Genetically Modified Foods

1. Genetically Modified Foods By: Kayla Addair and Kameron Blankenship

2. What is Genetically Modified Foods? • Genetically Modified Foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms. • Which means that Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques. • These techniques are much more precise than mutagenesis also known as mutation breeding where an organism is exposed to radiation or chemicals to create a non-specific but stable change.

3. The Pro’s of Genetically Modified Foods? • 1. They can produce more food per acre. • 2. They can grow food in harsh climates. • 3. They have less pesticide use.

4. The Con’s of Genetically Modified Foods. • 1. The unknown side effects. • 2. Corruption of the food supply. • 3. It is harmful on the human body.

5. The Top 2 Reasons The It Could Be Harmful To Use Genetically Modified Foods. • 1. Reduced Effectiveness of Pesticides- showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear is that if pollen from B.t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in neighboring fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish. • 2. Gene transfer to non- target species- Another concern is that crop plants engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance genes from the crops into the weeds. These "superweeds" would then be herbicide tolerant as well. Other introduced genes may cross over into non-modified crops planted next to GM crops.

6. The top 2 reasons Genetically Modified Foods Could Be Helpful. • 1. Pest Resistance- Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Farmers typically use many tons of chemical pesticides annually2. Disease Resistance- There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases. Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to these diseases

7. Is Using Genetically Modified Foods Legal or Ilegal. • Clarification on "any farm." A farm is legally defined in the U.S. as "any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally could have been sold during the census year." The use of the word "any" in front of farm eliminates the financial test. • Clarification on "food establishment." These are described in the Definitions section of the bill. Description (8) expands the bill to cover "a food establishment that processes all other categories of food products not described." The bill covers almost anything.

8. THE END!!! • BY: • Kayla Addair And Kameron Blankenship