Should we use Genetic Engineering in Farming?

By Javier Grego & Nico van den Brink

The GM Debate

Genetic modification is changing the characteristics of an organism by altering its genes.

A gene is a piece of DNA that holds the information for the specific characteristic of an organism that can be added to another target organism so that they gain that particular characteristic. These organisms can be of different or same species.

Pros of GM

• crops can be genetically modified so that they need less water, therefore the soil will take more time to get salinified and will be able to support

• Less pesticide is needed because they are resistant to pests

• Need less space because they have a higher yield per square meter.

• They would be resistant to disease

Cons of GM

• There is no obvious increase in yield• We would be creating a plant which has no natural

controls which could become a “super-weed”• Countries which need these crops can’t afford them• They would stop providing food for the “pests” because

they couldn’t eat the crops

Conclusion

We think that crops should be genetically modified so that they can survive in climates appropriate to countries that are suffering from hunger. They should also be made available and affordable to these countries.

Ex. In Africa there are 260 million people going hungry.

Otherwise we don’t really need GM crops in developed countries. The only characteristics we use are to make them longer lasting…