Gmo Soy

Daniel To

BIS396A

May 9, 2013

Genetic Modification and Specialized Breeding of Soy

The population of the world continues to grow every single day and that brings up the question of how we are able to feed everyone. At one point, many people thought that at this rate of growth, we might reach world hunger one day. Many years later, with the growth of technology and science, there was genetic modification of food that could be the change to what people feared. Soy plays a factor in almost all the food and drinks we consume on a daily basis and all the livestock are fed soy. What is the benefit of genetically modified soy? If we genetically modify soy to where we can increase growth rate, we are able to produce more food to put on the dinner table of every person and families in the world. It sounds too good to be true, could it be? What are the risk factors that come to play with genetically modified soy? Generally, with genetically modified foods, there are benefits but usually a risk. How are people and livestock affected consuming genetically modified soy on a daily basis? What are the effects on animals that we feed soy to? With science and technology, amazing things can happen and be created, but what are the risks that we are taking by changing the things that are consumed on a daily basis. How will it affect our health, our bodies, our kids, and generations to come? We are trying to prevent world hunger by genetically modified crops like soy. Is that really the truth? Are we doing this to mass-produce soy for profits? I will explain how we are benefiting from genetically modified soy and what the risks we are taking by doing so.

The first genetically modified soybeans were planted in the United States in 1996. More than ten years later, genetically modified soybeans are planted in nine countries. These genetically modified soybeans possess a gene that confers herbicide resistance. The United States produce almost exclusively genetically modified soybeans...