Genetic Modification of Plants

Genetic modification can also be used to improve the nutritional value of foods, such as by adding vitamins, and making crops which tolerate normally adverse growing conditions, which helps many farmers in third world countries increase their crop yields and provided much needed food to starving peoples of the world. Other modifications help improve the shelf life of foods.

There are some safety concerns with the use of genetically modified food plants. Some people fear that these foods may contain allergens, which will cause serious reactions in humans. Others fear that crops modified to produce pharmaceutically active products may inadvertently cross-pollinate food crops and people may unknowingly consume these pharmaceutical products. While the use of genetically modified crops can certainly provide many benefits, particularly in areas of the world where there are many people who are seriously undernourished, controls must be put in place so that thes

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icated in culture. The plasmids are then extracted from the bacteria, the cloned gene is excised and introduced into individual plant cells using a bacterial vector. The bacterial vector attaches to plant cells, liberating the plasmid inside them, and the new DNA migrates to the plantÆs chromosome, where it is permanently integrated (U. S. Food and Drug Administration, 2003). Alternatively, the DNA coding for a desired trait can be painted onto microscopic metallic particles. The particles are then loaded into a ôgene gunö and fired as projectiles at plant cells growing in culture in the laboratory. These gene-carrying particles penetrate the plant cells, and the fluids in the cells wash the DNA off the particles, and it migrates to the cell nucleus to be permanently integrated into the chromosomes. Example of Crops That Are Genetically Modified Worldwide, as many as six percent to 8 percent of children and 12 percent of adults are allergic to various foods (Miller, 2002). One such allergy is to a protein found in soybeans. More than half of all soybean allergies are caused by a protein in the beans called P34. A strain of soybeans has been developed by genetic modification whose seeds cannot make this protein, and so t
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Approximate Word count = 1991
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)