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 * The Affect of Biotechnology in Our Food**

Biotechnology is changing society rapidly, and the way that our food and crops that are grown everyday. Genetically modified foods are entering our supermarkets and we are starting to consume food that has been modified by scientists. Genetic engineering has brought uproar in England, while other countries such as United States and Southeastern countries are promoting this newly developed food. Genetically modified foods are plants or crops that scientist alter the gene [gene splicing] or its characteristic, such as making a tomato more red, making watermelons more sweet, and rice to grow faster. Genetically modified food being in the supermarket has brought rivalry amongst many peoples. While it can help with providing foods and saving countries from starvation, and being able to keep up the food production with the rapid human population growth, this could be harmful in a way, because we are not sure what the side effects may be, or what will happen to these crops in the future, and how peoples bodies will react to it in the future.

What is biotechnology? Biotechnology is defined in the dictionary as "the use of living organisms or other biological systems in the manufacture of drugs or other products for environmental management, as in waste recycling." But we can go further than that, biotechnology has changed the way our food is grown, and it has changed our food systems. Today there are genetically modified foods in our supermarket shelves, and we may not even know about it. Many of us daily consume genetically modified foods. There are genetically modified foods in, Frito-Lay Fritos Corn Chips, Bravos Tortilla Chips, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Enfamil ProSobee Soy Formula, Similac Isomil Soy Formula. As you can see, it is even put into baby foods. GM or genetically modified foods are produced to increase our food supply, with the increase of the human population. This way it could help society and the world with feeding the population, because our population is increasing rapidly but our food production is not. The initial idea for biotechnology was to improve the food, to make a fruit taste better, make it last longer, and improve the quality of the food.

Genetically Modified foods also called GM foods are made from genetically modified organisms also called GMO, which have had their genome altered or changed through genetic engineering techniques such as gene splicing. The general principle of making or producing a GMO is to insert DNA that has been taken from another organism and modified in the laboratory into an organism's genome to produce both new and useful traits or also called phenotypes. Normally this is done using DNA from certain types of bacteria. GM Foods have been available around since the 1990s, with the principal ones being derived from plants; soybean, maize, canola and cotton seed oil. There has been a lot of controversy and talk about biotechnology, and a lot of money has been poured from the government into biotechnology and a hope that something amazing such as a cure for cancer or AIDS can be discovered.

Since the Neolithic Revolution, man has some way actually done something similar to biotechnology. Farmers back then would choose out the best seeds from the previous harvest and use that to crop for the next season. Another process, called Eathanol fermentation which is is a form of anaerobic respiration used primarily by yeasts when oxygen is not present enough for normal cellular respiration, the cellular energy-producing system, to continue. Cultures such as those in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Iran came up with a process of brewing which consists of com malted grains with specific yeasts to produce alcoholic beverages. In this process the carbohydrates in the grains were broken down into alcohols such as ethanol. And this way we get GM products or GM foods.

According to an article written in the Kids News Room.com it states "an estimated 75% of the processed foods consumers buy from grocery store shelves contain at least one ingredient resulting from a biotech crop." Many ethics and religion do not believe it is ethical to modify and alter genes. Their religious and cultural traditions ban them from allowing to do this. In an article written in Agricultural Perdue, Paul Thomson wrote "according to some traditions, certain plants or animals just aren't suitable for food. Using them creates a feeling of repugnance in some people. Some people feel that bioengineered foods fall in this category." People also worry about how biotech products or organisms could enter into our water supply or the air and harm humans in different ways. People also fear how it could disrupt the ecosystem and destabilize it in a way. They fear that the food chain could change and cause various problems for us in the future. Scientists are pursuing these technological advances and are continuing to modify genes, without knowing what can occur; they themselves don't know the 100% sure effect of what will happen, according to Agricultural Purdue.

Biotechnology has made a great deal of impact in our society and how we live today. Biotechnology has not only affected our food supply and how our agriculture works, it has also affected our medical and biological science. According to the Biotechnology Industry Organization “biotechnology has created more than 200 new therapies and vaccines, including products to treat cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and autoimmune disorders.” This is a great leap forward for us since the beginning of time, and how diseases were treated then and how they are treated now. The Biotechnology Industry Organization also stated that “There are more than 400 biotech drug products and vaccines currently in clinical trials targeting more than 200 diseases, including various cancers, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and arthritis.” If we can get even a breakthrough with one of these diseases, think about the many millions of lives that we can save. From the last count on December 31, 2005, there are one thousand four hundred and fifteen biotechnology companies in the Unites States. These companies are constantly working on new products, vaccines, and ways which can improve our lives and our society.

Biotechnology is now even affecting our waste products and consumption. From Biotechnology Industry Organization, they stated “Environmental biotechnology products make it possible to clean up hazardous waste more efficiently by harnessing pollution-eating microbes without the use of caustic chemicals. “ This way, we are able to actually make our environments more cleaner and more healthier for a better tomorrow. Industrial biotechnology applications have also led to cleaner processes that produce less waste and use less energy and water in such industrial sectors as chemicals, pulp and paper, textiles, food, energy, and metals and minerals. Almost all laundry detergents produced in the United States contain one or more biotechnology-based enzymes. The real problem with biotechnology and genetically modified foods, GM foods, is that we really do not know what it holds for us in the future. If there are any long term side effects-a side effect that can occur after many years, or that it is good, and there will be no problems occurred ever. So the main problem with biotechnology is that we do not know the problems. This is the main disadvantage of biotechnology. That is why people are so scared and afraid and are having a having a hard time accepting this new technology. You can see that something that people do not really know about or know what will happen in the future, people would be scared about that. There has no been any reportings of anything harmful happening to any body or any organisms in the world yet, from biotechnology.

I believe that biotechnology is actually helping society. For example, think of all those kids that are starving to death in other countries. We have so many poor countries in the world where people are not able to grow or maintain enough farms or grow enough crops.There are millions of kids dieing everyday from starvation. And having a way to feed all these starving kids and actually saving their lives, is something great that everyone should accept. I also believe that with all the technology that we have today, and this work that is going on, sooner or later we will have a cure for at least one deadly disease and this way millions of other lives can also be saved. Think about someone you care for and love, and they are diagnosed with a disease, wouldn't you want a treatment for that person to be cured? Also, all major biotechnology projects and products are regulated through the FDA-food and drug administration and USDA- United States Department of Agriculture. This governmental organizations are pretty strict about what they do and put these products through thousands of tests before being released in the supermarket. So me, I don't really worry much about it.