After understanding more about genetically modified food, do you know why some of the people would like to produce more GM food? Or, why some of the people insist on GM-Free food?         

        Below are some of the advantages and disadvantages on genetically modified food. This may help to develop your own opinion on this issue.

Pros:

l        Increase the crop yields to feed the world population

l        Increase the tolerance of crops to adverse growing conditions, e.g. drought

l        Improve the nutrient composition of crops, e.g. increase the protein content of rice

l        Provide resistance to crop pests and reduce the use of pesticides, i.e. save the environment

l        Improve sensory attributes of food, e.g. flavor, texture

l        Improve the processing characteristics so as to reduce wastage of food and minimize the cost during transport and storage

l        Eliminate allergy-causing properties in some foods

Cons:

l        Unintended modification of similar species in the neighboring fields due to cross pollination

l        Disturbing the balance of ecosystems, e.g. some animals may lose their home when extending farmland area

l       A chance of  developing super pests as DNA is changed

l        The initial genetic structure of both animals and plants will be disturbed 

l        Vegetarians may worry about eating plants which contains genes from animals for religious, health or other reasons