Harvest of Fear

1. What is a GM Crop?
GM (or Genetically Modified) Crops are different agricultural plants that have been altered by genetic engineering. These crops have been genetically changed in order to grow faster, grow larger, stay away from different infections, etc. These crops been reported to have positive effects on the ecosystem, but can cause disasters if the genetic procedure goes incorrectly.


2. List 2 arguments FOR the growing of GM crops

-Insect pests are very dangerous when growing crops. Because these insects eat a lot if grouped together, it can seriously take a toll on some farmer's income. Thus in mind, GM crops actually prevent insects from eating it. The GM crops act as a repellant not only for itself, but for several other plants around it.

- Growing these Genetically Modified crops are completely natural and do not harm the environment at all. Because of these "all-natural" crop growth, reproductive seeds can be produced as well. So you can continue on the plant's genes naturally.

3. List 2 arguments AGAINST the growing of GM crops.

-Some children or adults are highly allergic to peanuts or other ingredients due to some different chemicals inside of it. These chemicals do have the possibility of injuring or killing somebody. These GM crops sometimes include some of these "chemicals" that can really cause an epidemic.

-GM crops are very unpredictable. Due to the unknown possibilities of disaster from this technique, there is no comparison of the damage that GM crops could do if there is a mistake in them.

4. Practice this simulation until you get the largest ears of corn. How many times did it take you?
Four

5. List two foods and desribe how they are being modified.

Bananas are being used to find the cures for diseases that inherit themselves through fruit. One of these possible foods is bananas. Using Genetic Engineering, there can be a cure for some of these diseases.





Do you think food should be labeled if it has been genetically modified? Why or Why not?

Yes, I do believe that there should be labeling of genetically modified food. First of all, there have instances in the past that can make genetically modified food dangerous to the public, such as outbreaks of small diseases or infection of plants. Although these won't cause a global epidemic, it can still harm human health, even if it has a small chance of occurrence. This makes people uneasy, and unsure of genetically engineered food. These people should known if there have been ingredients that genetic engineering has changed.