such as corn, potatoes, soybeans, squash, canola, flax, and tomatoes. Corn and potatoes are modified with a gene to produce an endotoxin. An endotoxin is a toxic substance produced and stored within the plant tissue. This endotoxin protects these vegetables from corn-borer pest and the potato beetle. Likewise, soybeans can be modified with a gene from a bacterium to make it herbicide resistant. A herbicide is a type of pesticide that is used to kill unwanted plants, such as weeds. This can keep vegetables safe from harmful insects. These insects can destroy or make the vegetable harmful for digestion. Some people may say that genetically modified foods are untraditional. However, many foods that are used today are modified. The genes of many plants have been modified so much over the years that they are embedded into the DNA of the plant. Cross breeding was the first forms of modifying food through genetics. Since cross breeding was discovered, it was a large part of agricultural processes. Therefore, many vegetables, whether organic or not, have been modified somewhere down the history line of that vegetable. In conclusion, many people feel that genetically modified foods are not a traditional or healthy way to eat. However, genetically modified foods can help undeveloped countries become healthier and prevent some vitamin deficiencies, such as Vitamin A deficiency. Many vegetables are modified to help prevent them from their common pest and enemy-like plants. Also, throughout the years many plants have undergone minor genetic changes. These changes are used in vegetables today to help make them healthier and keep them fresher longer. This can make the world a healthier and better place.