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Breanna Thompson
Professor Hardy
Biology 1020
Journal Assignment
March 29, 2016

Unhealthy Fixation
The article Unhealthy Fixation talks about the controversy of non GMO and GMO food.
It addresses the good and bad of GMO foods. This controversy has caused a lot of consumer
anxiety because they are really not sure what to believe and what food they should be eating.
Consumers don't want to eat food that will make them sick because they have been genetically
altered or covered in pesticides. It is very hard to know which group is telling the truth based off
of the research and testing that has been don't for both sides.
The technology is where foods have been genetically modified through different science
techniques. They are using genetic engineering in agriculture which is a process that can be used
in different ways to create different things. The Hawaiian Papaya was being destroyed by the
ringspot virus so they genetically engineered a gene from the harmless part of the virus, know as,
the coat protein to the Papayas DNA to make the Papaya immune to the virus. This genetic
engineering saved the Papaya industry. Though there are a lot of controversy about genetic
engineering in GMO food, there are many things that seem to be a benefit, such as helping the
Papaya industry. Also, there are things that aren't as beneficial to genetically modifying GMO
foods. One of these was a bacteria names bacillus thuringiensis (BT). In 1999 green peace and
others that followed in sewing the EPA to revoke its approval of BT on potatoes, corn, and cotton

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because it said that the crops might create insecticide resistant insects and cause direct harm to
non-target organisms.
Genetic modifying in GMO foods is helpful in ways such as providing more vitamins and
nutrients in the food. There is one case of where they developed rice with more vitamin A called
golden rice but due to controversy this has still not became available to the much needed for the
under privilege children in South East Asia. One of the reasons is because of the claims of health
effects of the golden rice that could possibly cause certain cancers. Genetic modifying has some
draw backs such as corn and cotton that is grown to resist insects become even more resistant
causing the need for more killing chemicals to kill the insects. This means that more chemical
are being put into our food which can cause various diseases.
I found it very hard to form an opinion for or against GMOs because of they various
interpretations of the research and test that have been done on GMO foods. I am concerned
about eating food that has been modified from its original form. After reading this article I am
not sure that I can say that I believe that GMO foods are not good for us. The researchers all had
different views. When they would do the same research it seemed that they would do the
experiment but the results of the test where interpreted by the researches very differently. It
seemed very sad to me that there were some many issues with the golden rice even though it
could save millions of lives that those appose to it wouldn't see the benefit of providing it to the
children.

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Works Cited

Saletan, William. "The Misleading War on GMOs: The Food Is Safe. The Rhetoric Is
Dangerous." Unhealthy Fixation. The Slate Group, 15 July 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/07/are_gmos_safe_yes_the_cas
e_against_them_is_full_of_fraud_lies_and_errors.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_ru>.