Genetically-modified organisms (GMO’s) are more beneficial to humans than traditional crops due to the favorable qualities GMO’s provide. Genetically modifying an organism consists of isolating a specific gene in order to transfer it to another organism, thus giving the organism a desired trait. Humans have been modifying plants and animals for thousands of years through the process of artificial selection, where humans decide which organisms can reproduce. GMO’s have many benefits over traditional crops. For example, genetically modifying crops can lead to an increase in crop yields as well as crop quality. This means that the crops can be given traits that allow the GMO crops to be immune to pests and disease, harsh environmental conditions, and they can even be engineered to give humans nutrients. Also, due to the immunity against pesticides, GMO’s can significantly lower pesticide use by farmers, and even increase their profits.

Genetically modified foods and crops allow for a much higher yield than traditional crops. Scientists can now create crops that are virtually resistant to harsh weather conditions like droughts, floods, high salinity, etc. GMO’s can also be altered to be resistant to certain pests and disease. This immunity to pests, disease, and extreme weather mean that GMO’s can survive in many more conditions, when compared to traditional crops. This would in turn increase the number of crops the farmer has at the end of each season, which also allows for higher profits. Another benefit of GMO’s is that these altered crops may help reduce world hunger. This is accomplished by increasing the yield and quality of the crops. In addition, GMO’s can be engineered to give vital nutrients to humans. For example, there is a large vitamin A deficiency in some third-world countries, which leads to blindness. Crops can be altered to contain as well as produce vitamin A, thus helping cure this deficiency and give benefits traditional crops cannot. GMO’s will also lower the losses to harsh environmental conditions and pests, because they have the ability to withstand those threats over traditional crops.

GMO’s can also lead to a great reduction in pesticide use. For example, creating pest-resistant crops makes pesticides almost obsolete, because these harsh chemicals will not need to be used in greater concentration or amount. In addition, the little pesticide that may be used will only target undesirable plants like weeds or vines. The crops will be unaffected due to their ability to resist the chemicals used. Traditional crops, on the other hand do not comply with this benefit. A much greater amount of chemicals and pesticides must be used in order to keep the crops alive from pest threats. Since pesticides are a great expense for farmers, the reduction of the use of these harsh chemicals would help farmers save money.
Farmers and local economies are greatly benefitted by GMO’s because they could save money while increasing profits each season. GMO’s can potentially eliminate a huge expense farmers have to make each season by reducing the use of pesticides. GMO’s can also increase the amount of sellable crops produced, which could increase revenues of farmers. This would allow farmers to invest in farming techniques and new equipment to make their existing farms even more productive. The greater amount of food produced could help feed the world, as these new methods of greater yields would be known worldwide. The surplus of foods would have a great potential to lower food costs to consumers. As there is much more food available, there wouldn’t be as much competition between buyers for the same foods. These lower prices would also encourage people to consume more produce, rather than processed foods. GMO’s can greatly impact local farmers and communities in a positive manner. However, traditional crops are subject to unexpected natural disasters, pests, and extreme conditions. This means that one yield a certain year may be significantly lower than the next, which would cause a massive fluctuation in the prices and quantities of food.
Despite all of the benefits GMO’s provide to humans, there are an increased number of people who believe that they are potentially harmful to humans. There is little evidence to support this theory, as GMO’s are considered a relatively new phenomenon. There is also a potential for allergic reactions to people allergic to a gene transferred into a food they normally eat. In addition to these possible human consequences, GMO’s can greatly harm biodiversity (the variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem). For example, GMO’s may be able to breed with wild plants close to their location. This may lead to the special gene they possess to spread to the wild plants, which could kill plant varieties if the gene has a different effect on the wild plant species. To combat this potential problem, buffer zones were introduced around some farmlands, which separate the GMO’s from the wild nearby plant species. GMO seeds can also cause a loss of genetic diversity among food crops, because the original crop could have been changed forever into a new version. This is a problem because it is unknown which traits that naturally occurred in such crops could be lost. Currently in the United States there is no regulation regarding the production or labeling of GMO’s. Many people argue that the labeling of GMO’s might make people feel like GMO’s are a bad concept. It is also very difficult to label them because there are trace amounts of GMO materials found throughout the US agricultural system. The people who want to avoid GMO’s have the option of eating organic foods, which are produced without modification or pesticide application. Currently, in the US, GM animals are not approved, but this new concept is being considered by the Food and Drug Administration.

Overall, genetically modified crops are more beneficial to humans because of the additional qualities and traits they possess that traditional crops can’t provide. The use of GMO’s can lead to higher crop yield and quality, which in turn increases profits for farmers. This would help local communities by lowering food prices as well as increasing the amount of produce available to consumers. These consumers would also be encouraged to purchase the produce due to the drop in price. In addition, pesticide use would be greatly lessened because GMO’s can resist them, while target pests like weeds are still killed. GMO’s also have the ability to withstand environmental conditions such as droughts and floods. Also, having more crops that give additional nutrients to humans mean that a reduction in world hunger can be achieved, and people who have a deficiency to the nutrients added can be helped greatly. Traditional crops are subject to sudden disease and loss, which would cause a large fluctuation in food price. While there is some concern over GMO safety for humans, there is not enough data to support this theory. The use of GMO’s provides many benefits to farmers, communities, as well as the world. These benefits cannot be achieved with traditional crops which makes GMO’s more beneficial over traditional crops.