What are genetically modified crops?

genetically modified crops are agricultural products that have manipulated DNA to provide them with certain properties such as disease resistance, pest or herbicides. Food crops can also be created to have other desired features such as faster maturation or increased nutritional content. Genetic food modification is warmly discussed. More than 40 countries, including the European Union, have strict restrictions on genetically modified food and animals, while other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Algeria, banned the import and cultivation of genetically modified crops.

Traditional food crop breeding includes a selection of plants with good properties, such as improved taste, yield or disease resistance and breeding to form cultivars with these properties. If crops are genetically treated, genes are inserted from one organism into another organism by means of biotechnological techniques. For example, corn can be resistant to certain insects inby ling genes from bacteria transmitted by soil, which are toxic to these insects. Genes can also be changed to cause them to suppress them. They argue that genetically modified crops reduce the use of pesticides because they may not be sprayed for insects, disease and harmful weeds. Food crop yields can not only be increased, but the nutritional properties of food can be increased as well as taste and quality.

Environmentalists, scientists, doctors and farmers say that there are still unknown consequences for people, agriculture and global ecology. Opponents of genetically modified crops point out that there are plenty of food in the world and that famine is caused by political and economic power. Some weeds and other pests are resistant to pesticides requiring increased use, and pollen from modified plants can contaminate natural food crops. The World Health Organization warns that genetically refraVented food can develop proteins that cause new food allergies and antibiotics resistance.

Agricultural biological diversity is threatened by increased use of genetically modified seed, which increases the likelihood of crops that cannot withstand diseases and pests. The Ministry of Agriculture states that in 2009 88 percent of cotton, 91 percent of soybeans and 85 percent of maize grown in the US are genetically modified. The companies that produce these seeds have patents on them, which provides control of all processed foods sold in the US.