Question:
Are biotech foods better that organic? what exactly are
the diffinitions of both? is one harder to produce than the other?
Replies:
The definition of biotechnology is using living organisms to make things
easier for human beings. Biotech has been used since the beginning of
recorded time. For example, making wine, bread, cheese and fermented dairy
products such as yogurt are examples of biotech. I think what most people
think of as biotech is actually genetic engineering which is only a part of
biotech. Genetic engineering involves the change of the genetic makeup of an
organism by either inserting genes or deleting genes. For example, Bt corn
is corn that has been engineered to contain a gene for a toxin that kills the
european corn borer which is highly destructive to the corn crop. This toxin
comes from a bacteria that is found in the environment and naturally repells
this organism. Organic farmers and gardeners have been using this in
powdered form for years. Scientists found a way to insert the gene right
into the plant so that the plant produces the toxin and when the corn borer
takes a bite out of it, it gets a mouthful of toxin. Some environmentalists
are concerned that other organisms such as monarch butterfly larva can also
become poisoned by the toxin. Yes, genetic engineering is much more time
consuming and expensive to do the research.
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