Discussion ofn what are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods

Thesis statement:we should use GM foods widely

One thing for sure us that planting GM foods are much cheaper than planting foods in a traditional
way, an analysis of the production and price impacts of biotech crops by Graham Brookes et al.,
estimated that corn-based products would be priced 6 percent higher and soybean-based
products would be 10 percent higher if it weren’t for GM crops.The most important reason
why GM foods are cheaper is that it can increase productivity,Jenkins(2018) said that to increase
yields and -especially-to allow farmers to spray their crops with chemicals that kill insects, diseases,
or weeds. And the farmers who grow for them say that GM crops allow them to deliver a lot of
food to a lot of people for very little money. (Sources：Jenkins(2018),“GMOs and the future of
American diet”,
https://books.google.com/books?id=hxVHDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=pros+and+cons+o
f+gmo+foods&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRt8eSldvkAhXFPn0KHTipDI0Q6AEwA3oECAIQAg#v=on
epage&q&f=false)

In fact,GM foods will also be more attractive to people , according to Amanda Barrel(2019),The
manufactures use genetic modification to design a desirable look for food, and increase nutritional
value or enhance flavor.
in our daily life when we go to the supermarket to buy some foods,we will automatically choose
foods which looks more pleasing to us. Stefan Jansson，a Swedish plant biologist ,sat down to a
plate of pasta with cabbage harvested from his garden. This cabbage was like none any human
had eaten before; its DNA had been edited via a much-hyped new gene-editing technique called
CRISPR. Jansson’s meal was the first time anyone anywhere had professed to eating
CRISPR-modified food—an entirely new category of GMOs.But far from being some bizarre
“frankenfood,” the cabbage looked almost exactly the same as unedited cabbage. Scientists had
deleted only a single gene, which made it grow a little slower. “It tastes like broccoli,” says Jansson,
“and the leaves look like broccoli’s.” And that’s because humans have been breeding the
species B. oleracea for centuries, and this single species now comprises dozens of varieties more
commonly known as kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi, collard greens, savoy
cabbage, etc. They all descend from wild cabbage, and they technically all belong to one species.
Against this awesome diversity of cabbages, the deletion of one gene in Jansson’s cabbage seems
almost puny in comparison. (Sources: Amanda Barrel(2019), “ What are the pros and cons of GM
foods ”,https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324576.php)
What’s more GM foods grow in a healthier environment. Healey(2017) said that GM foods are
drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant crops which require less pesticide and herbicide, and by using
GM crops that are resistant to attack by pests or disease, farmers can reduce their use of
herbicides and the residual levels of these chemicals in the environment, which means there are
no chemical pesticide residues in GM foods, thus it’s more safe for people to eat directly.
( Sources: Healey(2017) , “ Organic and genetically modified food ”,
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ilstu/reader.action?docID=4602923)

But there are still some voices against to use GM foods,The World Health Organization (WHO)

discourage genetic engineers from using DNA from allergens unless they can prove that

the gene itself does not cause the problem. And some researchers believes that it will be

dangerous to make new genes into the body since the cancer comes from the mutations

in DNA.(Sources:Amanda Barrel(2019) ,“What are the pros and cons of GM

foods”,https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324576.php)

However there is also no evidence that a crop is dangerous to eat just because it is GM.It
is just a nature of human to resist change and fear the unknown.So it is no surprise that
genetic engineering of food and feed crops resulted in their resounding condemnation as
“Frankenfoods”by many consumers, who seem as terrified of eating an apple with an
added anti-browning gene or a pink pineapple genetically enriched with the antioxidant
lycopene as i am of self-driving cars.According to Jane E.Brody (2018),Farmers and
agricultural scientists have been genetically engineering the foods we eat for centuries through
breeding programs that result in large and largely uncontrolled exchanges of genetic material.
What many consumers may not realize: For many decades, in addition to traditional crossbreeding,
agricultural scientists have used radiation and chemicals to induce gene mutations in edible crops
in attempts to achieve desired characteristics.But modern genetic engineering only differs in two
ways: Only one or a few new genes with a known function are introduced into a crop, and
sometimes the new genes come from an unrelated species. For example, a gene meant to instill
frost tolerance into, say, spinach, might come from a fish that lives in icy waters.GMOs are actually
one of the world’s most researched agriculture products and have been deemed safe by virtually
every major independent institute. To name a few: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the U.S.
National Academies of Science. As a matter of fact, the U.S. National Academies of
Science reviewed more than 900 studies over 20 years and determined that genetically modified
crops are safe to eat and have not caused increases in cancer, obesity, gastrointestinal illnesses,
kidney disease, autism or allergies.

(source:Jane E.Brody （ 2018 ） ,Are GMO foods safe ，

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/23/well/eat/are-gmo-foods-safe.html）