Has GM food brought more good than bad to the world ? EYA. (8 marks)

GM food refers to foods which are artificially infected with genes from freign sources in order to develop certain (supposedly) beneficial properties such as faster growth and resistance to pests and diseases.Although cross breeding such crops or lifestock with such desirable properties had existed a long time ago, it has been known to be very time consuming and not scienticfically accurate at times, hence the arriva of GM foods to create the desired qualities. Prominent GM foods include Golden Rice (with more enriched vitamins from Daffodil plants) and sweetcorn with bioinsecticide genes (which increases possible yields from reduced pest damage). However, while some have opted for support for the GM crops, critics have objected to GM foods on several grounds, including perceived safety issues, ecological concerns, and economic concerns raised by the fact that these organisms are subject to intellectual property law. Thus, this essay intends to disscuss the pros and cons of GM food with specific examples as to whether GM food brought more good than bad to the world.

Critics of the GM food move often retract their decisions with the fact that the world population is toppling and thus, GM foods may prove the solution to alleviate the possible hunger crisis. For example, GM foods may have high productivity rates than other non-GM foods - for example, oranges, with a gene from wild weeds, are enabled to grow twenty times the rate of ordinary orange trees, providing more of such fruit to the world in the process at a cheaper price as the decline in prices of such foods occur if supply is sufficient, thus possibly increasing global food supply as it is made more affordable. GM foods may too provide a means of medication and added nutritional supplements - the previous being from bananas which contain vaccines which prevents hepatatis B and the latter from golden rice (which has a higher level of vitamin A0, thus reducing the number of medical conditions associated with the lack of certain medicines or vitamins in certain aspects. Also, biological hazards auch as pesticides may not be needed in the growth of certain GM foods such as corn which have genes which kill potential pests (e.g the European corn borer), not only reducing the possible risks of environmental damages but also reduces the prices of the food as less insecticide capital s needed. Hence, GM did bring about good to the world in many of the above mentioned ways.

However, on the other hand, GM foods may have to be seen to have caused problems as well. Biologically, GM food crops may pollute natural plant species, passing their GM genes on to other non-beneficial pests which may make them difficult to eradicate; also, the fear of superweeds - weeds that are herbicide resistant due to the genes being passed down from the herbicide resistant GM plant (as in the case in rapseed production in Southern USA), making these weeds difficult to eradicate and possibly upsetting the entire ecosystem. Moreover, in social light, some TNCs (such as Monsanto) are taking advantage of producing 'suicide seeds' to ensure that farmers can only use their GM seeds once before the seeds become sterile, forcing farmers to be reliant on these companies for their livelihood, eventually causing social polarization as only rich farmers could afford the GM seeds offered at a high price. Also, in some parts of the world, GM food is not accepted due to personal or religious reasons as well as due to political influences; for example, in Africa in 2002, food that was sent there as famine relief was burnt as it was suspected by the officials the GM food sent were "as good as drinking poison" as quoted by one. Thus, GM food may not had good totally ; rather, they too had some negative effects which brought some new social and economical ills to the world.

It really does depend how one looks at GM food in the part it plays: the remedy for both distrust of science and opposition to GM lies in an entirely different direction. As with science, the social choice of future technological pathways is much more open-ended than is often acknowledged, and is an entirely legitimate matter for political debate. In agriculture and food production, as elsewhere, there is a need for new regulatory procedures, institutions and governance discourses. The need to recognize and include—rather than deny—the full diversity and subtlety of public aspirations and concerns about the technological future. Deciding on the questions to be asked and the comparisons to be made has to be an inclusive process and not the provenance of 'experts' alone.

English homework opening 7/1/2010

Regret

He grips the cold iron of his cell tightly, in deep contempplation of his life in society today. Pondering on his past with great effort, he smiled to himself about the life he could have possibly lived if only he had stuck to his duties and not been avaricious. His thoughts then drifted towards his family - but all the happy memories screeched to an unpleasant halt as the police came to arrest Jacky at his own birthday party nearly a year ago. Hanging his head in shame, he wondered how much longer till his release.

Emotions meant to be expressed:
pity, fear, torment and trauma

Later plot :
1.thought about him embezzling funds from his company
2.found this really cute girl in the office and flirted
3.then got married
4.very happy, but guilty at his deeds
5.b'day party got arrested
6.caned four times
7.at the end of his ordeal cannot take it, ,killed himself

(Please keep the suicide realistic and no life after death - no stabbing himself in the ass or hanging himself when all the wardens are on holiday :) thanks

This site is (quite) dead

Cos I have moved and relocated to the SS Huat ZAi Yah temple lar - like our gahment says must upgrade your facilities :)

100% Guaranteed Useful (not!) Geography Quiz (with model answers...I think)

Forget the boring old seawalls and gabions. How about trying this quiz with a highly un-satisfying result? Will you stand up straight against the Trident of Poseidon (that's waves to you and me but others call them oscillations- what's their problem?) or will you be another beach scour?

1.Which of these bridge materials really existed throughout history, and which are/is too silly to be true?
1.Human heads
2.Old logs
3.Old rocks
4.Old ropes
5.Lianas (that’s vines to you and me)
6.Long Poles

2.What was the first boat thought to be in the world?
1.Cooking pot?
2.Bath tub?
3.Toilet bowl?
4.Coffin?
5.Sledge?

3.Where on earth (oops, sea) does the parrotfish sleep?
1.Seabed?
2.Coral Reef?
3.Passing Octopus?
4.Sleeping bag?

4.Which of these coastal management strategies sound too silly to be true?
1.Tetrapods
2.Dolos
3.Accropode
4.Akmon
5.A-Jack
6.Xbloc

5.What do we use seaweed for?
1.Food?
2.Drink?
3.Fertiliser?
4.Toothpaste?
5.Dynamite?

Red Herring(s):

1. Human Heads
Of course you don’t get human head bridges. What would one person say to another in front of the bridge? I am a-head of you? Useless note: In London, human heads are dangled on the poles of London Bridge for those executed. Why not enlighten the kiddies about this fact the next time they play the ‘London Bridge is Falling Down Game’? Urban legend has it that blood was spilled along the bridge to keep ‘Old Uncle Thames’ happy!

2. Trick question! They are all perceived to be so. (Hey shut up – did I not hear somebody say that the Tamil granny is damned bossy in a propaganda picture for the Sinhalese?!)

3. Sleeping Bag
The parrotfish is odd- at night it covers itself with gelatinous mucous that is dotted with air bubbles to allow it to have gaseous exchange with it’s surroundings, like a sleeping bag. This layer puts hungry moray eels from nipping it when it is napping. (Catchy, huh?)

4. Another trick question! These names have all been patented for different shaped concrete or brick structures placed alongside coasts to allow water to percolate through it’s pores in order to slow down oncoming wave energy.

5. Trick question (again, yawn). Here’s why:
1.Seaweed is a Japanese delicacy; try it lightly fried and an egg on top! It’s also an emulsifier in ice cream. Why not try it on your friend when you go to Ben’s and Jerry’s that your Raspberry Ripple started as Seaweed Surprise?
2.It’s an alcoholic component in the fermentation process of the grain when beer is made.
3.It’s said to be less pongy as a fertilizer…but two Americans were shocked when they found bits of octopus’ tentacles in their fertilizer bag.
4.It’s used as a thickening agent, known as Carrageenan, in toothpaste.
5.Kieselghur, the substance dynamite’s over reactive properties are curbed, was found in seaweed initially by Alfred Nobel, bomb maker. (Stupid man; why did he not use Rubidium in Ice mountain water bottles?!)