Thursday, May 5, 2016

The Important Things To Know Regarding Transgenic Crops Transgene

By Jason Long


A transgenic plant generally contains genes or DNA that plant breeders have inserted in it rather than that plant acquiring it genes normally via pollination. This inserted gene is sometimes called transgene. Due to the advancement in technology, genes can today be collected from any plant or species which does not necessary have to be related to recipient plant. Transgenic crops transgene is today a technology that is being slowly accepted by many countries.

Originally, no crop was domesticated, they were all wild and scientist later domesticated them through genetic modification. The plants are made with some engineered material with a sole goal of enhancing or improving the original organism. GMO seeds are today being used to generate better corn, soybeans as well as cotton.

One of the major arguments favoring certain transgenic plant varieties is basically their ability to enhance crop quality and also yield that is in normal cases lost to pests. A breeder actually aims at collecting various gene types and combining them to result to a much healthier and productive crop.

Other desirable features may include pest resistance, reduced maturity period, disease resistance, cold tolerance, heat tolerance and drought tolerance. It is quite difficult to combine the best genes simply in one plant. The process of doing so is quite long and difficult. For traditional plants, the scope of transgenic is limited to only plants of the same species or only related species.

To combine all of the above traits in just one crop can actually be hectic thing to do since it requires series of testing and there is no guarantee of success. There are many benefits that can be reaped from GMO plants. GMO products are said to have longer shelve life making them very safe when in transit. GMOs are friendly to environment due to the following reasons. First this plant will not require any insecticide spraying because they are resistance to insects.

There are a number of benefits associated with the use of GMOs. The crop also has it fair share of drawbacks as we shall see in these article. Seeds are basically genetically modified for several reasons such as to improve plant resistance to drought, pest, and diseases, to get healthier yields, and also to ensure plants survive.

Engineering is known to remove seeds and also produce longer shelf life hence facilitating safe transit of yields to some countries that may not have such foods full of nutrition. GMO is considered environmental friendly since it uses less very little chemical, less machinery and also less time.

GMO foods may sometimes have minerals and vitamins added to them via genetic modification simply to offer greater nutritive benefits. These GMOs also have some cons. There might be some environmental damage sustained as a result growing plants in some environmental conditions that generally would not support such plants.

Some studies have shown that consumption of such foods have increased allergy cases. Mostly for children consuming GMO foods will be affected by allergies. But to conclude, GMO has more benefits than limitations.




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