Genetically modified (GMO) foods have become popular among household items. They have played a significant role in feeding modern society, which has experienced exponential growth over time. With the increase in population, people’s imminence to food insecurity issues is a threat. However, to solve food insecurity issues, genetic engineering technology appeared (Kumar et al., 2020). This technology was adopted whereby genes are induced into food plants to enhance their resilience to both edaphic and non-edaphic factors. Admittedly, the technology was a success since it helped increase crop production to satisfy the target populations. However, even though GMO foods have created a breakthrough in food security, their introduction leads to significant effects on the consumers and the environment.
There have been increases in issues arising because of the consumption of genetically changed foods, creating events that depict its resentments and critics. The reactions to GMO crops originate from their damaging effects affecting consumers and the ecosystem (Kumar et al., 2020). Therefore, it is to disagree with the production and consumption of GMO crops. Some of these crops have been reported to have caused allergic reactions in people. For example, GMO soybeans in the mid-1990s triggered an allergic reaction since they were added to Brazil Nuts’ protein (Kumar et al., 2020). However, GMO foods form a medium that spreads cancer since they affect DNA, stimulating mutation of the DNA strings.
GMO crops have contributed massively to them, leaving minor but notable effects on the soil for an extended period. It was observed that the induction of genetic strains into the food crop’s genome. This implies a similar manifestation of bacterial genetic engineering in agricultural ecology for an extended period (Kumar et al., 2020). It dates back to the 1980s when GMO food crops were experimentally grown in the US. Later on in the 1990s, these crops were produced in large quantities viable for commercialization in Canada. However, the absence of genetically changed plants has their strained persistence for eight years.
With the sprouting of GMO crops, there is the imminence of insects to be affected. GMO crops have an enhanced adaptation property by altering their gene sequence. Therefore, GMO crops and their genes are too strong to kill insects (Kumar et al., 2020). These insects play a crucial role in the ecosystem whereby they help cross-pollination, which is essential for species heredity and continuity. Some of these insects are not harmful and prove to be of great importance as pollination agents. Therefore, this disrupts ecological imbalance resenting to the non-productivity of non-GMO plants.
GMO plant crops tend to produce more weeds compared to non-GMO and a life-threatening to animals. A characteristic of engineered plants is that they act as mediators in transferring genes to wild plants, thus developing weeds. However, since pesticides have been manufactured there is some resilience in these weeds that would affect non-GMO crops (Kumar et al., 2020). Animals that eat the contaminated crops suffer from health complications because of the excess herbicides. From a broader perspective, they have changed agriculture in a negative mode that threatens crop diversity.
Apparently, in as much as GMO foods, through genetic engineering, create a breakthrough in food security, their functionality remains not in the planet’s interest or its inhabitants. These foods are proven to cause adverse effects because they are associated with increased application of toxic chemicals. The disparities between GMO and non-GMO plants are presented to provide a well-informed decision to be against the production and consumption of these foods.
Reference
Kumar, K., Gambhir, G., Dass, A., Tripathi, A. K., Singh, A., Jha, A. K., Yadava, P., Choudhary, M. & Rakshit, S. (2020). Genetically modified crops: current status and future prospects. Planta, 251(4), 1-27. Web.
