Cloning the New Frontier

Today in our world we have two types of cloning your regular make another copy clone and partial clones. They both follow under the lines of altering the DNA of an organism to obtain a specific result.The two main, broad terms used for these are GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) and just as you would think Cloning. GMOs are organisms that have their DNA Changed to enhance certain traits for people’s interest or liking (“Frequently Asked Questions on Genetically Modified Foods.

” WHO). Although the term is mainly aimed towards plants you may be surprised to hear they use them the just the same in animals. Cloning is the more well known word for making a copy of a creature, and is generally aimed towards recreation itself. GMOs and Cloning alike both have their own pros and cons, however people generally like to focus on the cons and disadvantages of the two rather than the good that can come from them. For example helping to end world hunger, making foods last longer, and keeping them fresh, are all things GMOs can help with.

Believe it or not cloning is the new frontier for helping men and women have biological children. However there is some serious disadvantages to look at first and not all of the problems have to do with the process itself some have to do with the ethics of the companies who are performing the process. Large GM (Genetically Modified) seed companies are buying out all the original seeds and modifying them so that the farmers are left buying them at a higher price.These same companies are also farming their own seeds in large amounts and suing any other farmers who accidently have the seeds in their crops (Smith, Go Non-GMO). They are holding their neighbors accountable for the seeds on their land even after they found out it was only do to wind.For those who are keeping up on the issue they are no longer buying GMs products because of many company’s bad ethics, but that’s not the only reason.

Another factor is that only about twenty to twenty-five percent of processed foods don’t contain GMO’s ( Ruhs, Environmental Nutrition ). This means almost everyone in their lifetime has taken in GM foods possibly without you even knowing. Many states have tried to make food labeling companies say whether or not the product has GMOs in it, although in many states such as California the proposition has failed. Labeling of the products is not required in Canada or in the United States but for many other countries in the world the labeling is required such as Japan, European Union, and Australia. In order to fight back against the no labeling rule in the U.S.

some companies have invested in a labeling of their own kind. These non-GMOs labeling stickers can be seen on foods in local grocery stores. In 2013 non-gmo’s sales were up to about $3.5 billion, a surprising rise in sales compared to when they first put the non-gmo’s stickers out on foods in 2010 with a zero dollar prophet (Smith, Go Non-GMO). Most people don’t know what they’re putting in their bodies when they take in genetically modified foods and therefore are worried it may cause some effects later on in life (Novella, No Health Risks From Gmo’s). Although all studies show no short term effects being caused by the foods no research has been done on long term effects and a rise in disorders has occurred in future generations because of it.

People are willing to make a change in their food habits and have already taken a stand, if this keeps up in the future America might join in as one of the countries that enforce putting GMO labeling on. The other side to this DNA changing world is cloning. Cloning began back in 1880’s but of course they didn’t have the knowledge then as we do now and most experiments failed. In fact the first fully grown animal was never completely cloned until 1996. This was an amazing new step in the research when dolly the sheep was fully done growing. From this scientist started to cross breed species and start cloning endangered species before they went extinct.

Another advantage to cloning is people who can’t have their own biological kids can clone themselves therefore making them biological. Even though clones may look alike they have their own experience in life and most likely won’t have the same personality. The downside to all of this is that cloning is still very new to science. Most of the clones ever created have some type of disorder and live a short life. And many people feel as if it’s against their religious beliefs to clone humans. Luckily enough we are not quite there yet inthe realm of science but are only edging towards it all.

In the end GMOs have a great potential for helping us as the world grows larger with more inhabitants as long as we find a more healthy way of altering organisms DNA without causing any future deficiencies for us. On the other hand cloning has the potential for recreating extinct animals and helping existing animals not go extinct. All in all whether you’re looking at the advantages or disadvantages it’s clear more research needs to be done on both subjects. Cited Work Stonebrook, Shelley. “GMOs: the controversy builds.” Mother Earth News Oct.

-Nov. 2013: 16.Student Resources in Context. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.

Smith, Melissa Diane. “Go non-GMO: growing numbers of people are deciding to shun genetically modified foods. Here’s why.” Better Nutrition Jan. 2014: 64. Student Resources in Context.

Web. 27 Jan. 2016. Scheer, Roddy, and Doug Moss. “Dear Earthtalk: what are the potential health and environmental impacts of so many genetically engineered organisms in our food supply?”EarthTalk: Questions & Answers About Our Environment. A Weekly Column 17 Nov.

2014.Global Issues in Context. Web. 27 Jan. 2016. Ruhs, Barbara.

“Update: GMOs in foods: GMOs–ingredients that have been genetically altered–are everywhere, from fast food to frozen yogurt, but are they safe? EN answers your top questions.” Environmental Nutrition Feb. 2013: 1+. Student Resources in Context. Web.

27 Jan. 2016. Novella, Steven. “No health risks from GMOs.” Skeptical Inquirer July-Aug. 2014: 19+.

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“From Franken-plants to cloned cows.” E Mar.-Apr. 2007: 9. Student Resources in Context.

Web. 27 Jan. 2016. “Frequently Asked Questions on Genetically Modified Foods.” WHO.

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