Difference between revisions of "Team:Vilnius-Lithuania/HumanPractices/Ethics"
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<h3 class="text-heading">Opinions</h3> | <h3 class="text-heading">Opinions</h3> | ||
− | <p class="text-justify">To be completely honest, I am not someone who knows much about genetically modified organisms, also known as GMO. My studies are the ones of a very different field and I never took my time to look into GMO. However, I would say that it is quite an interesting topic to talk or argue about, so I'll try my best to provide all the knowledge I have. For me "genetically modified" means that a product or its components were grown or made in an unnatural way, making the production time shorter or the lasting time longer. Regular customer finds these three letters either on a product packaging when they are grocery shopping, or in an articles, commercials, talkshows that we so often try to skip and find something not-so-scientific to read or watch. I would say that it is much easier to ignore GMO‘s existence: correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, genetically modified products are cheaper and easier to find in stores, when healthier and all natural products are quite scarce. For the most part, I have to say that I am one of those regular customers who usually try to save some money and splurge every once in a while, so most of the time I buy products without looking what's written on the back.</p> | + | <p class="text-justify">"To be completely honest, I am not someone who knows much about genetically modified organisms, also known as GMO. My studies are the ones of a very different field and I never took my time to look into GMO. However, I would say that it is quite an interesting topic to talk or argue about, so I'll try my best to provide all the knowledge I have. For me "genetically modified" means that a product or its components were grown or made in an unnatural way, making the production time shorter or the lasting time longer. Regular customer finds these three letters either on a product packaging when they are grocery shopping, or in an articles, commercials, talkshows that we so often try to skip and find something not-so-scientific to read or watch. I would say that it is much easier to ignore GMO‘s existence: correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, genetically modified products are cheaper and easier to find in stores, when healthier and all natural products are quite scarce. For the most part, I have to say that I am one of those regular customers who usually try to save some money and splurge every once in a while, so most of the time I buy products without looking what's written on the back.</p> |
− | <p class="text-justify">However, I can say that by growing older I start to think about what I am eating more and every time I am in a shop and have some spare time, I try to compare some similar products and what they consist of. When I actually take my time and think about it more, I can find some pros and cons of the genetically modified products. The only good side of it and the main reason why it was started to use, I guess or should I say I hope, is that the human population is growing in a fast pace, so the natural way we used to grow vegetables, fruits, cereals or animals is not enough and too slow. On the other hand, GM is not only unhealthy for us as human beings, but also not safe for the environment we live in. Does anyone know how exactly it harms us and the environment? Is there any statistics? These are some of the questions I do not know the answer to. That is maybe because I have not looked into it too much or because we need more time to see how harmful it is and only our grandkids will suffer the real consequences and long-term effects. I really do hope that in the near future we will be more educated and willing to spend more time thinking about how GMO affects us and what surrounds us.</p> | + | <p class="text-justify">However, I can say that by growing older I start to think about what I am eating more and every time I am in a shop and have some spare time, I try to compare some similar products and what they consist of. When I actually take my time and think about it more, I can find some pros and cons of the genetically modified products. The only good side of it and the main reason why it was started to use, I guess or should I say I hope, is that the human population is growing in a fast pace, so the natural way we used to grow vegetables, fruits, cereals or animals is not enough and too slow. On the other hand, GM is not only unhealthy for us as human beings, but also not safe for the environment we live in. Does anyone know how exactly it harms us and the environment? Is there any statistics? These are some of the questions I do not know the answer to. That is maybe because I have not looked into it too much or because we need more time to see how harmful it is and only our grandkids will suffer the real consequences and long-term effects. I really do hope that in the near future we will be more educated and willing to spend more time thinking about how GMO affects us and what surrounds us."</p> |
<p class="text-justify"><em>E. K.</em></p> | <p class="text-justify"><em>E. K.</em></p> | ||
− | <p class="text-justify">In my opinion, synthetic biology and genetically modified products are mainly overtaken by business, which uses science to make money. Companies, which buy products, do not care about the consumer, but only care about their own interests, which are often mistakenly presented to the society. In addition, even though scientists are working on these projects, but most of the time they do not know why and for what are they doing that, or how the product will be used. Companies, doing business out of GMOs, do not want to reveal their motives. I have noticed that scientists (especially the ones, that work with life sciences, such as synthetic biology) often go deep into details and loose the main point. They concentrate on question how to achieve something without even thinking if it really should be done. </p> | + | <p class="text-justify">"In my opinion, synthetic biology and genetically modified products are mainly overtaken by business, which uses science to make money. Companies, which buy products, do not care about the consumer, but only care about their own interests, which are often mistakenly presented to the society. In addition, even though scientists are working on these projects, but most of the time they do not know why and for what are they doing that, or how the product will be used. Companies, doing business out of GMOs, do not want to reveal their motives. I have noticed that scientists (especially the ones, that work with life sciences, such as synthetic biology) often go deep into details and loose the main point. They concentrate on question how to achieve something without even thinking if it really should be done." </p> |
<p class="text-justify"><em>D. J.</em></p> | <p class="text-justify"><em>D. J.</em></p> | ||
− | <p class="text-justify">I use Genetically modified organisms everyday at my work - from specific bacterial strains to mammalian lines that I modify myself. I appreciate the availability of GMOs because it opens doors to fast, more precise and less limited research. GMOs are also widely applied in agriculture and food industry. Although I am less aware of the impact of GMO in this field, I understand that changes made in species, which has been practiced for hundred years by cross hybridisation and selection for a specific trait, also allows increasing yield and efficiency of the product, make it more healthy or more appealing. Inevitably, GMOs integration into the wild life can bring concerns about the non-GMO plants, which could breed with the GMOs and create species that would not normally exist in the nature. I think this thought scares people the most due to unknown consequences of such breeding. Because of that GMO companies create species that cannot breed, which makes the farmers reliant on these companies, which could bring a potential for creating monopolies. </p> | + | <p class="text-justify">"I use Genetically modified organisms everyday at my work - from specific bacterial strains to mammalian lines that I modify myself. I appreciate the availability of GMOs because it opens doors to fast, more precise and less limited research. GMOs are also widely applied in agriculture and food industry. Although I am less aware of the impact of GMO in this field, I understand that changes made in species, which has been practiced for hundred years by cross hybridisation and selection for a specific trait, also allows increasing yield and efficiency of the product, make it more healthy or more appealing. Inevitably, GMOs integration into the wild life can bring concerns about the non-GMO plants, which could breed with the GMOs and create species that would not normally exist in the nature. I think this thought scares people the most due to unknown consequences of such breeding. Because of that GMO companies create species that cannot breed, which makes the farmers reliant on these companies, which could bring a potential for creating monopolies. </p> |
− | <p class="text-justify">I think in country like Lithuania, which has a long history of agriculture, it brings a unique opportunity to make the most of its land using GMOs, however, it also brings problems that should be stringently controlled by the government (like inbreeding with local species) and the question is wether people are ready to deal with such type of problems. Also since no long-term effects of GMO food on human health have been researched, GMOs cannot be claimed to be hazardous-free and can bring strong opposition or even unproved claims of various health hazards of GMOs.</p> | + | <p class="text-justify">I think in country like Lithuania, which has a long history of agriculture, it brings a unique opportunity to make the most of its land using GMOs, however, it also brings problems that should be stringently controlled by the government (like inbreeding with local species) and the question is wether people are ready to deal with such type of problems. Also since no long-term effects of GMO food on human health have been researched, GMOs cannot be claimed to be hazardous-free and can bring strong opposition or even unproved claims of various health hazards of GMOs."</p> |
<p class="text-justify"><em>I. B.</em></p> | <p class="text-justify"><em>I. B.</em></p> |
Revision as of 03:46, 19 September 2015