College Writing

Text Wrestling Essay

Argumentative Essay

Photo Essay

Dear Portfolio Committee, 

When I first started this English class I wasn’t very confident in my own writing capabilities. I found myself dreading the assignments before I even started because of my lack of experience. But, with very good leadership provided by my professor I realized I had more to be confident about then I initially thought. I noticed I had a keen strength in gathering information on the subject that I’m writing about. The issue that came with this was that I didn’t always know what I wanted to talk about. Which was something I was able to overcome when  I picked an environmental theme for my future assignments. Even with this added help of direction I still struggled from lack of experience as many new types of essays were introduced to me throughout this course. I had difficulties with figuring out how to start working on the assignment as well as focusing on the main idea. I was able to overcome these obstacles by applying the feedback I received on my assignments, by constantly revising my work, and looking into different ways to approach the assignment. I also found that working on areas I do know first help me work more proficiently. These specific strategies really helped me grow and become a more confident writer. The three pieces I have selected for my portfolio are ones that I am very proud of and really display my growth as a writer.

My 1st piece that I have selected is the Text Wrestling Essay. It was the first response paper I have done and I found it to be very overwhelming. The topic for this piece was the article “Rethinking Extinction” by James Boyce. Throughout this assignment I really enjoyed being able to further my knowledge about extinction and rediscovering a reason as to why its such an important topic in today’s society. Although I enjoyed that aspect there were other parts I was not fond of. This is where I found myself struggling with developing my response. Since I was insecure with my writing I felt I had no place giving constructive feedback. After revising my paper with my professor they suggested I look through the article again and pay attention to the main points. Once I realized what needed to be fixed and where I was actually struggling, I made the proper adjustments. This action made my response fit my narrative and result in an overall better flow through the paper. 

My 2nd Piece was an argumentative essay. Now this one came a little easier to me since there’s a lot of controversial subjects that have to do with nature/environment. When researching about this subject I found the concept of genetic engineering, specifically the topic of GMOs. In my essay, I argue the standpoint of how gmos are negatively impacting the environment. While writing this paper I found that I struggled with narrowing down the information and selecting what was worth further discussing. After some revising and individual paragraph rework I was able to include everything I wanted. Throughout this piece you will see how I was able to implement my research skills as well as my organizational skills to create a proper and well put together argument in regards to genetic engineering.

My 3rd and final piece is my photo essay, I feel this piece was my greatest challenge and my greatest accomplishment throughout this course. I think this really applied pressure to my research skills since this was a project solely based on research alone. It also challenged my citings abilities which I am still not entirely confident in. Since this was my first photo essay I’ve written I found many things interesting as well as hard. One major problem I had was finding the right photos and synchronizing them with information. I struggled with finding a good flow as well as providing relevant information. I was eventually able to get through it as I started focusing on writing individually then moved on to creating a cohesive piece. I learned so much throughout this course and I feel this piece truly shows my development as a writer.

This course has helped improve my confidence as a writer overall. Each piece speaks upon a topic I’m passionate about as well as showcases the new techniques and essay types I’ve learned throughout my writing experience. I hope you enjoy reading through my portfolio as much as I enjoyed writing and working on it.

Billy Nolan

The process of making a GMO scientists first choose a target plant they want to modify and then they choses a specific trait from another organism that could very helpful. As an example an example of a common bacteria they choose is Bacillus thuringiensis or (BT) for short. The reason they choose this bacteria specifically because its creates proteins that are toxic to insects so in other words. Once they isolate and extract the bacteria’s gene they implant it inside of the plant once that’s done the plant can now have that ability that bacteria has to creates its own pesticides.

GMO Plant Process (Quora)

Agricultural economists published a review that covered global GM crops production data. The most recent version Was published in 2017 it says between 1996 and 2015, GM crops increased global production of corn by 357.7 million tons, 180.3 million tons of soybean, 25.2 million tons of cotton fiber, 10.6 million tons of canola and about a ton of sugar beet. The report also mentions that GM crops significantly reduced the use of agricultural land due to its higher productivity.

Shutterstock (The conversation)

Genetic Modified Crops are invasive species and cannot peacefully coexist with the normal plant varieties which therefore makes them a potential threat to the environment. Since if any of these genetically modified crops accidentally got let loose into the wild they could infect, change and even destroy other plant life. So GMOs need to be handled as a biosecurity issue and have appropriate security measures in place so that these accidents will not occur and damage our ecosystem.

Genetic modification can make crops more resistant to diseases as they grow (Medical News Today)

Almost all GMO crops are made to have natural pesticides which are harmful to all insects including plants. Many of those pesticides and herbicides are linked to having a huge decline in populations and being at risk of extinction.  Researchers from Iowa State University found that Monarch butterfly caterpillars were more likely to die when they ate milkweed plants containing traces of transgenic pollen from genetically modified corn compared to normal corn. Bees sudden disappearance in numbers also seemly increased with the rise of genetically engineered crops. 

Monarch Butterfly (Center for Biological Diversity)

This is the Flavr Savr Tomato  made history by being the very first genetically engineered food to be approved by the FDA which was in 1994. It was designed to have a far longer shelf life than normal tomatoes and was meant to revolutionize the tomatoes industry. However, it failed at the task because unfortunately production cost was too expensive and the California based company Calgene was too inexperienced at growing, handling, and shipment of tomatoes so it was taken off the shelves in 1997, but was later bought by Monsanto one of the leading companies in genetically modified foods and was reshelved and has been ever since.

Flavr Savr Tomato (Oregon State)

The AquaAdvantage Salmon was approved by the FDA in 2015, It’s a genetically engineered salmon that has a huge growth increase compared to its non-GE counterpart Atlantic Salmon and the reasoning behind this is because it contains an rDNA construct that is made of a growth hormone gene from a Chinook Salmon under the control of a promoter from the ocean pout which therefore allows the salmon to grow very fast. However, they are not labelled as GMO and can be deceptive to the average consumer. There is little to no resources provided when consuming or buying the 

AquaVantage Salmon (Civil Eats)

Works Cited

Bawa, A S, and K R Anilakumar. “Genetically Modified Foods: Safety, Risks and Public Concerns-a Review.” Journal of Food Science and Technology, Springer India, Dec. 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3791249/.

Fabio, Michelle. “What Ever Happened to the Flavr Savr Genetically-Engineered Tomato?” Oregon State EDU, 2008, smile.oregonstate.edu/sites/smile.oregonstate.edu/files/additional_resources-flavr_savr.pdf.

Linda March 10th, et al. “The Buzz about Cross-Pollination: Living Non-GMO : The Non-GMO Project.” GMO, 26 May 2020, livingnongmo.org/2017/10/10/the-buzz-about-cross-pollination/.

Linda March 10th, et al. “The Buzz about Cross-Pollination: Living Non-GMO : The Non-GMO Project.” GMO, 26 May 2020, livingnongmo.org/2017/10/10/the-buzz-about-cross-pollination/.

Medicine, Center for Veterinary. “Questions and Answers on FDA’s Approval of AquAdvantage Salmon.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animals-intentional-genomic-alterations/questions-and-answers-fdas-approval-aquadvantage-salmon.

Norero, Daniel. “GMO Crops Have Been Increasing Yield for 20 Years, with More Progress Ahead.” Alliance for Science, 2018, allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2018/02/gmo-crops-increasing-yield-20-years-progress-ahead/.

Paull, John. “Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) as Invasive Species .” Journal of Environment Protection and Sustainable Development, 2018, orgprints.org/id/eprint/33327/1/Paull2018GMInvasiveSpeciesJEPSD.pdf. 

Billy Nolan

In our contemporary society we are all more conscious of our decisions and the effects they have on not only our bodies but the effects on our environment as well. One of the things we as a society have started looking further into are the kind of foods we are buying, consuming, and growing, such as corn, tomatoes, soybeans among others. Many of these crops utilize genetic modification in order to meet the demand that the population requires to survive. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, 94% of soybeans planted were genetically modified, most corn in the United States is genetically modified and genetically modified canola accounted for 95% of canola planted. These genetically modified organisms, or for short they are commonly referred to as GMOs, are plants, animals, bacteria and other very small organisms that have had their DNA altered by scientists. At the end of the day we are responsible for what foods we consume and what the production of them does to our environment, so with this being said I disagree with the use of genetically modified organisms in our society because they have not been proven to be risk free and may become toxic and harmful for humans and the environment as well. 

When people say that GMOs are virtually harmless to people, they are saying that without actually looking into the full scope of the claim itself. The truth is that genetically modified crops have not been proven to be completely risk free for human consumption. The FDA considers genetically modified crops substantially equivalent to that of non genetically modified crops therefore they do not require pre market approval in order to be distributed. The main issue with that is scientists do not know enough about the genetic and chemical make up of these genetically modified crops to ensure that the changes made on them are actually safe there have been FDA scientists that have consistently stated that “[t}here is a profound difference between the types of unexpected effects from traditional breeding and genetic engineering …This difference should be and is not addressed.” (Issues; G E Food) since altering the crops’ genetics could cause an increase in the level of toxins and could create entirely new undiscovered toxic reactions that could be very dangerous or fatal. The first test on a genetically modified crop was the callegene flavor savour tomato, these tests showed that the consumption of this crop caused rats to have stomach lesions and knowing this, according to Issues: | Food Safety, FDA Officials decided to ignore the scientific evidence and deem genetically modified crops safe, and didn’t need premarket approval without notifying the public. This is significant because citizens who are consuming these foods cannot look further into the foods they are eating and therefore are robbed of knowing the effects of the food they are consuming. This resulted in a lawsuit against the FDA where they admitted that they had made no conclusive findings about the safety of genetically modified foods. This shows that we are not able to prove without a doubt that GMOs are safe to consume. 

One may ask how difficult it may be to pinpoint what foods are safe to consume and which are not. In one study done on the negative effects of bt corn on non target species researchers found that certain effects may be subtle and complex. Which in turn, makes it easy to overlook them when doing a risk assessment during the registration process to gain approval for production from the government. A combination of genes are used from organisms such as plants, animals, and bacteria in order to genetically modify something. The then created GMO does not occur through the traditional crossbreeding methods thus it is called a transgenic crop. Doing this kind of genetic engineering eliminates most of the chance of these transgenic crops of having any undesirable traits but doesn’t mean they can’t mutate or develop new traits later down the line. Smaller or less complex organisms like plants and bugs have a quicker rate of growth compared to other organisms like humans. Researchers have noted that “A recent study has shown that monarch larvae reared for 96 hours in the laboratory on milkweed leaves dusted with pollen from Bt corn suffered significantly higher mortality (44%) within 96 hours than did larvae reared on leaves dusted with untransformed corn pollen or leaves without pollen.(Losey et al. 1999).” Transgenic Insecticidal Corn: Beyond Insecticidal Toxicity to Ecological Complexity. With this it is easy to determine that genetically altered crops could have an effect on people in the long run. With this being said it is shown that we are unable to actually determine if these GMOs are safe for use long term. 

These genetically modified crops have the ability to damage the environment. It’s been scientifically proven that most of the crops that are genetically modified are a kind of invasive species (Mitchel et al. 2019) “Regulation of GM Organisms for Invasive Species Control.” This can cause a catastrophic effect on the biodiversity of the area where these crops are planted. One major focus of concern is that genetically modified crops will crossbreed with each other and this can cause this new trait to spread and affect other invasive species. “The issues of risk of GM crops deal with the ecology and toxicology of GM crops upon release and use. There is a continued discussion whether more broad ’risks‘ should be part of the basic biosafety assessment” (Commandeur et al., 1996; Sagar et al., 2000) “The release of genetically modified crops into the environment”. This can cause these other species to have the same survivability as the GMO and can make it extremely hard to dispose of them. This could result in an environmental disaster affecting the food chains of every biome and potentially advance the development of the extinction process. Furthermore, the use of GMOs in the environment can lead to the development of super diseases and/or pests that would have complete immunity against traditional control methods. This can completely devastate natural organisms and genetically altered ones as well since these new pests/diseases could have the same or even advanced traits due to crossbreeding or mutations. 

Even though  all of these problems have been unfounded none of them are going to be instant changes. Which proves nothing other than what the possibilities could be. We can’t really know as of now if GMOs are entirely safe, just because it is unfounded now doesn’t mean it can’t develop in the future. This evidence is leading us to believe that we should be wary when deciding whether or not genetically modified foods are really safe or if it is worth the risks. 

Ultimately, we do not know the possibilities of what can happen or be done by scientists in the process of modifying our crops genetically. This is why we should be against the use of these methods when cultivating our food, caring for our environment, and creating GMOs. 

Works Cited 

Bawa, A S, and K R Anilakumar. “Genetically Modified Foods: Safety, Risks and Public Concerns-a Review.” Journal of Food Science and Technology, Springer India, Dec. 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3791249/. 

Conner, Anthony J., et al. “The Release of Genetically Modified Crops into the Environment.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 8 Jan. 2003, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.0960-7412.2002.001607.x. 

“Genetically Engineered Foods: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002432.htm. 

“Issues: | GE Foods.” Center for Food Safety, www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/311/ge-foods/ge-food-and-your-health. 

Obrycki, John J., et al. “Transgenic Insecticidal Corn: Beyond Insecticidal Toxicity to Ecological Complexity: Analysis of Transgenic Insecticidal Corn Developed for Lepidopteran Pests Reveals That the Potential Benefits of Crop Genetic Engineering for Insect Pest Management May Not Outweigh the Potential Ecological and Economic Risks.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 May 2001, academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/51/5/353/243984. 

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “GMO Crops, Animal Food, and Beyond.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/gmo-crops-animal-food-and-beyond. 

“Issues: | Food Safety.” Center for Food Safety, www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/308/food-safety/about-food-safety#:~:text=FDA%20officials%20also%20were%20aware,foods%20was%20to%20ignore%20it. 

Obrycki, John J., et al. “Transgenic Insecticidal Corn: Beyond Insecticidal Toxicity to Ecological Complexity: Analysis of Transgenic Insecticidal Corn Developed for Lepidopteran Pests Reveals That the Potential Benefits of Crop Genetic Engineering for Insect Pest Management May Not Outweigh the Potential Ecological and Economic Risks.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 May 2001, academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/51/5/353/243984. 

Mitchell, Heidi J., and Detlef Bartsch. “Regulation of GM Organisms for Invasive Species Control.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 19 Dec. 2019, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00454/full. 

Bawa, A S, and K R Anilakumar. “Genetically Modified Foods: Safety, Risks and Public Concerns-a Review.” Journal of Food Science and Technology, Springer India, Dec. 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3791249/. 

Billy Nolan

Honey Bees are vanishing at an alarming rate and it’s estimated within the next few decades that they and many other insect species will go extinct and vanish forever. At first, this doesn’t sound like a problem to be concerned with. However, this is potentially a tremendous threat to our ecosystems because if there are no bees or insects, plants cannot be pollinated. Without this integral contribution to plant growth namely, pollination, they cannot survive. Over time many different codependent species will eventually die causing a lack of biodiversity. In result, those organisms that are reliant on plant growth could be in jeopardy as well. Unfortunately, without Honey Bees, there could be a tremendous ‘domino effect’ that could negatively affect a very intertwined ecosystem. This will eventually lead to the total collapse of all ecosystems which will systematically end almost all life on earth.

James Boyce is a Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and in his article, Rethinking Extinction, his primary focus was on the extinction of the passenger pigeon. Boyce touches on subjects such as when it occurred, what caused it and the effect it has on the American population’s beliefs about the relationship that humans have with nature. The Passenger Pigeon was once the most prevalent bird on earth and the extinction brought into question American citizens’ treatment towards nature. There was one positive effect of this species going extinct; it was that it brought awareness to the public that humans are nature’s greatest threat. We are a danger to the environment as well as the cause of the growing extinction rate. Our carelessness can and will lead to countless other species facing extinction and we can possibly cause the sixth mass extinction. A mass extinction is when multiple organisms become extinct in a very short period time normally caused by a catastrophic course of events. Fred Pearce notes in his article, Global Extinction Rates: Why Do Estimates Vary so Wildly? that Ninety-nine percent of all species that have ever lived have gone extinct over the course of five mass extinctions. With that awareness brought to the foreground, different environmental laws were put into place to prevent other species at risk from suffering the same fate of the passenger pigeon. Unfortunately, Boyce did not cover or go in-depth with what those laws were called, what they did, what they protected and if they in fact actually saved any species at risk. Later in the article, Boyce acknowledged that species in the present time are now facing another threat: climate change. It is otherwise known as global warming. The author again unfortunately failed to go into more detail on that topic to support this premise. Lastly, Boyce talks about the scientific advancements in genetic engineering we have had over the course of time since the extinction of the passenger pigeon. These scientific advancements could bring this unfortunate loss of a species and others back from extinction. This premise then led Boyce to highlight some important questions such as “If we did bring back extinct species would this have a positive effect on the environment?” He also voices his concerns with the idea that if the public believed extinction was reversible then it would undermine their efforts to save them or divert the scarce resources from saving endangered species to genetic engineering. 

Overall this article was very informative and provided valuable information about the passenger pigeon and had the evidence to support the author’s claim that there should be more awareness for the extinction of species and the passenger pigeon is a paramount example of a trailblazing wake up call. Upon the growth of the population in cities, there was a contrasting decline of the passenger pigeon population. There were three to 5 billion passenger pigeons among us, now there are none, this is largely due to human interference that entailed the killing and eating of them. Boyce notes that they were cheap and easy to obtain, therefore falling to the carnage of supply and demand. However, there were a few issues with the article that are valuable to mention. One of those issues was that there was a plethora of unnecessary information, which I felt could’ve been replaced with something more valuable such as information on the laws that were passed to preserve endangered species. Boyce said “federal and state wildlife protection laws were passed”; it didn’t state what laws or what they did, he only mentioned to us that they were passed. 

Another issue was that most of the important points of the article were loosely spoken about, for example when the author mentioned that population growth in the city affected the birds, he didn’t mention how the cities growth affected them. This left me with many questions like did the city growth ruin the birds’ homes? or did it ruin the food sources? All the article mentioned was “Only 6 percent of Americans lived in cities when Martha Washington died, in 1802. In 1914, the number was closer to 50 percent. The passenger pigeon’s extinction was bound up with these changes” this information did little to nothing to give the reader the full scope of what this has to do with the passenger pigeon extinction. 

One last issue I found was that the article left out information about the changes in the environment and food chain from the disappearance of the passenger pigeon. I think this is crucial information to help the reader fully understand the full extent of the damage that extinction of a species causes to the environment. Renee Cho, a published author for E Magazine and environmental issues author brought forward an interesting example from her article, Why Endangered Species Matter in which she stated:

the impact of the wolves in Yellowstone Park, which were hunted to near extinction by 1930. Without them, the elk and deer they had preyed upon thrived, and their grazing decimated streamside willows and aspens, which had provided habitat for songbirds. This left the stream banks susceptible to erosion, and a decline in songbirds allowed mosquitoes and other insects the birds would have eaten to multiply. When the wolves were reintroduced to the park in 1995, they once again preyed on the elk; plant life returned to the stream banks and along with it, birds, beavers, fish, and other animals.

Her article also includes many other real-world examples past and present and goes further in-depth on the consequences and domino effect of its extinction. In my opinion, if Boyce implemented more of these kinds of strategies in his writing it would have been much easier to grasp the full extent of the issue.

In conclusion, we as a society must be more perceptive of the effects we have on the environment and the species that live within it. If we do not make changes now we may cause irreversible damage to our planet and all life on earth.

Works Cited MLA Format

Boyce, James K., et al. [Criticism]: Rethinking Extinction. 27 Oct. 2015, harpers.org/archive/2015/11/rethinking-extinction/.

Cho, Renee. Why Endangered Species Matter. 26 Mar. 2019, blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2019/03/26/endangered-species-matter/.

Pearce, Fred. Global Extinction Rates: Why Do Estimates Vary so Wildly? 17 Aug. 2015, e360.yale.edu/features/global_extinction_rates_why_do_estimates_vary_so_wildly.

In today’s society we are all more conscious of our decisions and the effects it has on not only our bodies but the effects on our environment as well. One of the things we as a society have started looking further into are the kind of foods we are buying, consuming, and growing. One of the aspects of the crops we have today is that most have been genetically modified to produce more or to have a better chance of survival in the fields. These genetically modified organisms, or for short they are commonly referred to as GMOs, are plants, animals, bacteria and other very small organisms that have had their DNA altered by scientists. At the end of the day we are responsible for what foods we consume and what the production of them does to our environment so with this being said I disagree with the use of genetically modified organisms in our society. One of the reasons I am against genetically modified organisms is because they have not been proven to be risk free for humans in any real clinical trials. Also another reason I am against them is since the genetic makeup of these organisms have been altered it is hard to determine if the changes can become toxic or harmful to humans in the future. Lastly, I am against the use of certain GMOs because of the ecological damage it can have on the environment. 

When people say that GMOs are virtually harmless to people they are saying that without actually looking into the full scope of the claim itself. Truth is, genetically modified crops have not been proven to be completely risk free for human consumption. The FDA considers genetically modified crops substantially equivalent to that of non genetically modified crops therefore they do not require pre market approval in order to be distributed. The main issue with that is scientists do not know enough about the genetic and chemical make up of these genetically modified crops to ensure that the changes made on them are actually safe. Since altering the crops genetics could cause an increase in the level of already known toxins and could create entirely new undiscovered toxic reactions that could be very dangerous or fatal. The first test on a genetically modified crop was the callegene flavor savour tomato, these tests showed that the consumption of this crop caused rats to have stomach lesions and knowing this FDA Officials decided to ignore the scientific evidence and deem genetically modified crops safe, didn’t need premarket approval without notifying the public. This resulted in a lawsuit against the FDA where they admitted that they had made no conclusive findings about the safety of genetically modified foods. This shows that we are not able to prove without a doubt that GMOs are safe to consume.(Board)

A combination of genes are used from organisms such as plants, animals, and bacteria in order to genetically modify something. The then created GMO does not occur through the traditional crossbreeding methods thus it is called a transgenic crop. Doing this kind of genetic engineering eliminates most of the chance of these transgenic crops of having any undesirable traits but doesn’t mean they can’t mutate or develop new traits later down the line. Smaller or less complex organisms like plants and bugs have a quicker rate of evolution compared to other organisms like humans. With this it is easy to determine that the genetically altered crops could have an effect on people in the long run. In one study done on the negative effects of bt corn on non target species researchers found that certain effects may be subtle and complex. Which in turn makes it easy to overlook them when doing a risk assessment during the registration process to gain approval for production from the government. With this being said it is shown that we are unable to actually determine if these GMOs are safe for use long term. (Obrycki, et.all) 

These genetically modified crops have the ability to damage the environment. It’s been scientifically proven that most of the crops that are genetically modified are a kind of invasive species. This can cause a catastrophic effect on the biodiversity of the area where these crops are planted. One major focus of concern is that genetically modified crops will crossbreed with each other and this can cause this new trait to spread and affect other invasive species. This can cause these other species to have the same survivability as the GMO and can make it extremely hard to dispose of them. Another problem is the pesticides being used cause the new crossbreed species to evolve and unintentionally target other insects or small organisms. This could result in an environmental disaster affecting the food chains of every biodome and potentially advance the development of the extinction process. Furthermore, the use of GMOs in the environment can lead to the development of super diseases and/or pests that would have complete immunity against traditional control methods. This can completely devastate natural organisms and genetically altered ones as well since these new pests/diseases could have the same or even advanced traits due to crossbreeding or mutations. (Conner, et.all)

Even though they say that all of these problems have been 

unfounded none of them are going to be instant changes. Which proves nothing other than what the possibilities could be. We can’t really know as of now if GMOs are entirely safe, just because it is unfounded now doesn’t mean it can’t develop in the future. The evidence for both sides of the argument is basically equivalent in their findings. Leading us to believe that we should be wary when deciding whether or not genetically modified foods are really safe or if it is worth the risks. (Team) 

Ultimately, we do not know the possibilities of what can happen or be done by scientists in the process of modifying our crops genetically. This is why we should be against the use of these methods when cultivating our food, caring for our environment, and creating GMOs. 

Team, Editorial. “Genetically Engineered Foods: Medlineplus Medical Encyclopedia.” 2020. Web. 2021.

Board, Editorial. “Issues: | Ge Foods.” 2021. Web. 13 Apr. 2021.

Obrycki, John J., John E. Losey, Orley R. Taylor, and Laura C. H. Jesse. “Transgenic Insecticidal Corn: Beyond Insecticidal Toxicity to Ecological Complexity: Analysis of Transgenic Insecticidal Corn Developed for Lepidopteran Pests Reveals That the Potential Benefits of Crop Genetic Engineering for Insect Pest Management May Not Outweigh the Potential Ecological and Economic Risks.” 01 May 2001. Web. 2021.

Conner, Anthony J., Travis R. Glare, and Jan-Peter Nap. “The Release of Genetically Modified Crops into the Environment.” The Plant Journal. 8 Jan. 2003. Web. 2021. <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.0960-7412.2002.001607.x>.

I believe the main purpose of my argument will be targeting if GMOs are safe to consume, what general risk or negative effects it can and/or has had on the environment as well as what they can actually do to the food that is being genetically engineered. I’ll probably talk about how they are being regulated. I’ll probably be going into some background information to first describe genetically engineered food and the process of how they are made before going into my argument. I feel like that would help the reader better understand the general concept of genetically modified food After explaining what they are I will then start on if there should be more regulations. From my quick scan of sources, I believe I’ll most likely need some more info on what they actually put into these genetically engineered foods as well as some more information on the positives of GMOs. This way I can get an equal understanding of both sides to make my argument stronger. I’m not too sure about my main claim yet since theirs a lot of information to sort through and I’m still deciding whether I want to target genetically modified food in general or focus mainly on one type (corn maybe?). I know what side of the argument I am leaning towards as I believe the main supporter of the positives are corporations trying to argue its safety in consumption while hiding possible side effects due to the fact that genetically engineered food is relatively faster and cheaper to produce

Team, Editorial. Genetically Engineered Foods: Medlineplus Medical Encyclopedia. 2020, medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002432.htm

This article explains what genetically engineered food and how it functions

Board, Editorial. Issues: | Ge Foods. 2021, www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/311/ge-foods/ge-food-and-your-health

This article gives lots of valuable information and brings attention to how little the FDA regulates genetically engineered food

Norris, Megan L. Will GMOs Hurt My Body? The Public’s Concerns and How Scientists Have Addressed Them. 10 Aug. 2015, sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/will-gmos-hurt-my-body/

this article is on the side that genetically engineered food wont hurt your body

Bawa, A S, and K R Anilakumar. Genetically Modified Foods: Safety, Risks and Public Concerns-a Review. Dec. 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3791249/.

this article brings attention to genetically modified foods safety, risks, and public concerns

Conner, Anthony J., and Jeanne M.E. Jacobs. Genetic Engineering of Crops as Potential Source of Genetic Hazard in the Human Diet. Oct. 1998, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1383574299000204?via=ihub

this article talks about genetic engineering in crops and their yields

Obrycki, John J., et al. Transgenic Insecticidal Corn: Beyond Insecticidal Toxicity to Ecological Complexity: Analysis of Transgenic Insecticidal Corn Developed for Lepidopteran Pests Reveals That the Potential Benefits of Crop Genetic Engineering for Insect Pest Management May Not Outweigh the Potential Ecological and Economic Risks. 1 May 2001, academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/51/5/353/243984?login=true

this article talks more specifically on genetically modified corn

The question I’m interested in looking into is if the genetic engineering of crops/plants is good for the environment. We all eat food and need it to survive. But with overpopulation and other factors facing our environment, we do not always have enough in supply for the demand. I know some sides argue it’s great for helping plants and crops thrive during a drought and others argue that it can create invasive species that affect another plant as well as wildlife. But to find out more information I plan on looking through some scholarly articles as well as studies regarding genetically altered plants/crops. In terms of photo essays, a thematic one would work best as it would help tell a specific subject. during this pandemic, we experienced…..what truly got me thinking about this topic. I am glad I can use this essay to thoroughly look into this subject. we experienced many shortages in items that were essential to our lifestyles and that is what truly got me thinking about this topic and I am glad I can thoroughly look into this paper.

After reading through your essay I’d like to say overall it looks pretty good but I noticed you didn’t Reference any other articles Besides one. Also I would like to thank you for your service, I think this topic was a perfect pick for you given your previous work in this field. I would also like to ask where you heard or read that recruiters In the army were usually special forces? I would like you to clarify this since you mention that your personal experience differed from this information. I do have to say that I enjoyed the detail you went into about the different social tactics being used to recruit people in order to keep up with modern times. Who would have guessed that your local recruiter would be playing Pokémon go with you. Overall I think you have a very well put together paper. But I do think you can improve on making everything flow more cohesively by adding a bit more information and fixing certain transitions.