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Juan Caudel

Professor Bower

Btech 1000

04/21/19

Genetically Modified Organisms

There has been a long debate concerning the safety of genetically modified organisms

(GMOs), whether it imposes a risk not only to our environment but also to our bodies when

ingested over a long period of time. GMO corporations have debated against these topics and have

desperately tried to convince consumers that their products are safe when in reality they do more

harm than good. In a recent study by Dr. Oraby published through the Turkish Journal of Biology,

found that albino rats on a genetically modified based diet showed significant damage to the liver,

kidneys and reproductive system and showed abnormalities in just 90 days (267). There has to be

a control in the production of GMOs preventing corporations from unnaturally fusing plants with

herbicides or pesticides. The government must place regulations from preventing the excessive

use of pesticides and herbicides used on our crops that can damage our ecosystem. The government

has to encourage our scientists in finding new alternative safe ways to improve our crops and be

more aware and involved in the studies of GMOs.

The scientist that are against the GMOs have debated these topics in many perspectives, but the

three most important arguments are the dangerous amounts of herbicides used on crops,

environmental harm in our ecosystem and the linkage between GMOs and toxins in our bodies.

With these debates scientist against GMOs have hoped to raise the awareness of daily consumers

of the threat of genetically modified foods can produce, and help against the further movement of

production of GMOs by purchasing certified organic foods.

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According to Jonathan Foley, GMO efforts may have started with good intentions but ended in

crops that were better at improving profits. GMO companies had a good idea, to begin with, but

soon became money hungry and forgot about the true intentions they once had (Ostrander 25).

There are 6 major GMO corporations that control the input in our agriculture, and according to the

Organic Research Foundation only 2% of the U.S. food supply is grown using organic methods

(OFRF 5). Worldwide, 282 million acres are planted using Monsanto’ s patented seeds. This

translates into an eighty percent control of the GM corn market and ninety-three percent control

of the GM soybean such an overwhelming market share; Monsanto has vigorously enforced its

patent rights, ensuring its patented technology is maintained within the bounds of licensing

agreements (Sabrina Wilson 124). With a vast majority of seeds owned by GMO corporations,

genetic drifts and cross-contamination with organic fields are common throughout the farmlands.

Today’s organic farmers have to be cautious of the threats of GMO cross contamination because

it leaves the crops damaged and unmarketable. Organic farmers are also left with the fear of legal

action from GMO corporations putting small local farms at fault for patent infringement causing

them to lose everything they have or sign to an agreement to produce GMO crops.

GMO industries claimed that their purpose and main goal would be to reduce the number of

herbicides and pesticides and to increase the yield of crops every year and to improve crops to be

healthier and more nutritious. In an article written by Melissa Smith reports that after 20 years of

research and 13 years of commercialization, genetic engineering has failed

to significantly Increase U.S. crop yields according to a 2009 Union of Concerned Scientists.

Pesticide use has actually dramatically increased to about 318 million pounds in the past 13 years

as a result of planting GM crops, according to a 2009 report by the Organic Center (50).

Monsanto’s roundup ready crop is a genetically altered crop that was designed to withstand and
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be immune to any herbicide and pesticide leaving the crop to be unharmed and leaving the weeds

to die. According to The Institute of Responsible Technology, the overuse of Roundup resulted in

"superweeds,” which are weeds that have mutated and became resistant to the herbicide. This is

causing farmers to use even more toxic herbicides every year. This not only creates environmental

harm but also contains higher residues of toxic herbicides that are linked with sterility, hormone

disruption, birth defects, and cancer (Smith 3). With the excess use of herbicides can damage the

living ecosystem surrounding the farm, reduce biodiversity, and pollute water sources. The

Institute of Responsible Technology claims that herbicide has been shown to cause birth defects

in amphibians, embryonic deaths, and organ damage in animals even at very low doses (Smith 8).

With the growing evidence of the damage being done to our ecosystem there’s only a matter of

time before the effects become drastic to the point of extinction of some animals.

With the excess use of chemicals and the combinations of animal genes into crops have finally

shown how truly dangerous they can be. On January 2015, Dr. Rafeal Santamarina from the Carlos

III hospital in Madrid, Spain has confirmed the first case of death caused by ingestion of GMO

tomatoes. According to Dr. Santamarina, Juan Pedro Ramos died from anaphylaxis after eating

some recently developed tomatoes containing fish genes, which provoked a violent and lethal

allergic reaction (Santamarina 1). When Juan Ramos arrived at the hospital the medical staff could

not identify the cause of his allergic reaction, and none of the drugs or epinephrine given to Mr.

Pedro seem to have any effect. Juan Ramos Pedro died an hour later after is arrival to the hospital.

It wasn’t until medical examiners and forensic experts conducted an autopsy to determine his cause

of death. In the examination, they found out that not only did the tomatoes that he ingested

contained fish genes but also strands of antibiotic strands the prevented Mr. Pedro’s white blood

cells from saving his life. Dr. Santamarina said:

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At first, we thought that there had been some form of contamination of his food, from contact with

fish or seafood during the preparation, It was only when we tested the tomato itself that we noticed

that it contained some allergens usually found in seafood. We did many different analysis and they

all confirmed that the tomato was indeed the source of the allergens that killed Mr. Ramos.”

(Santamarina)
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Works Cited

Auberson-Huang, Lillian. "The Dialogue between Precaution and Risk." Nature Biotechnology

Nat Biotech 20.11 (2002): 1076-078. Academic Search Premier [EBSCO]. Web. 20 April

2019.

"Institute for Responsible Technology." - 10 Reasons to Avoid GMOs. 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 1

March. 2015.

Johnson, Barbra. "Doctors Confirm First Human Death Officially Caused by GMOs." World

News Daily N.p., n.d. Web. 19 April 2019.

Oraby, Hanaa et al. "Biological Impact Of Feeding Rats With A Genetically Modified-Based –

Diet." Turkish Journal Of Biology 39.2 (2015): 265-275.P Academic Search Premier.

Web. 14 April 2019.

"Organic FAQs." Organic Farming Research Foundation. 31 July 2012. Web. 1 Jan. 2019

OSTRANDER, MADELINE. "Can Gmos Help Feed A Hot And Hungry World?." Nation

299.9/10 (2014): 23-27. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 April 2019.

Wilson, Sabrina. “Induced Nuisance. Holding Patent Owners Liable For Gmo CROSS-

CONTAMINATION. Emery Law Journal 64,1 (2014) 169-199 academic search premier

Web. 29 April 2019

Smith, Melissa, Diane. "Say No To Gmos." Better Nutrition 73.3 (2011): 46-50. CINAHL

academic search premier Complete. Web. 1 March. 2019.

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