Essay --

Genetically modified foods (GMOs) have been a type of food that has taken over the foods in the United States. Some people aren’t even aware of what GMOs are and some don’t mind; then there are some who refuse to eat it. Everyone has quickly formed an opinion of GMOs, but not everyone has done the research to know where GMOs come from, who pushes for GMOs, why GMOs are good, why GMOs are bad, and what foods have GMOs. GMOs are an interesting part of our food that has progressed so fast and most don’t even realize that it is in our food. GMOs have been around since the early 1930’s and have a quickly progressed more than anyone could have ever imagined it would. But how did we get GMOs? This is something most people don’t know even though it is quite intriguing. In the 1930’s, Andrei Belozersky, a Russian scientist, isolated pure DNA. This led to a grad student at Stanford University in the 1970’s to have the idea for man-made DNA. We then discovered how to move genes to become resistant to antibiotics when moved from 1 bacterium to another. This led us to discover how we can insert genes into plants’ and animals’ DNA to grow immunity to diseases and resistant to pesticides. Then, in the mid 1970’s, biologists, lawyers, and doctors created guidelines for safe genetically engineered DNA. In the 1980’s, the first GMO patent for a living organism was created. Shortly after, this was followed by the FDA approving the first GMO, Humulin, to appear on the counters. The 1990’s were the biggest boom of GMO’s. Beginning in 1994, the US Food and Drug administration approved a GMO tomato to go on the shelves at the grocery stores; this tomato was able to last longer than a conventional tomato. Shortly after the tomato hit the s... ...oven to be safe because most medicines are even genetically modified. The other argument against the labeling is that it wouldn’t tell you what was genetically modified in the food item; it would just tell you that something in the food is genetically modified. So, as you can see, GMOs are a very tough subject with many different opinions on it. GMO foods are such a strong and debatable topic in our world today, but are this because people don’t know a lot about it or is it because people don’t know anything? As you see, GMOs have progressed and continued quickly for more than 70 years, even though many people don’t support it. GMOs started as an experiment and have progressed since that it is now included in crops, medicine and livestock. It got to this point because of many people such as Andrei Belozersky, Monsanto, FDA, USDA, farmers, politicians, and us.