Much research is being done on the effects that hormone injections and genetic engineering has on the food that you eat. One of the most studied is the effects that genetic engineering has on plants. In addition to causing health concerns, there are also many environmental hazards that are caused by genetic engineering. Friends of the Earth offers that there is biological pollution, chemical dependence, the growth of super weeds, use of pesticide plants and general threats to non-target organisms and organic agriculture.

Chemical Dependence: An Effect of Genetic Engineering

What in the world is chemical dependence and why should it matter to you? Chemical dependence refers to the need for farmers to use extreme amounts of herbicides and pesticides to kill weeds or pests that affect their crops. When plants are genetically engineered, they are often created to be highly resistant to pesticides and herbicides. Thus farmers can douse their crops with pesticides and herbicides with much more chemicals than they would actually need, creating lethal runoff that can harm you and your family.

Super Weeds and Pesticide Plants

The current trend of herbicide and pesticide resistance can be spread to “related plants’ by the wind or by the pollination of bees. This can create what Friends of the Earth calls super weeds. Plants propagated in this uncontrolled manner can grow out of control, like the Kudzu vines that infest much of the Southern United States. The new plant spin-offs can be hard, to near impossible to control, and can lead to very harmful effects on the environment.

There are also pesticide plants that are genetically created to produce toxin in the tissues, all tissues that make up the plant. This means that the toxins migrate into the edible parts of grain, potatoes, corn, and others, which can be harmful to humans and the rest of the ecosystem. These can lead to negative impacts on non-target organisms. For example, genetically engineered corn, according to Cornell University studies, can kill Monarch butterflies.

Conclusion

Science strives to make things better, and often they succeed. Still, there are those times when science can produce positives and negatives for the human health and for nature. Genetic engineering is one such example.

info@environmentalhealththreats.com