Cows

Genetic modification on cows Cows are genetically modified to make them produce more milk, with more nutrients, less fats, and also meat to have more fat. Through genetic modification, a cow also grows faster, and when something grows faster, it is the most likely to die faster as well.

Effect of GM food on people As the saying goes,“You are what you eat”, people who eat beef often or drink milk often will grow quickly, be fatter, and die quickly as well. This can be easily justified by the population of Singapore and people around the world being fatter and a higher percentage of people being obese. People are also taller and grow much faster as well than they used to be around a century ago. In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. In addition, over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese. Genetically modified(GM) food is also not exactly “natural food” and through modification of cells, this may also result in them being carcinogenic. By this theory, people who eat too much GM food will have a shorter lifespan as well, which is true, as cancer kills an abounding number of people and there were 8.2 million deaths from cancer in the world in 2012, especially at an old age of 60, which is a huge gap from what it used to be.

Ethical issues Many people think that making animals grow faster is unethical and refuse to eat GM food. Also, many religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism think that cows are holy animals and are strongly against eating or modifying the genes of animals. Genetic modification of animals are also looked on negatively by all sorts of people due to religious reasons. By changing the genes of cows, even if it is done by people of a different religion, indirectly, it is a form of disrespect to Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism.

Why cows and not some plant or other animal? Why beef? Beef is a very commonly eaten meat and cow’s milk is a drink that many adults drink, and children drink it in its powdered form. Hence, it is important to know whether GM food, especially cows, affect the lifespan of the human body.

Bibliography ● World Health Organisation (2014). Obesity and overweight. Retrieved January 15, 2015 from:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/ 

● Cancer Research UK (2012). Worldwide cancer statistics. Retrieved January 15, 2015: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/world/cancer-worldwide-the-global-picture

Spy on the GM - GMAC Students Challenge 2015

Members: Tony Ng 3S3 (07) Chay Hui Xiang 3S1 (03) Lai Tian Lang 3S2 (08) Ian Fong 3S1 (09)