Genetically Modified Organisms Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Genetically Modified Organisms - Research Paper Example This paper will focus on discussing several issues concerning genetically modified organisms. In the first section, the paper will define these organisms and describe the process of their production. In addition, the paper will pay attention to the myths and truths surrounding GMOs, and outline the areas of application. All the organisms have a definitive genetic makeup that determines the traits that they exhibit. Since the genotype determines all the phenotypic characteristics of organism, any change in the genetic set up translates to a change in the phenotype. This forms the basis of the construction of genetically modified organisms. After the success of several fundamental studies that sought to analyze the genetic constitution of organisms, science moved to a different level (Tyagi, 2009). After scientists succeeded in sequencing several genomes, this success served as a benchmark in understanding the entire genetic constitution in an organism. Moreover, the discovery of restr iction enzymes played a critical role in making gene recombination a possibility. The application of the new knowledge helped scientists develop techniques of altering the genotype of an organism (U.S. Department of Energy Genome Program, 2012). Genetically modified organisms are organisms whose genetic constitution has been altered the introduction of gene from a different species, conferring a new trait to the organism. The production of genetically modified organism focuses on exploiting the positive side of the modification process. Therefore, scientists only seek to induce genetic changes that confer positive qualities such as resistance to diseases and pests. Currently, there are genetically modified organisms from both the plant and animal families (Philips, 2008). The initial genetically modified organisms had only one gene inserted into their genomes and exhibited only one additional quality that was not evident in the wild types. However, the recent advances in biotechnolo gy have presented new realms of inserting several genes into the genome of an organism. Scientists introduced genetically modified organisms as way of scientifically introducing a desirable trait to an organism (Antoniou, Robinson, & Fagan, 2012). Prior to the development of modifying organisms by introducing a new gene, scientists had tried artificial breeding to replace the rather random natural selection. This confirms that science is directly linked with GM. Natural selection denotes the natural breeding that occurs without the influence of the choice of mates by humans. In this case, breeding within species occurs only under the control of the law of inheritance as described by Mendel. According to Mendel, the offspring inherits one of each pair of characters that are different in the parent’s genotype (Kuldell, 2005). However, for each gene, one allele is dominant, explaining the law of dominance as explained further by Mendel. Mendel provided laws that served to explai n the inheritance of qualities through the dominant-recessive principles. Mendel’s work formed a strong foundation for understanding genetics. Other geneticists later described co dominance and incomplete dominance; patterns that are important have proved to be of great significance in understanding the inheritance of some critical traits. Patterns of inheritance that surround natural selection often confer undesirable traits. Therefore, artificial selection came into place to exert a level of control