Research Papers / GMO Danger - it's in eighty percent of the processed food consumers eat every day [2]

This is a research paper on GMOs or genetically modified organisms. Any feedback appreciated. Mostly need help choosing paragraph breaks, grammar, and hard to read/understand info.

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Do you know what a GMO is? Did you know that GMOs are in eighty percent of the processed food consumers eat every day? The truth is, the majority of the population doesn't have any idea what a GMO is, whether or not they are harmful, and if they should be avoided. In fact only one in four people know what a GMO is. GMO stands for genetically modified organism. Whether for or against GMOs, the purpose of this paper is to inform people of exactly what they are and how they could potentially be harmful to the human body and the environment. The goal of this piece is to allow and assist people to make an informed decision regarding personal health and diet. Genetically modified organisms are organisms whose DNA has been altered from it's original form in hopes to create better crops, however, these newly created structures have been proving to damage rat health during research, worsen human allergies, and cause herbicide resistant weeds, but nonetheless, with the right knowledge GMOs can be avoided.

In order to better understand the remainder of this paper, one should gain some background knowledge on how genetic engineering differs from that of cross-pollination and the variations of GMOs that have been created through the process. To begin, genetic engineering is very different from that of cross-pollination. Genetic engineering is a process where DNA from a crop and DNA from a bacterium is inserted into the crop's genome, resulting in something that would not normally occur. According to The World Health Organization a GMO, "has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally," ("Foods, Genetically Modified"). When it comes to genetic engineering of crops, something to remember is that an organism is combined with another organism that is not even in the same gene pool. Bacteria simply have no genetic similarities to corn, soy, or other crops. Cross-pollination is a natural event that takes place where genes are passed simply through pollen transfer via air or physical contact. This is a process that has been taking place for generations. Moreover, cross-pollination does not require help whereas genetic engineering would not even occur without forcing it to. The most important thing to understand is that one occurs naturally while the other is synthetically created. Through the process of genetic engineering, scientists have created two variations of crops, pesticide producers and herbicide resisters. An example of a pesticide producer would be Bt corn. Bt corn stands for Bacillus Thuringiensis corn. The bacterium, Bacillus Thuringiensis, has been physically inserted into the DNA of a corn crop, resulting in corn crops that produce these bacteria to act as a pesticide ("GMO OMG"). A reason the pesticide producer is bad is because when humans ingest these foods, the process leaves behind the Bacillus Thuringiensis bacteria to wreak havoc on the natural flora within the intestines ("The Campaign for Eating Healthier in America"). In fact, this exact event occurred with a flock of sheep. Ten thousand sheep died due to the ingestion of Bt cotton. The Bacillus Thuringiensis overtook the sheep's digestive system and killed them. Contrary to a pesticide producer is an herbicide resister. An herbicide resister is a crop that can withstand heavy amounts of glyphosate herbicides needed to keep insects away without killing the crop itself. These are also known as "round-up ready crops." An example of an herbicide resister would be the soybean. Within the two variations, scientists have created genetically modified corn, soy, potatoes, zucchini, squash, canola, papaya, and cotton. Scientists are also working on genetically modified salmon, tomatoes, and basically anything else that grows. Most of these forms of food are more likely to be in processed foods. Corn and soy have the biggest impact on diet because a big portion of corn gets processed into high fructose corn syrup and soy gets processed into soy lecithin. Those two ingredients alone are in the majority of processed foods ("GMO OMG"). As you can see, genetic engineering very much differs from cross-pollination and a result of genetic engineering is two types of GMOs and within those species are several types of crops that are most likely a part of a normal diet.

Now that GMOs background has been assessed, the potential harm to the human body (through rat studies and a human study) and a negative affect GMOs have had on the environment will be discussed. Genetically modified organisms add a rogue protein to crops resulting in more prevalent allergens and disease. Most data and health issues have been speculated due to lack of studies; however, there have been a few studies that were released proving a variety of health effects on rats. Also, a single study done on humans was also released. In regards to allergies, one must know that Bacillus Thuringiensis corn creates an anaphylactic response within the body (Vrain). Anaphylaxis, in laymen's terms, means the body is rejecting the corn and causing an immune response due to ingestion of a foreign object. This is an event that should not be occurring with ingestion of food, unless one is allergic to that food. Additionally, soy allergies have increased by fifty percent in the last decade, and genetically modified soy may be the culprit ("Protect Yourself from Genetically Modified Foods"). The added rogue protein is really what is responsible for the increase of food allergies over the past decade. Not only are allergies more prevalent, GMOs damaged the health of rats during studies. During the study done by Dr.Pustzai, rats were fed genetically modified potatoes for six months and then a separate group of rats were fed organic potatoes for the same length of time. On about month four, the rats being fed GM potatoes experienced growth of cancerous tumors, brain malfunctions, liver problems, and shrinkage of reproductive organs (Vrain). One thing to note is that Monsanto, the company responsible for ninety percent of GMOs, did their own studies as well. Monsanto's studies were only three months in length and the company refused to release the data obtained from those studies ("GMO OMG"). Another aspect to realize is that in Dr.Pustzai's studies the rats didn't show any problems until month four. How could Monsanto see the full effects of GMOs if they ended their studies at the third month? Not only did they fail to produce a study effective enough in length, they threatened to sue the scientist who was brave enough to do it! In another study by the Russian National Academy of Sciences showed that over half of the offspring of genetically modified soy fed rats died within about three weeks ("Protect Yourself from Genetically Modified Food"). Yes, the studies were done on rats, so the interpretation of that information will vary. For some, red flags will begin to appear and for others, GMOs will not be considered a danger since the study was not done on humans. However, there was one study done on people. During the study done on humans, the experimenters ate soybeans. Remember the death of ten thousand sheep due to ingestion of Bt cotton, which overtook the sheep's digestive system? During the human study, scientists did see results where the Bacillus Thuringiensis transferred out of the soy's cell and into the human's intestinal cells. When a bacterium becomes a part of one's intestinal cells, the bacteria not only gains entrance to those cells, the bacteria gains entrance to the human's DNA structure within all cells, permanently. This process gives the bacteria the ability to literally change the human's DNA into a Bt producing cell. A result of that could be overproduction of allergens, toxins, and carcinogens. In addition to allergies and health risks, genetically modified organisms are resulting in "super weeds." Herbicides are made with an ingredient called glyphosate. After so much time of spraying the same glyphosate based herbicides on crops, they are becoming resistant and gaining the ability to grow beyond herbicides. According to Coghlan, "there are about fifteen species of weeds that are not resistant to glyphosate." These weeds cannot simply be put to death by the same herbicides previously used. Scientists will most likely have to create new herbicides in order for weeds to be controlled. Once one truly grasps the preceding information, one can see that GMOs truly are affecting allergies, health, and environment.

If GMOs really did this much damage during research, then why are they on the market? Most people assume that any food on a grocery store shelf had to undergo rigorous approval from the FDA, and that is untrue. The FDA tests only some foods, but even then, the testing is extremely limited. In truth, GMOs were put on the market before any long-term studies were even conducted. When GMOs were released, no one really knew the potential risks (Vrain). However, according the Thierry Vrain, "in 1996, the research scientists of the FDA predicted that engineered food contain rogue proteins that could be toxins, cause allergies and nutritional deficiencies and other diseases." Regardless of this information, no one did anything about it. In other news the FDA conducted a study with genetically modified tomatoes and rats. The rats were fed the tomatoes and the results were disgusting. Seven out of forty died within two weeks and the majority of the rats developed stomach lesions. After this study was conducted, the FDA's scientists agreed that there were no results that provide a "demonstration of reasonable certainty of harm." This study ended with the approval of genetically modified tomatoes, which were later removed from the market. A big piece to this puzzle lies within Michael Taylor. Michael Taylor became an attorney for the FDA, then was an attorney for Monsanto then went back to work for the FDA and oversaw the policies for Monsanto's growth hormones. After that, Michael Taylor worked for the USDA, inspecting food safety. Then became the vice president to Monsanto and now works for the FDA as the second highest-ranking employee ("GMO OMG"). Monsanto is another big culprit here. The state of Vermont tried to pass a bill stating that genetically modified foods needed to be labeled, so consumers could at least have a choice to eat them or not. As a result of this bill coming to fruition, Monsanto threatened to sue the state if the bill was passed. Vermont is among many states in the U.S. whom have tried to pass a bill that requires GMO products to be labeled, but not one of them has succeeded. In spite of that, over sixty countries across the globe require products with GMOs in their contents to be labeled. Obviously, the FDA, Michael Taylor, and Monsanto are all big reasons that GMOs are flourishing and on the market today.

Now is the time to make a decision. Are GMOs something to worry about or are they not? A vital piece of this paper is to assist in making an informed decision for one's personal diet needs. If one decides they are against GMOs, the time has come to restock the pantry shelves one item at a time. Change is hard, so instead of dumping everything at one time, choose the most vital products first and slowly make the transition to a GMO free home. A great place to start is corn. Roughly eighty five percent of corn is genetically modified, so if all corn products were switched out for rice or wheat, a huge dent would be made in one's diet. Start with chips and cereals. Go after the fresh food first, then processed foods. In addition to corn products, ninety percent of canola is genetically modified. Again, if one switched from canola oil to olive oil, a small difference would be made ("GMO OMG"). Not only is switching little products a great step, buying organic products is another way to avoid GMOs altogether. Supplementary to product switches and organic purchasing, GMOs can be avoided by shopping at grocery stores that pledge against them. An example of a store that does not use GMOs in their private label products is Trader Joe's (Fulmer). Having an entire store dedicated to Non-GMOs makes grocery shopping so much more simple. Whole Foods is another store that has recently partnered with the Non-GMO Project to remove all GMOs from their private brand.

After obtaining all the information on this topic, what will be the final choice: for or against GMOs? GMOs undergo a process called genetic engineering, which introduces two completely different organisms to one another to make one, more beneficial organism. Through the process of genetic engineering, scientists have created two types of GMOs, pesticide producers and herbicide resisters. Within those two types, are many different kinds of crops. A result of genetic engineering crops is an added rogue protein into the crops genome and that rogue protein has been suspected of increasing food allergies over the past decade. In addition to allergies, studies of rats have shown that GMOs cause cancerous tumors, reduced reproductive organ size, brain malfunctions, and liver damage. One study assessed on humans showed results of gene transfer with the ingestion of Bacillus Thuringiensis. Not only are GMOs affecting health, they are effecting the environment as well. An example of negative environment effect is the growth of weeds, also known as "super weeds," that can no longer be controlled by glyphosate herbicides. A devastating aspect of GMOs is that the Food and Drug Administration claims the technology is completely safe for consumption. The good news is that knowledge is power. With the information gained from this, one can decide whether or not GMOs pose a threat to human health. If one does decide that GMOs are dangerous, purchasing organic foods and shopping at stores like Traders Joes, helps to accomplish the mission of a GMO free diet. Make an informed decision about your health and eating habits today.