'Genetic Engineering will solve the third world's food problem'?

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Kez Harwood – Biology Research Coursework

February 2004

‘Genetic Engineering will solve the third world’s food problem’?

To ask if Genetic Engineering will solve the third world food problem, we must look at the causes first.  It is easy to presume that the food problem is due to a shortage of food.  However, it is not necessarily the case.  Raj Patel, a policy analyst for ‘Food First’ [i], believes that agricultural dumping, land insecurity, slashed welfare entitlements and poverty are the main factors as to why people in the Third World go hungry.

To answer how GM products may overcome these problems, we must analyse what has been done so far and look at examples that may lead to one side of the argument or the other.

The whole aim of Genetic Engineering is to produce better food and crops; crops that are more able to cope with conditions, disease or pests, produce larger fruit and are more reliable to use.  As Snustad and Simmons [ii] state, the modern tomato has benefited tremendously from GE.  

 Every variety of Tomato plant has its benefits – some are bushier, whereas some are more compact.  GE has allowed these characteristics to be cross-bred to produce tomato plants that grow to a shape and size that keeps the fruit off the ground, for example.  Certain wild tomato’s have genes that are resilient to various pathogens, such as fungi.  These genes have been bred into modern varieties of tomato to make them more enduring.  

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The tomato is just an example of what GE is capable of.  This can be applied to any crop or fruit grown on a widespread scale.  Naturally, if crops can be made to produce a larger yield or become ‘undesirable’ to pests (parasites can also be engineered to ‘dislike’ the crop!) then that is of benefit.  More nutrients can be added to crops to produce a healthier diet for third world consumers – eg. Algae contain a high amount of protein, and crops can be genetically modified using the algae genes to include higher level of protein.  Also, the ...

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