Gwendolyn SeoMr. WoodwardBiology P27 April 2014Will GMOs cause the end of the world? Or will they help revolutionize it? Biotechnology allows scientists to genetically modify plants and animals for the benefit of humans. GMOs may have been originally developed for people and their needs/desires, but the side effects are overlooked by scientists and companies, resulting in people being treated like guinea pigs. Even though GMOs bring enormous benefits to humans, if side effects were to exist, there is still the potential threat that the effects could harm the environment, health and the balance of nature. For starters, according to a review on the impacts of genetically modified food products on human health, GMOs offer great benefits such as pest resistance and herbicide tolerance, which can be used to help eliminate/decrease the use of chemicals, limit the dangers of agricultural waste runoff and reduce production costs (4). Thanks to Bt, corn will now be able to produce its own pesticides, which will help reduce the use of chemicals in the fields, thus avoiding the poisoning of water supplies and reducing damage to the environment. But even in the brightest light there is always a shadow. This means that Bt, also known as Bacillus thuringiensis, is highly toxic to the larvae of some insect species (5), and there is concern that pollen from Bt corn will travel by air to nearby fields, causing death and the cessation of existence of monarch caterpillars (4-5). Innocent, untargeted organisms will be harmed and killed by GMOs. And just like some mosquito populations that have developed resistance to pesticides, people fear that insects will also evolve and develop resistance, making parasite resistance genes no longer effective (5). Another concern... at the center of the paper... the edge, which makes these plants a dangerous threat (The history and future of GMOs in food and agriculture, 2). In reality, almost all crops today did not exist in the wild and without human care will cease to exist (History and Future of GMOs, 1). Scientists unnaturally inserted traits/genes from species that should never have interfered with each other, there had to be a specific reason why a banana couldn't breed with a chicken. And it was because that wasn't really how nature was intended. So, even though GMOs may have all these “fantastic” benefits, there are still potential threats and damage they can do to the environment, health and the balance of nature. Remember, next time you see someone, ask them if they know what GMOs are and try to help the world be more aware of what GMOs really are and what they can really do to both the world and the environment..