Development & Benefits Of GMO Products

Introduction

Company ethics, or lack thereof, has and will continue to be a popular topic. A lack of ethics within a company will sooner or later surface, leaving bad publicity as one of many issues the company now must deal with. As would be expected, the larger the company, the higher the scrutiny. Monsanto is a Fortune 500 sustainable agriculture company that delivers agricultural products that support farmers around the globe (Monsanto, 2015). Although the ethics of this case are not very clear, this case study will delve into whether or not Monsanto acted ethically.

Efficacy of Monsanto’s Ethical Culture

Monsanto found it difficult to keep a high standard of ethics as we have seen in this case study. Unfortunately, ethical wrongdoing by Monsanto was found true time and time again. Even at the very inception of the company, there existed multiple ethical issues. It has even gone so far that Monsanto is reportedly Americas third most hated company (Bennett, 2014). According to the Monsanto website, they are heavily involved in giving, social responsibility and sustainability. This is no doubt an attempt to change the overall negative public perception of the company. In addition, changing genetics of life is in one way or another playing the role of God. It is changing something from the way it was organically designed. Genetic engineering and enhancement have been around for 15 years so many have accepted that there are virtually no side effects to the process. (Eenennaam, 2011) Even still, widespread use of GMOs could cause issues when they try to pollinate with natural plants. Ethically, messing with creation is not always a good place to be in.

Costs and Benefits of Growing GMO Seed

GMO products and seeds, have caused much controversy for a variety of reasons. Many take issues with GMO products for health reasons but GMO products, including seeds from Monsanto, must undergo extensive testing and research before they can be approved. There is no room for error in testing these new seeds as there could be devastating effects should the final products not be completely safe to consume. Because Monsanto is a leader in GMO seed production, they are associated with both the good and the bad that accompanies GMO products. An immediate “cost” of GMO seeds to Monsanto is having to deal with the backlash of changing something that has been the same since the beginning of time. Because of the sensitive nature of food, one mistake and Monsanto could be in deep trouble, with little chance of ever recovering. Despite the apparent impending doom upon the whole genetically modified product, many are interested in the benefits as well.

According to Morris (2011), there is a trend that is shifting further from a strict emphasis on risks and is instead showing a want to learn more about these new products. There seem to be numerous benefits to genetically modified products. If they are as advertised, the new seeds are supposed to be much more consistent in what they produce, thus helping farmers greatly as consistency is a rarity in farming. In addition, these new GMO seeds would be resistant to pests and weeds, thus vastly reducing waste and subpar product. This, in turn, would in turn help the consumer as prices would be cheaper as the farmer would have a greater quantity due to not having to throw away damaged product. According to Morris (2011), many are calling for benefits to be considered when regulations are being made for genetically modified products. To truly know the cost-benefit of GMOs, it must be compared directly to the cost-benefit of rival products that do not feature genetic enhancement. To many farmers, GMOs seem to be worth the risk. With the incredible amount of people around the world who do not have food, genetic enhancement offers some sort of future to making sure that less people go hungry. Advances in genetic engineering could allow more to grow more plentifully. Even more important, grow in hard earth.

Management of Harm to Plants and Animals

Despite the many perceived advantages of GMOs, many are concerned about what GMO seeds mean for plants and animals apart from the crops. Changing the genetic makeup of an organism can have unintended consequences. According to Eenennaam (2013), over 70% of harvested genetically engineered biomass is eaten by food producing animals. This would present a major problem if there was every any complication with the GMO feed. Thus, the European Commission is requiring a two-year test on rodents to ensure that the feed is indeed safe and that there are no long-term consequences to the genetically modified feed. Thankfully, hundreds of peer-reviewed tests have been conducted and they have come the conclusion that genetically enhanced plants can be used in feed and that there have has been no noticeable trace of rDNA fragments in any of the food produced by the animal (Eenennaam, 2013). Even still, there are many concerns about GMOs and the environment. Unfortunately, Monsanto is unlikely to look into any concerns that are brought up by their genetically enhanced products because any convicting material found could significantly reduce the amount of money brought in by their products. A common fear with GMOs is that transgenes engineered into crops could be unintentionally put into the genomes of wild plant relatives (Steward; Halfhill; Warwick. 2003). This could possibly have devastating effects on the environment and could even break new gene barriers (Steward; Halfhill; Warwick. 2003).

Conclusion

Monsanto, despite all the controversy surrounding their genetically modified products, has continued to release vastly successful seeds and other products. Because of its success, genetically enhanced products are almost guaranteed to grow and become more even more widespread than it already is. Major issues that still face genetic engineered plants include vertical or horizontal gene flow, effects on biodiversity and other ecological impacts. (Connor; Glare; Nap, 2003). There is no easy answer to these questions and they are all issues that should be researched thoroughly before expanding use of GMOs.

References:

1. Monsanto Company. Who we are. (2015). Retrieved September 23, 2018, from http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/pages/default.aspxBennett, Drake. Inside Monsanto, Americas third-most-hated company.
2. Bloomburg. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-03/gmo-factory-monsantos-high-tech-plans-to-feed-the-worldMorris, Jane E. A semi-quantitative approach to GMO risk-benefit analysis.
3. SpringerLink. (2011). Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11248-010-9480-8Eenennaam, Alison L Van. GMOs in animal agriculture: time to consider both costs and benefits in regulatory evaluations.
4. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology. (2013). Retrieved from http://jasbsci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2049-1891-4-37