Check the meaning of the words in the box. Use the words to complete the text below.
| alter crops diseases gaene genetic engineering herbicides nutrients weeds |
The Fish Tomato and other GM Foods
1. Did you know that scientists have put a fish (1) _______ into a tomato? They did it to develop tomatoes which can grow in cold temperatures.
2. So what are genes? Genes are instructions which exist inside every cell of every living thing. Each cell in the human body contains about 25,000 to 35,000 genes which determine your eye colour, how tall you are, what skills you have, and so on. So if you (2) _______ a plant gene, you can change a specific characteristic like colour, shape or height.
3. (3) _______ changes the genes of plants or animals to make genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Scientists believe that GMOs can help us in many ways. For example, GM (4) _______ can produce more food which contains more (5) _______. They can also have an engineered resistance to insects and (6) _______, and stay fresh for longer. GMOs can make fish grow larger and make cows produce healthier milk. Some people think that if we want to feed the world’s population, we will need GMOs.
4. But does genetic engineering work? Farmers use (7) _______ to kill weeds, but these chemicals can also damage crops. In the USA, farmers use GM crops which resist herbicides, so that they can destroy (8) _______ without damaging the crop. However, some ‘superweeds’ are becoming immune to the herbicides, so the farmers have to use more and more chemicals.
5. Food is very important to all of us and many people believe we are what we eat. These people are worried about the overuse of chemicals and the possible effects of eating GMOs. Some governments oppose them. What do you think?