Bioengineered Crops

Since foods made of or contain bioengineered crops were introduced on the market about a decade ago, they have generated a great deal of controversies. These controversies focus on potential health and environmental risks. On one hand, supporters of genetically modified (GM) technology argue that biotech crops can bring about a lot of benefits. These benefits include pesticides, herbicides, drought resisting plants and can potentially relieve hunger and poverty in the world. On the other hand, their opponents contend that bioengineered crops have not been studied enough, may be harmful to humans, and can contaminate other varieties of crops. Because drawbacks of biotech crops may well outweigh the benefits, let’s closer consider the points proposed by opponents of GM technology.
Since the bioengineered crops are relatively new, there is no way of knowing the overall long-term effect of them on human health. Even genetic engineers cannot definitely predict all possible effects of introducing new genes into organisms, given that the genetic makeup is very complex. The introduced gene may act differently when working within its new host than it has worked in a donor. This is especially true when genes from different species are being mixed. Hence, the new combination of the host genes and the introduced genes may have unpredictable consequences, including generating harm to human, in addition to its desired effects.
Another concern is that biotech crops can contaminate conventional crops. This can occur simply by pollen being windblown from one field to another. Undoubtedly, this process represents a threat to the future safety and security of the food supply and the environment in general. If herbicide-resistant genes from GM crops drift to other traditionally grown plants, they may spread to weeds species as well, making them immune to herbicides and, as a result, creating super-weeds. Since the scientific community has not come up with a method by which they can recall this process, biological pollutants may multiply and spread, resulting in inevitable changes in the environment.
New GM technology is surely bright with promises, but also filled with unknown and possibly very significant risks in the future. Regardless of the safety concerns and potential dangers of biotech crops, their production is rapidly moving into the market, replacing products made of conventionally grown crops.