Transgenic foods are genetically modified foods to alter their characteristics, optimize their performance, size and quality, whether vegetable or animal.
They are normally identified with the name of genetically modified organisms, their acronym in Spanish is GMO and in English GMO.
The method basically consists of inserting certain genes into another organism through own resources of genetic engineering and biotechnology, in order to manipulate their characteristics.
The genetic modification of food not only seeks to influence its size, durability and performance, but also aims to make them more resistant. All this is in favor of agricultural and agricultural productivity.
In principle, it is assumed that transgenic foods are created to respond to the food needs of humanity, whose number of individuals has increased exponentially. But the controversy around them has also grown considerably.
Advantages of transgenic foods
- Increase in production
- Increase in food size.
- Greater resistance to climatic variations.
- Greater resistance to pests.
- Greater herbicide resistance.
- Greater durability of the food.
- Faster growth.
- Ability to grow in infertile soil (plants).
- Less need for chemical products in their conservation.
Disadvantages of transgenic foods
- Threat to biodiversity.
- Risk of altering the ecosystem.
- Impossibility of determining health consequences.
- Risk of negative effect on fertility.
- Threat of alteration of the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics.
- Danger of virus and fungal mutations to survive new genetic conditions of their carriers.
- Disadvantage deep in competition for small producers.
Transgenic seeds
One of the problems associated with transgenic foods has to do with seeds. These seeds are not produced naturally, but have to be intervened in laboratories.
The companies producing these seeds exercise a monopoly by owning the patent. Therefore, this is a serious risk both for the survival of the food itself and for the healthy competition between producers, especially when they are small.