Genetically Modified Foods

What are Genetically Modified Foods?

Genetically modified foods (GMF) are created through a biotechnological process known as genetic modification (GM). Genetic modification -- also known as genetic engineering -- alters the genetic makeup of plants, according to the Human Genome Project (HGP). Actually what scientists are doing when they genetically modify a plant is to combine certain genes from different plant species to basically change the DNA in the resulting plant species.

The HGP paper reports that in 2006, some 252 million acres of "transgenic crops" had been planted in twenty-two countries by 10.3 million farmers. These crops (corn, soybeans, cotton, alfalfa, rice, sweet potatoes and canola) were planted in order to reportedly resist insect infestation. The sweet potatoes were modified in order to "…resist…a virus that could decimate most of the African harvest" (HGP). Fifty-three percent of those crops were planted in the United States; 17%...
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