Running head: ADVANCEMENT IN GMOS IN AGRICULTURE

Advancement in GMOs in Agriculture

Emily Ward
Baker College
Professor Quillamor

ADVANCEMENT IN GMOS IN AGRICULTURE

Advancement in GMOs in Agriculture

With 7.4 billion people in this world and growing, how are the American people going to
help feed this growing world? Advancement in Agriculture and Science can help feed this world
with GMOs. GMOs or Genetically Modified Organism whose genetic makeup has been modified
using genetic engineering. With GMOs making their way into the fields, we will see how GMOs
have an impact on agriculture, the consumer perception, and the future of GMOs.
GMOs or Genetically Modified Organisms are organisms like plants, animals,
microorganism, or other organisms whose genetic makeup have been modified using genetic
engineering. GMOs are to help improve the organism for the better. GMOs have been around for
thousands of years. Corn, Soybeans, Cottonseed, Alfalfa, Papaya, Canola, and Sugar Beets are
some GMO products that have been genetically modified to help advance the crop. GMOs
started way back in 1900, when a Russian scientist Andrei Mikolaevitch Belozersky isolates pure
DNA, and then recombinant DNA was founded by the idea of pure DNA by Stanford Medical
students. After recombinant DNA was founded, Biologist got together with lawyers and doctors
to set the guidelines for GMOs for the use and safety of what was to become. The first patent
then was issued in 1980 with a 5-4 court ruling allowing the first patent on a living organism.
Then in 1982, the FDA approves the First GMO product Humulin, which is insulin that is
produced by engineering E. coli bacteria. Then over ten years went by, and GMOs made their
appearance in grocery stores around the world. With the first genetically modified Flavr Savr
tomato. The tomato had a longer shelf life compared to the others, because it was modified to
have delayed ripening which caused the longer shelf life. With people finding out more and more
about GMO products, it became mandatory in Europe to have labels on every GMO product

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including animal food in 1997. By 1999, over 100 million GMOs where plant worldwide and the
market for GMOs are in high demand.
GMOs are rippling throughout the fields in the United States, and are changing farmers
operations on how they can help feed this growing world. GMOs can do many things from
lowering the cost of pesticides and herbicides, water needed to grow the crops, and giving higher
yields to the farmer just to name a few. In the article, GMOS Help Farmers keep America
Growing states: Genetically modified crops allow farmers to grow more with less, helping them
to feed the growing number of hungry people around the world while keeping food costs low
(Coalition for Safe Affordable Food, 2016). GMOs have allowed farmers to use their fields
wisely, that allows them to grow more crops on less land. With this method, farmers are using
fewer pesticides and herbicides and water on the crops. GMOs to this year has helped feed 300
million people in the United States, and that helps with the people that are facing hunger. When
the world keeps growing, farmers are going to have to keep up with demand and GMOs are
helping with this. By genetically engineering seed crops to help raise the yield in famers fields.
Plus, GMOs are keeping food cost low due to them using fewer pesticides and herbicides, less
land being used due to higher fields in other fields, and water. Which results in lower prices for
the consumer on foods that are made from GMOs. GMOs are taking over the fields, from the
Huffington Post mentions: During the past 12 years, the percentage of acreage planted with
GMO crops soared to over 80 percent (Kelly, 2016). For being around for a thousand years,
and it only took 12 years to reach the 80 percent of GMOs being grown in fields. It comes to
show that farmers are looking at every option possible, not only to benefit them, but the whole
world in general. Before the world knows, we will soon be seeing more and more GMO products
on the shelves.

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With the uprising of GMOs in products; some consumers have different views on them.
Some are positive and others are negative, but it will not change that fact that GMOs are being
grown. For the people who are against GMO products, they are more likely under educated about
GMOs, unlike people who have the interest for science and agriculture, tend to like the new
uprising in science. To better understand why most American people are under educated about
GMOs, an article from the National Center for Biotechnology Information says . Many
consumers report that they receive information about GMO food products from the media,
Internet, and other news sources (Wunderlich & Gatto, 2015). It is not that social media is a
bad source to get information from, but social media puts their twist on things and make certain
products sound worst then they are. When in all reality, GMOs are not that bad of a product. If
consumer took the time to educate themselves about GMOs, they would see how they are
helping the world from hunger, but also GMOs are cheaper than Non-GMOs and make it cheaper
for the everyday consumer. It does not stop there; consumers are demanding all GMO products
should be labeled in some sort of way. From NBC News mentions; The reason GMO food
should be voluntarily labeled by the food industry is that it is clear some consumers want to
know what they are eating and they have a right to know what is in their food (Caplan, 2015).
Ever consumer has the right to know what they are eating and what is in the product. It would
super easy to add this is a GMO product. But, consumers believe that GMOs are unsafe for
human consumption, because some seed crop are Round-Up ready. Round-Up ready GMOs are
modified to not have weeds grow with the plant to help prevent weeds taking over the whole
crop, because it would be a loss to the farmer and the consumer. So, Monsanto discovered a way
to have Round-up put into seeds to prevent the farmer from spraying constantly and not have
weeds take over their whole field. Yes, Round-up is not meant for human consummation, but

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with advancements in technology, there is a way that Round-up in not affecting the harvest itself
and is safe for human consumption. If the consumer are still worried about GMO products, there
are many other safe options they can choose from, like the organic and all natural food section.
With consumers playing a big role in GMOs, so are farmers and Seed Companies to help
keep the advancement of GMOs going. Farmers around the world face the challenge of droughts.
Mostly in the Western Great Plains of the United States has the biggest problem, but Monsanto
has Genetically modified some crops and developed the drought resistant seeds. Drought
Resistant is to help the plant not go into stress over water. From the company of Monsanto, they
address Drought Resistant crops by stating, They are designed to help the plant adapt to drought
stress, use available soil moisture efficiently and provide the opportunity to help minimize yield
loss from drought (Genuity DroughtGard Hybrids, 2016). To discover ways to help eliminate
the loss of a harvest over a drought, Monsanto has not only changed science, but to help the
farmers across the world with drought. Drought is an environmental concern in the Midwest, and
for farmers that has become an extra cost to keep the crops alive and healthy. With the
development of Drought Resistant seed, it will not only cut cost for the farmer, but the farmer
will no longer have to worry about the drought and the possible loss of a field. The plant will
then rely on the moisture of the soil, to help keep it alive. Then will result in minimize the loss of
yield to farmer. It is remarkable what science has done to help the future of Agriculture with
GMOs. Monsanto mission focuses on, We understand the challenges farmers face. And that's
why we're committed to working with them to bring products to their farms that will help them
do what they do best -- feed our growing world sustainably (Genuity DroughtGard Hybrids,
2016). There are always more GMO products waiting to be discovered, and it is great that
Monsanto is working side by side with farmers to find what will work best for them, because

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every farm faces different challenges, and they all need different remedies to help the farm be
successful for years to come. Even if Monsanto must Genetically Modify a new crop to help met
the needs for the future of farming, because farmers are needed to feed this growing world, and
without them we could not have the food resources like we do now. From Discover Magazine, it
mentions, And with the worlds climate changing rapidly, theres no doubt that agriculture will
need to change with it, to keep pace with an unpredictable environment. The future of agriculture
may very well depend on the ingenuity of geneticists and the GMOs they create (Wilcox, 2015).
With climate changing rapidly, people in agriculture need to stay up to date on the unpredictable
environment. If GMOs are capable of being sustainable in the environment, then scientist are
doing their job to help farmers. With the advancements with the GMOs that are created, science
will soon be able to help with the climate change and not affect the quality and quantity of our
food sources.
Undoubtedly, GMOs are going to be the future of Agriculture, not only with the farmers
but with consumer. It may take the time to get consumers on board with them, but that is not
going to stop the further development of GMOs. The impact GMOs have on Agriculture, what
consumers think of GMOs, and the future of GMOs are all ways this product will help the future
of GMOs. GMOs are a great new horizon that is making a good impact with higher yields,
feeding America, and lower cost for consumers. Farmers that grow GMOs are passionate with
what they are doing, they see it as a way they are helping the world with one field and GMO at a
time.

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References
Caplan, A. (2015). GMO Foods Should be Labeled, But Not For Safety: Bioethicist. NBC News.
Retrieved November 25 2016, from http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/whygmo-foods-should-be-labeled-n423451
Genuity DroughtGard Hybrids. (2016). Monsanto.com. Retrieved November 25 2016, from
http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/droughtgard-hybrids.aspx
GMOs Help Farmers Keep America Growing - Coalition for Safe Affordable Food. (2016).
Coalition for Safe Affordable Food. Retrieved November 25 2016, from
http://coalitionforsafeaffordablefood.org/gmos-help-farmers-keep-america-growing/
Kelly, M. (2016). Top 7 Genetically Modified Crops. The Huffington Post. Retrieved November
25 2016, from The Huffington Post,. (2016). Top 7 Genetically Modified Crops.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/margie-kelly/genetically-modifiedfood_b_2039455.html
Wilcox, C. (2015). GMOs of the Future: Two Recent Studies Reveal Potential of Genetic
Technologies - Science Sushi. Retrieved November 25 2016, from
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2015/03/31/gmos-of-the-future-tworecent-studies-reveal-potential-of-genetic-technologies/#.WDiuseYrI2w

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Wunderlich, S. & Gatto, K. (2015). Consumer Perception of Genetically Modified Organisms
and Sources of Information. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved
November 25 2016, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/