YouAreWhatYouEat
Geneticengineeringisthescientificchangeofthegeneticmaterialinalivingorganism.Itallowsscientiststoidentifyspecificgenestoremovethemfromanorganism'schromosomes(染色体)improvethemanalyzethemandpossiblyclonethemandtothenreinsertthechangedgeneintotheoriginalorganismoracompletelydifferentorganism.Unliketraditionalbreedingwhereadesiredqualitywouldbebredwithinthesamespeciesgeneticengineeringcaninsertdesiredonesintoorganismsofdifferentspecies.Wow…Didyoucatchthat?
Geneticengineeringcreatesmanypositivecontributionstoagriculture.Forexamplebygeneticallyengineered(GE)foodsanti-canceragentsmineralsandvitaminscanbeincreased.Improvedtasteshelflifeandbettertransportareallpossible.AlsoGEplantscanincreasepestandbacterialresistancethereforemakingthefoodsafeforconsumers.
Butsomearguethatthepossiblenegativeeffectsoutweighthepositivesandcriticsarestartingtovoicetheirconcerns.UnlikeEuropeintheUnitedStateslabelingisnotrequiredongeneticallyengineeredfoodsoronfoodsthatcontaingeneticallyengineeredproducts.MostAmericansdonotrealizethattheyareinfacteatingGEfoods.
Thepublicisalsoconcernedabouttheunknownhealthrisks.Withlimitedunderstandingofgenesscientistscannotpredictpossibleeffects.BecausemostgenesintroducedintoGEplantscomefromsourcesnotintroducedintothehumanbodyitisimpossibletoknowiftheywillcausereactions.Moreoverduetothelackoflabelingifallergiesdevelopitwillbeextremelydifficulttofindtheoriginofthem.
Thereisalsoamajormoralquestioninmanyminds.Formanytheconflictisnotifitissafeornotbutitdisturbsthembecauseitisunnaturalandunnecessary.Wearecurrentlyproducingoneandahalftimestheamountoffoodneededtofeedtheworldyetoneinsevenpeoplearestarving.GEfoodisunnecessaryandfailstoaddresstherootofhunger.Manybelievethattheonlypeoplewhowillbenefitarethecorporationsthatproduceit.
ScientistscannotforeseethepossibleeffectsofGEfoodsbutweeatthemeverydaywithoutevenknowingit.WealreadyhaveenoughfoodsowhycreatemorethatcouldbepotentiallyharmfultoustotheEa