Engineering Disaster

Analytical Essay # 2801

Engineering > Bioengineering
Environmental Studies
Medical and Health

A detailed look at the dangers associated with the genetic engineering of food.

1,440 words () | 7 sources | 2001 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper gives some background on the genetic engineering of food. The author focuses on the dangers that stem from genetically engineered food such as possible medical side effects and repercussions to the environment. The author advocates mandatory labeling of foods with genetically engineered ingredients and looks at regulations in other countries.

From the Paper:

"By far the most severe environmental repercussion of GE crops is that they are a Pandora's box, once they are planted, there is no way to control or recall them. Pollen from GE plants is spread in exactly the same manner as regular pollen, and, therefore, their genetic material will quickly spread to any surrounding fields. This is one of the main reasons why is truly impossible for people to know what they are eating. An organic tomato grown a mile away from a farm that grows GE tomatoes may or may not be infected. Scientists have no way of determining what kind of effects the release of all this genetic pollution will have on the ecosystem (Davis)."