GMO’s By, Josh Kozicki James Gudmundson

What Are GMO’s Genetic Modification is technology that alters the genetic makeup of organisms such as animals, plants, or bacteria. GM products (current or those in development) include medicines and vaccines, foods and food ingredients, feeds, and fibers.

Pros of GMO’s CropsCrops Better taste and quality Shorter time to maturity Better nutrients, larger crops, and stress tolerance More disease resistant and pest resistant New and better products and techniques AnimalsAnimals Higher disease resistance, productivity, and nutrition efficiency Improved amounts of meat, eggs, and milk produced Healthier for you EnvironmentEnvironment Not as Dangerous soil, water, and energy conservation Bioprocessing for forestry products Better natural waste management More efficient processing SocietySociety Safer food stock and security for growing populations

Cons of GMO’s SafetySafety 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 PropertyAccess and Intellectual Property a few companies could monopolize world food production developing countries could become even more dependent on industrialized countries natural resources being stripped from poor countries by developed countries that have become good at genetic modification EthicsEthics organisms are changed so much that they are no longer truly the organism that was originally created mixing genes among species in an unnatural way Objections to consuming animal genes in plants and vice versa Stress for animal LabelingLabeling Not mandatory in some countries (e.g., United States) which means it could be difficult to know what products have been genetically modified Mixing GM crops with non-GM products makes labeling products accurately very difficult SocietySociety rich countries may get all the benefits of genetic modifications because they can afford to develop the technology

Bibliography Us department of energy. Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms. U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Human Genome Program, 5 Nov Web. 28 Mar < uman_Genome/elsi/ gmfood.shtml>.