Custom essays: Positive use of Genetic Modification of Foods

As it was above stated, GM can be used in both ways, I mean positive and negative at the same time. In this part of research assignment it is necessary to talk about positive use of GM.
World’s population upsurge sharpens the problem of providing people with food. The calculations show that it should be doubled the number of food and significantly increase the production of dietary protein, increasing its number in at least 40-50 million tonnes per year to ensure even the minimum needs of the world population in the next 20-25 years. McHughen (2000) stated that the modern production of cereals, which amounts to 1.8 billion tonnes per year, should be increased to 3 billion tonnes per a year. It is expected that to 2020 China will have to import grain equivalent to the volume of grain production in the U.S. in 1999. Now Africa imports something about 25% of its grain. Many people in the world are dying from diarrhea, malaria, measles and other diseases of not alimentary genesis, though they could survive due to the better nutrition. Millions of deaths among mothers and babies during childbirth are the consequence of malnutrition of pregnant women, as well as hemorrhage and sepsis in the following childbirth period.
Above presented facts proved us that with an aim to increase the quantity and quality of food the traditional approaches are not sufficient. Food production has become the most important area of genetic engineering exactly due to these reasons. The objective of this direction is to improve the yield of agricultural plants, primarily of cereal crops as a source of bread, as well as increasing productivity of farm animals as a source of meat and meat products on a fundamentally new basis. Bryant, J., Baggott La Velle, L. and Searle (2002) show that, for example, one of the positive aspects of GM foods use could be found in possibility to save people from hunger, because if on one scales to put hunger and all the problems of humanity, related to it, and on the other – the use of transgenic products, probably most people would prefer the GM foods.
Another important and positive task – is the improvement of qualitative characteristics of food products. Genetic engineering makes possible its implementation by:
• removal or reduction levels of harmful substances, toxins, allergens;
• carrying in or increasing the level of nutrients;
• improvement technological properties of food raw materials;
• a radical change in product characteristics in order to improve its dietary, flavouring and food properties.
According to Whitman (2000) an example of positive use of GM products is in fact that “Genetic engineering on the other hand, can create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and with great accuracy. For example, plant geneticists can isolate a gene responsible for drought tolerance and insert that gene into a different plant. The new genetically-modified plant will gain drought tolerance as well. Not only can genes be transferred from one plant to another, but genes from non-plant organisms also can be used.” The same author Whitman (2000) in addition to previous words stated that “the best known example of this is the use of B.t. genes in corn and other crops. B.t., or Bacillus thuringiensis, is a naturally occurring bacterium that produces crystal proteins that are lethal to insect larvae. B.t. crystal protein genes have been transferred into corn, enabling the corn to produce its own pesticides against insects such as the European corn borer.”
Toke (2004) stated that as an example of GM positive use could be considered reduction of the accumulation of toxic substances during the attempts to create a sweet potato, which does not accumulate cyanogenic glycosides in the roots and leaves. This culture is an important food for 400 million people, mainly in developing countries. Through genetic engineering in rice it was possible to reduce the content of globulin, which causes children atopic dermatitis. Different approaches to the removal or alteration of wheat proteins, causing disease, which affects almost 0,015% of the Europe population.
Thus, basing on received information we could say that with increasing awareness of the importance of healthy lifestyle has increased the demand for foods that do not contain harmful substances. Pollack, M. & Shaffer (2009) demonstrated an example of products construction, “healthy food products” is the creation of sugar beet producing component (low-calorie replacement for sucrose) by Dutch biotechnologists, and the creation caffein-free coffee by a Hawaiian scientists group. In the first case Jerusalem artichoke gene was introduced in the genome of beet, which encodes an enzyme that converts sucrose into fructane. As a result, 90% of sucrose accumulated in transgenic plants is converted into fructane. In the second case gene of the enzyme catalyzing the critical first step in the synthesis of caffeine in the leaves and coffee beans was isolated. Hard work to improve the quality characteristics of plant products is well illustrated by the potential of modern DNA technology in solving various problems.