Genetically Modified Plants (GMO)

Summary: 
This Youtube video talked about the truths and myths from genetically modified organisms that biotech companies are now developing to try and increase the efficiency in food production.  This may sound like a good thing but this video points out that their are clear and present dangers involved in GMO's.  Firstly, the process of producing a GMO is by inserting a foreign and favorable gene in the DNA makeup of the plant.  This can cause disastrous problems because the insertion of the gene is completely random and may damage the original plants DNA makeup.  Secondly, the video provides evidence that the GMO can have alterations in their nutritional content than from their natural counterparts and lead to toxic and allergenic symptoms from the living creatures that eat it.  Thirdly, one of the biggest problems that comes from producing a GMO is that it doesn't reduce the amount of pesticide it requires.  And, with the persistent pesticide being sprayed on any plant, eventually, that pesticide will no longer have any effect on the pests that are eating the plant.  Therefore, farmers would need to use even stronger pesticides to counteract the problem and this could possibly be disastrous to the environment.  Examples of what the increased pesticides could do to the environment is the killing of non-pest animal species.  The video states that there was research that showed that increased pesticide use caused massive death of the Monarch Butterflies in North America.  Lastly, by producing GMO plants, world hunger cannot not be eliminated nor even slowed because world hunger comes from the issues of poverty and lack of access of farmland and supplies.  In contrast with GMO's, natural breeding methods are the actual way to go.  According to the video, these methods "give birth to supercrops" such as: flood-tolerant rice, drought-tolerant corn, and pest-resistance chickpeas.

Relevance to Class:
In chapter 13, we learned about genetics and as a sub chapter specifically about GMO's.  In class we learned how Monsanto (Biotech Company) had developed a type of pest resistant potato that McDonalds absolutely loved.  In the book, it had only positive feedback about the success of GMO's and merely addressed some concerns.  I wanted to further research the controversy that surrounds this "efficient" way of food production and learned how scary it can actually be.  Things ranging from alterations in the actual plant, changes in the nutritional content in the GMO that can lead to allergic symptoms in humans, and that it can cause harm to the surrounding environment was enough to convince me to never eat food that was genetically modified.

Media Fire:
URL:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ztZGbLEJ0
Sponsor of the Video: http://earthopensource.org/