S7L4.c

My opinion on genetic engineering:

Ban Genetically Modified Animals
Have you ever wondered what’s on your dinner plate? Well, believe it or not, that perfectly innocent steak lying there may be genetically modified. Sure, there are good modifications to an organism, such as removing feathers from a chicken so it can live in a tropical climate, but would you like to have pesticides in the DNA of your tomatoes? Genetically modifying organisms of the next generation can also cause pain for the parent. Even genetically modifying a plant can be very expensive. Some of these modifications are completely useless to the organism itself. Some GMs can even activate a dormant virus!

For one, genetically modifying plants can be very expensive as well as inefficient. Some scientists use a gene gun, which uses gold and tungsten. They cover the gold with gene cassettes and blast it at plant cells. For one, gold is currently 42 dollars per gram and tungsten can cost up to 250 dollars per 100 grams, meaning that modifying plants with desired traits can be fairly expensive. Both metals also have a better use in technology other than for just gene guns. Gold is used in medicines, computers, and even for space travel! Tungsten can also be used for light bulbs and steel alloys. These uses sound more useful than just inserting a single gene into a plant.

Some modifications to an animal’s genes are just useless. Tell me, why would a helpless bunny need jellyfish genes? Sure, it’s cute and all, and I would want one, but it is kind of useless. If I've learned anything it’s that when mating, animals go for the brighter colored male. Suppose these bunnies escaped into the wild. 1 month later, there’s about 2-10 glow in the dark bunnies(depending on breed). Skip forward a year or 2 later, there’s hundreds of them. This makes the bunnies more vulnerable to nocturnal predators such as owls. Sooner or later, rabbits will become extinct!

Would you like to have pesticides in the DNA of your vegetables and fruit? Sure, with normal pesticide, that stuff just washes right off. But in the very DNA of the plant? It’s everywhere! Remember, pesticides are toxic, meaning they can kill. In recent times, in India, 10,000 sheep that ate GM cotton that make its own BT-toxin pesticides died within a week of eating the cotton. Coincidence? I think not!

Just getting the genetically modified animal into the parent is a problem in itself. First the embryo must get the DNA. That isn’t so bad. But next, the mother of the GMed animal must get the embryo implanted. This can be very painful for the animal. In the US, medicines to reduce pain for the animal isn't required by law. Wait ‘till you have the animal rights groups knocking at your door….

Some GMs can activate dormant viruses. If a GM is inserted into the dormant virus, the virus may become active again. Imagine viruses that haven’t been seen or documented in hundreds of years suddenly popping up again. The human race would be doomed! Think of the plagues that spread of Europe just coming back…

In conclusion, I think that most genetic engineered traits are bad. Some can help out humanity,some are just pointless. Some GMs can just kill us all if we’re not careful. Genetic engineering is very costly, and we’re better off investing more money into advancing technology than just messing around with the natural order of things! We should leave organisms to adapt to situations on their own, not do it for them!