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Annotated Bibliography

Abigail Ferro

Why do GMOs affect the USA more than the rest of the world?
Professor Malcolm Campbell
University Writing 1103
March 12, 2015

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Pechan, Paul, Ortwin Renn, Allan Watt, Ingemar Pongratz. Safe or Not Safe Deciding what
risks to accept in our Environment and Food. New York: Springer, 2011.
This book is an incredible source for correct facts and is full of knowledge about the
GMO process, and what is being hidden from consumers regarding these products. In the book it
talks about risk assessment and how companies disregard the the negative effects the products
have on people all over. It covers the true process of the criteria during a GM crop risk analysis,
with charts and potential side effects included. The book was also very informative on the
process in which DNA is manipulated. It talks about how the enzymes are cut in the DNA at
specific locations and DNA fragments from other organisms are replaced, and how this becomes
a hybridization of the two species. The book covers many topics encompassing how Genetic
Engineering works, and the 4 authors dive into the sublevels of the principals of genetics, the
role of DNA, RNA, and Proteins, and the difference from conventional crops. The main
researcher, Paul Pechan, conducted studies involving the isolation of genes in plants and how the
growth chambers influence them. As he worked in the laboratory, he and the other scientists
became monsters to the protesters in the outside world, as they experimented with Franken
food.
The four authors of the book are incredibly intelligent in the field of GM production because
they were on the other spectrum of things back when GM crops were first being tested. Pechan
was involved in the research and was viewed as the antagonist, while his team delved into the

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hybridization of these plants. He realized that his studies may have been a more efficient way to
grow crops, but not necessarily a more nutritious food. Not only that, but Pechan saw that
the GM crop fields were growing exponentially and the square area has surpassed 110 million
hectares. The novel has an interesting perspective because initially Pechan was working for
GMO research and production, then completely switched sides of the playing field and co-wrote
this book about the harm of GMOs. The information provide in this novel was including detailed
covering all basis topics about the GMO field. Many sources from the book will be used to
explain what a GMO is and how the derive all sorts of organisms.

Nestle, Marion. What to Eat What is certified organic. North Point Press, 2006.
This book goes in depth about the hype of organic produce and whether it is better than the
conventionally grown produce. It questions if fruits and vegetable are more nutritious if they are
organic, and what exactly makes them worth the extra pennies that are being spent. Going even
more in depth the author talks about studies that were conducted on organic carrots versus
conventional carrots. The results only further backed up the hype, seeing as though organic
carrots were grown in the nutritious soil while conventional carrots had been growing in
pesticides and herbicides. On the flip side, the book had a devils advocate perspective thrown in
as it mentioned that there was no nutritional differences between the two types of carrots. In the
second section of the chapter Nutritional value: Organic Versus Conventional produce Marion
goes on talk explain the breakdown in the soil. The pesticides used end up being absorbed in the

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soil making the land somewhat of a toxic place, and any future plants grown will have the same
fate as the ones before it. In the chapter The politics of fruits and vegetables it gives a
breakdown of each organic fruit and vegetable and what exactly each is used for. Broccoli is
famous for its sulforaphane, while tomatoes contain lycopenes, and garlic and onions have
allium compounds.
The book was very helpful in many aspects like explaining the breakdown of the soil
components as well as analyzing the differences in organic and conventional. It mostly supported
the organic argument but in several areas the author switched sides and questioned whether the
organic produce was worth the price comparatively from the inorganic, and if the health risks
were that detrimental. I dont think this source was as useful as initially thought, but it did have
many perspectives given which helped in seeing the bigger picture of the topic. The author
seemed to be all over the place on one side of the argument then the other, so it was challenging
to follow.

Martin, Cyrus. The Psychology of GMO Current Biology. Volume 23. Cell Press, 6 May. 2013.
Web. 12 March. 2016.
The article addresses the issues up front and calls out any scientist who promotes the GMO.
Despite the fact that GMOs have gotten seal of approval from many scientists, this article talks
about why genetically modified organisms are banned all over the world. In a combination of
factors including economics and culture, why is it that every country has been able to steer clear
of the products with the exception of the USA? Not only does the US allow the products, but

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they are not even labeled if they contain these alterations. The closest the US had come to the
labeling of GMOs on products was in 2015 when the California ballot push for these modified
foods to be labeled as such. Europe has been labeling them for years, and have limited GMO
products because of the lack of consumption comparatively to the United States. When GMO
production first started, an uproar broke out in Europe and the European Food Safety Authority
(EFSA) tried to control the stink being created by the citizens. A well known journal, The
Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicity, released articles claiming that if rats were developing
tumors, then it would cause tumors in humans as well. This set off a trigger of all sorts of
protests and boycotting, not to mention mass panic. It also touched on the amount of land the
GM crop industry has taken over. It went from 10% to a soaring 85% in the last 15 years. If
thats not scary enough, 80% of all packaged foods contain GMOs in the supermarkets of the US.
The article was incredibly resourceful with the statistics of the US and GMOs as well as the
comparisons with other countries all over the world. It explained the uproar of the other countries
and how it effected their cultures. Bringing the European perspective was incredibly insightful,
and showed the difference in attitude. The article was amazingly useful with concise information
and statistics, and I will definitely pull knowledge from this topic to support my arguments.

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Paarlberg, Robert. GMO foods and crops: Africas choice New Biotechnology. Volume 27,
Issue 5. Elsevier Press, 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 12 March 2015.
When talking about other countries, most are fervently opposed to the idea of the GMO industry
taking over all of the food being consumed. The article opens up with how the European systems
regulate the GMO production, and how even though scientists have deemed it safe, many people
stay far away from it. In Africa, there is a known shortage on food and agriculture is the
livelihood of most of the people there. So why is it that Africa treats the GMO plant with the
same skepticism that Europe does, if it would mean potentially more food and wealth? The
African Farmers and regulators are working on a potential new Drought Tolerant crop that will
use genetic engineering but not use transgenic technologies. This will allow them to avoid the
feared GMO plants that are full of pesticides, and help their crop yield drastically. Many tests are
still being regulated, as they are planting in test fields before they allow a commercial release.
The National Biosafety Committee (NBC) is monitoring the process closely, but the chances of
the potential commercial release is more unlikely than likely. This is due to the fact that Africa is
extremely precautious like Europe with anything that is remotely involved with GMOs.
Many different foundations influencing Europe and Africa were discussed including the GEF,
GDA, ODA, and the NBC. It was useful to find out how each organization had been utilized and
influenced different opinions or laws passed regarding GM production. It will be a very useful
source to help in building the argument of why the USA allows GMOs over the rest of the world.