▶ Your Answer :
The professor is skeptical about the benefits of genetically modified (GM) crops. According to the professor, GM crops are not going to benefit humans greatly and recent praises for GM crops are overstated. This counters the reading passage’s claim that GM crops have many benefits for human.
First, the professor points out that the idea of solving the famine problem with GM crops is not realistic. There are already enough food to feed all the people around the world. The real problem is unequal distribution of food; The poor has difficulty in having access to food. Thus, producing more food with GM crops cannot diminish the hunger problem at all. This casts doubt on the reading passage’s claim that GM crops can help solve the problem of world hunger by increasing crop yields.
On top of that, the professor contends that GM crops are more costly than ordinary crops. Since many biogenetic corporations invest billions of dollars to the development of GM crops and expect to make profits, the seeds of GM crops are expensive. Furthermore, GM crops usually need more water than ordinary ones. As a result, GM crops cannot help but be priced higher than not-genetically-modified crops. This also rebuts the reading passage’s claim that GM crops can cut down the price of food by reducing the loss of crops to unfavorable conditions.
Finally, the professor asserts that vaccines produced by GM crops have the same problem with conventional vaccines. Vaccines are commonly made with bananas and tomatoes and these fruits can be spoiled easily. Thus they should be continuously preserved in cool condition. This is not an exception for vaccines made by GM crops. As a result, GM crops do not make it more available for poor, developing countries to store and ship fruit plants which are ingredients for vaccines. This contradicts the reading passage’s claim that GM crops can produce vaccines that are more widely available than earlier ones. |