Pros and Cons of GM Food

There are many negative and positive concerns for GM Food. The following list will allow you to realize the benefits of GM Food and the debate of it. Genetic Modified Foods has many positive effects to crops, animals, environment, and the society as well. However, there are also negative effects in terms of safety to human health, access and intellectual property, ethic values, labeling conflicts, and the society as well.

PROS

"Crops -

• 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

Environment -

• "Friendly" bioherbicides and bioinsecticides
• Conservation of soil, water, and energy
• Bioprocessing for forestry products
• Better natural waste management
• More efficient processing

Society -

• Increased food security for growing populations

CONS

Safety -

Potential human health impact: allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects Potential environmental impact: 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 Industralized nations by developing countries
• Biopiracy—foreign exploitation of natural resources

Ethics -

• 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 (e.g., United States)
• Mixing GM crops with non-GM confounds labeling attempts

Society -

• New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries "

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml