CONTROVERSIES OVER GM OR TRANSGENIC ORGANISMS

Abstract

In 2008, GM crops were grown on 125 million hectares spread over 25 countries,on all continents, marking a 74-fold increase in the area since their fi rst commercialization in1996, and making it the fastest adopted crop technology in recent history. Main reasons for thisexpansion are, by the proponents of GM food, its safety, potential to revolutionize agriculture andbenefi t the farmers and consumers alike. On the other hand, there are indications that GMOs areharmful to the biodiversity and become eco-contaminants, and can, especially in the long terms,negatively affect the human health. The author thinks that patenting of living organisms by themultinational companies is unacceptable and unfair from the bioethical perspective, not onlybecause they tend to hold monopolies in production and trade of GM plants, but also becauseof their efforts to gain domination over the very life. Finally, analyses made by many scientistsshow that the thesis that “gene revolution” will resolve the problem of hunger in the world wasnot justifi ed in the previous decade.