Gmo's in America

Genetically Modified Organisms in America: We are what we eat

Genetically Modified Organisms in America: We are what we eat

Generally speaking, Americans are unhealthy. Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity have been slowly rising throughout the past several years. Upon observing these rising trends, many people are curious as to what the causes of these issues are. Numerous signs point to the way Americans eat, and more importantly what is in the foods they consume. Genetically modified organisms are growing in our food supply and not enough regulation and research studies have been conducted to verify effects of these organisms on mammals, more importantly, humans. That is why feeding humans and farm animals genetically modified organisms has negative effects on their respective health systems, and the U.S. government needs to re-evaluate their agricultural standards.

When we take a deeper look into what is causing these increases in diseases, scientists continue to come to the conclusion that the foods we eat are not healthy, and certain elements in these foods can actually increase the likelihood of contracting these diseases. A genetically modified organism, or GMO is when there is a physical change in the DNA of a seed to make it more resistant to weeds and weed-killing chemicals (Center for Food Safety, 2012). There are other types of modifications that are being made to seeds, but weed resistance is the most common.

Since the mid-90’s seeds that are resistant to weed killing chemicals such a round up are referred to as “Roundup Ready”. These genetic altering chemicals have had adverse effects on humans such as cancer, lowered sperm counts, liver disease, and Parkinson’s disease (Center for Food Safety, 2012). In 2009, a study conducted by the international journal of biological sciences showed that controlled populations of lab rats were fed a diet that consisted on MON 863, (a chemically enhanced corn plant from an...