Genetically engineered (GE) crops (Transgenic crops)

Genetically engineered (GE) crops (Transgenic crops) such as corn, cotton, and soybean became both or either herbicide tolerance (HT) and insect resistance (Bt) through biotechnology since 2000. If you have a positive or negative opinion about this process one must consider the increase in population in every country. Many observers have suggested that biotechnology has the potential to increase world food output and reduce food insecurity by improving crop yields and reducing crop loss. As with any improvement in technology, farmers in developing countries must find the new advances profitable. Consumers in developing countries will benefit if biotech crops are less expensive or more nutritious than traditional crops. By adding genes to conventional crops to help them resist pests, disease, or drought, producers of biotech seed can make crops that use less of an expensive input or crops that produce higher yields. Any or several types of improvements toward increasing food supply can be tailored to make individual crops more likely to thrive in a particular country’s growing conditions, and can potentially allow a wider variety of innovations.


The benefits of using GM crops included enhanced taste and quality, reduced maturation time, increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance, improved resistance to disease, pests, and herbicides, new products and growing techniques. Animals increased resistance, productivity, hardiness, and feed efficiency; better yields of meat, eggs, and milk; improved animal health and diagnostic methods. GM crops would be healthy on the environment through "friendly" bioherbicides and bioinsecticides, conservation of soil, water, and energy; bioprocessing for forestry products, better natural waste management, more efficient processing. Societies can increase food security for growing populations.


Controversies include safety of potential human health impacts including allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects. Potential environmental impacts including unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on other organisms (e.g., soil microbes), and loss of flora and fauna biodiversity. Access and intellectual property domination of world food production by a few companies; increasing dependence on industrialized nations by developing countries; biopiracy or foreign exploitation of natural resources. Ethics such as violation of natural organisms' intrinsic values Tampering with nature by mixing genes among species; objections to consuming animal genes in plants and vice versa; stress for animal; labeling; not mandatory in some countries (United States); mixing GM crops with non-GM products confounds labeling attempts. Society - new advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries.

Mitchell, Lorraine. 2011. Biotechnology and food security. United States department of agriculture. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib765/aib765-11.pdf (accessed October 14, 2011).


Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge. 2011. Adoption of genetically engineered crops in the U.S. United States department of agriculture. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/BiotechCrops/ (accessed October 14, 2011).


United States of Energy. 2008. Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms. U.S. Department of Energy Genome Program. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml (accessed October 14, 2011).