Karim Bidaoui

10C

Mr. Basil Harb

27/03/2022

GM’s and the Reproduction of Plants

What is GM? Widely knowns as genetic modification, it is the process to change the

characteristics of any organism, by transferring a piece of DNA from one organism to the

another. Humans use this process in altering plants to benefit them; how does this impact the

reproduction of plants both positively and negatively?

Figure 1: The process of genetic modification.

Humans have always interfered with other organisms, especially plants. Form cross

breeding to GM, humans have done it to benefit themselves, for specific traits that is needed
from that plant to produce what humans need. From cross breeding to domestication humans

have always interfered with the environment around them.

An example of positive effects of GM is the Bt gene which is used in corn, cotton,

and soybeans to become resistant to a bacteria known as Bacillus thuringiensis. It also makes

them more resistant to pests and more. Some make them more fruitful or longer lasting,

which do not affect their reproduction. This can also lead to more of that plant and allow

them to continue growing and spread through breeding with natural and genetic modified

versions of the plant producing stronger results, allowing them to spread more of their gene

and traits in more environments. This can be helpful in a controlled environment allowing for

stronger plants.

Although, there are some negative effects, one of the main ones being biodiversity.

Biodiversity is all life on earth and all the different genes that each organism contains. With

GM we are modifying every plant to have the same genes, this can lead to no biodiversity

with all the plants having the same gene, when mated with GM version of the plant. If this

trait is too advantages to the species, it might only contain that gene not allowing for

biodiversity. This might lead to specific disease or bacteria to be able to wipe out the entire

population of the species, which will react the same since their genes are the same over the

species. GMOs might have different affects since there had been no studies of its

reproduction in the wild. This might lead to something similar to an invasive species, which

might change the whole environment it is introduced to.

In conclusion, there are many positive and negative affects on the reproduction of

plants. The positives helps humans with agriculture and mass production of food, in a

controlled environment, although the negatives of removing biodiversity and the unknown of

how it will affect an ecosystem is controversial. They might impact it in a negative way such
as an invasive species. GM has changed plants and how it affects humans, but has yet to

change them in the wild, and that separation should always exist since the affects on plants

are unknown and still being discovered today.

Works Cited:

Lotz, Bert, and Rene Smuldres. “Genetic Modification.” WUR,

https://www.wur.nl/en/dossiers/file/genetic-modification-1.htm.

Anna Lamb, et al. “Challenging Evolution: How Gmos Can Influence Genetic Diversity.”
Science in the News, 12 Aug. 2015,
https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/challenging-evolution-how-gmos-can-
influence-genetic-diversity/.

Raman, Ryan. “GMOs: Pros and Cons, Backed by Evidence.” Healthline, Healthline Media,
2 July 2020, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/gmo-pros-and-cons#pros.