A wellness subject that I think is important to current society is
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). I think that there has been a
lot of controversy and even fear-mongering about GMOs, and not a
lot of people understand the processes behind it. According to the
FDA, organisms are created through genetic engineering and the
process can be explained in four steps: Identifying the genetic
information that gives an organism a desired trait, Copying that
information from the organism that has the trait, Inserting that
information into the DNA of another organism, Then growing the
new organism" (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition).
The Truth About GMOs
a describes a situation in which a farmer's crop
had been diseased, thus ruining their chance at a good livelihood at
that time (Ronald, P. (2013). This is one situation of many where
genetic engineering can have a positive impact. If biologists were able
to genetically modify the crop to have resistance to that disease, the
farmer's livelihood and wellness would not be negatively impacted.
While genetic engineering emerged in the 70s, humans have been
selectively breeding or cross breeding organisms for hundreds of
years (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition). Remember
biology class, the genetics unit? Gregor Mendel, in 1866,
experimented with breeding pea plants in order to nail down the
types of inheritance. The concept of genetically modifying an
organism is not new; what is new, is the technology that is able to
more precisely and knowledgeably modify specific genes that code
for specific traits (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition).
There is controversy around this topic because people think that
consuming GMOs would negatively impact their health. As Ronald, P.
(2013)
explains, "In the seventeen years since [genetically
engineered] crops were first grown commercially, not a single
instance of adverse health or environmental effects has been
documented". Overall, I believe that despite the controversy around
the topic, GMOs are an important thing for society to know about.
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Science and history of
gmos and other food modification processes
. U.S. Food and Drug
Administration. Retrieved July 14, 2022, from
https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/science-and-
history-gmos-and-other-food-modification-processes
Ronald, P. (2013). THE TRUTH ABOUT GMOs.(cover story). .
Boston
Review
,
38
(5), 16–32.
