Biology:Applied Final: GMOs and Feeding the World
Please respond with a different color of font and include your original questions. Attach your response to the journal site by midnight on Wednesday, May 3rd.
Objectives:
Journey around the world and explore the use of GMOs and their application for feeding the world.….
Determine your belief on the following: Are GMOs are a good thing for society or are we heading into dangerous territory in their use?
Directions:
There are 12 Main “Thought Questions”.
You will be asked to review the background information I have provided and visit the various articles and videos for each question.
IMPORTANT: You MUST answer the “Thought Questions” in red at the beginning of each. Reading the associate article may help establish your response. ..
You will then respond to the questions following the article.

What are the ethical concerns regarding GMOs in the food industry?
“God (Nature in my view) makes all things good; man meIDles with them and they become evil…” “? Jean-Jacques Rousseau; philosopher, 1770
“An ecosystem, you can always intervene and change something in it, but there’s no way of knowing what all the downstream effects will be …” – Dr. Richard Lewontin, Professor of Genetics, Harvard University
“The controversy surrounding genetically modified organisms has real importance for society, there are complex scientific and logical issues to sort through, and the topic is rife with misinformation and motivated reasoning……” -Dr. Novella, academic neurologist; Yale University School of Medicine

Remember, the first step in ethical problem solving and policy decision making should first involve ascertaining the facts. Facts by themselves, however, only tell us what is; they do not tell us what ought to be.
Resolving an ethical issue also requires an appeal to values. Before tackling the GMO debate, let’s review the five different approaches philosophers have developed to deal with moral issues.

After learning the science and obtaining facts, Keep philosophical approaches in mind when tackling the GMO issues.

Utilitarian Approach: What benefits and what harms will each course of action produce, and which alternative will lead to the best overall consequences?

Rights Approach: What moral rights do the affected parties have, and which course of action best respects those rights?

Fairness or Justice Approach: Which course of action treats everyone the same, except where there is a morally justifiable reason not to, and does not show favoritism or discrimination?

Common Good Approach: Which course of action advances the common good?

Virtue Approach: Which course of action develops moral virtues?
(1) What is the GMO debate really about? (35 points; 9 for essay response and 26 for attached questions)
The GMO Controversy
“GMO critics despise corporate control and greed, and fear the unnatural, while GMO advocates see this technology as an example of the triumph of human ingenuity and science”
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/the-gmo-controversy/
(26 points total: each short answer question is worth 1 point. Each T/F worth .5 point. )-
beliefs concerning GMOs tend to be dominated by two opposing narratives: What are they?
GMO advocates point out that pretty much all food that is consumed by humans has already been extensively modified by human activity. (True or False?)
What was corn cultivated from?
Cultivation uses a combination of what two basic processes to create countless varieties of common plants?
What is artificial selection?
What is cross pollination?
Orange carrots are not the result of a mutation (True or False?)
What is mutation breeding?
How many mutagenic plant varietals were released between 1930 and 2007?
What are the two basic types of GMOs?
What is the difference between the two types of GMOs?
What are the four types of GM plants currently approved for use?
Contamination of genes from other kingdoms occurs, even in nature (True or False?)
According to the American Association for the Advancement of science, GM crops are the most extensively tested crops ever aIDed to our food supply. (True or False?)
According to the article, studies comparing GM and non-GM potatoes, soy, rice, corn and triticale found that the GM and their non-GM counterparts are NOT nutritionally equivalent.” (True or False?)
The National Academies of Science states that “To date, no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population.” (True or False?)
What does the World Health Organization say about GM foods?
Plants that are produced through hybridization, which can chaotically mix in hundreds of genes, and plants resulting from mutagenic breeding do not require the same safety testing currently required of GMOs. (True or False?)
What are the advantages of herbicide resistant plants?
What are the disadvantages of herbicide resistant plants?
What are the advantages of pest resistant crops?
What are the disadvantages of pest resistant crops?
According to the article GM crops with insect and herbicide resistance can be useful and even protect the environment, but they have to be used as part of what type of strategy?
What are the three major seed companies?
What are some of the claims made against Monsanto that, according to the article, are not true?
According to the article, the big seed companies have overhyped their own products and encouraged overreliance on their GMOs as a single solution to farming’s complex issues. True or False?
Why are Monocultures counterproductive?
According to the article, Seed companies should be encouraged to not just make one variety with a favorable trait, but do what?
What are seven benefits listed for GMOS ?
According to the article, Genetic modification is a powerful technology, and its impact will depend entirely on what?

(2) Are GMOs safe?Why do you feel this way? (35 points=Essay response to this question = 11 points; questions below: 24 points )

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes?

“On one hand, you have the proponents who are talking about the benefits of genetic engineering in terms of science. On the other, you have people in butterfly costumes.”
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/schulman/tomatoes.html
24 points total: (each question is worth 2 points).
England’s Prince of Whales claims that GMOs do what?
Where does the Catholic church stand with regard to GMOs?
Why does the author compare GMOs to microwaves and IDT?
Has any medical harm resulted to humans as a result of ingesting GMOs?
What is the “Terminator gene” and what is the controversy surrounding it?
Why are the risks of GMO being defined by those who are frightened?