Unit 2 Hew Kinds of Food
Part 1
Teacher: Hi, everybody
鈥?/p>
how's it going? ... Good
.鈥as everyone turned in
their homework? All righty, then let's get started. IF you remember, last week we
were discussing some research in the area of genetics. T
oday, I'd like to talk about
something I'm sure you've all heard about-genetically modified or "GM" food.
Genetically modified food is food--either a plant or animal--that has been
altered
in the laboratory by scientists. The scientists take something from one
plant or animal, and add it to a different plant or animal to make it grow in a
different way. Today, we'll look at some of the
benefits
, and the possible
risks
of
genetically modified fond.
Let's start with a discussion of some of the
benefits
of GM food. Genetic
scientists are really trying to make food plants that are better than
normal
plants,
to make plants that are
altered
in ways that make the plant grow better or taste
better or be healthier to eat than normal plants.
One benefit is that genetically modified plants may need fewer
pesticides
than
normal
plants. For example, there is a type of corn that is bad for
insects--when the insects eat the corn plant, they die. However, the corn doesn't
hurt people. This type of corn is beneficial because farmers use fewer
pesticides
to
grow the corn, and so there is less pollution in the
environment
. Also the corn is