The Pros And Cons Of Genetically Engineered Foods

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As a state with the most genetic engineering fields in the country, it has become a controversial debate on whether genetically engineered crops should be regulated in Hawaii. For example, in Hawaii's 2014 election, a genetically modified organism ban initiative will be a ballot question for voters in Maui County, Hawaii. This ban prohibits the growth, test, and cultivation of genetically engineered crops until the practices are tested to be safe (Bernardo). Though genetically engineered (GE) or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have a variety of connotations, GE organisms refer to the methods that scientist use to introduce genes into an organism to create new phenotypes, such as pest and weed resistance. GMOs that have pesticide and …show more content…
An example of a GE crop that provides more nutrients is the Golden Rice. An article written by Peter Beyer, a professor of Cell Biology at the University of Freiburg and co-inventor of Golden Rice, addresses the problem that the people of developing countries often consume foods that lack the micronutrients that humans need but cannot synthesize on their own. A deficiency in these micronutrients, such as Vitamin A deficiency, causes increasing severity of some maladies as well as premature death. Since rice seeds lack Beta-carotene, which the body converts to Vitamin A, genetic engineering is the only way to integrate Beta-Carotene into rice. Professor Igno Potrykus and Peter Beyer of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology innovated a type of rice (Golden Rice) that produces Beta-Carotene in its seeds. Golden Rice provides Beta-Carotene to developing countries that have populations that are Vitamin A deficient, such as the Philippines (Beyer). In conjunction with changing the research focus of GE crops in Hawaii, farmers could focus on using agroecology methods to farm crops rather than GE pesticide dependent methods. Stephen Gliessman, Ph.D., explains that agroecology is the application of ecological concepts and principles to design safe and productive sustainable food systems. This method of farming supports my argument that farmers can deviate from using modern conventional agricultural methods - using weed and pesticide resistant crops - and start using agroecological farming methods (Gliessman). By implementing agroecological methods and furthering research in developing GE foods that have great nutritional value, Hawaii’s agriculture may deviate from the reliance of GE pest and weed resistant crops while avoiding the risks that weed and pesticide resistant
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