What Are Genetically Modified Organism ( Gmos ) - 3734 Words

What are GMOs and Why are they so controversial What are Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs)? A Genetically Modified Organism is any living that has had it’s genetics material altered through the use of genetic engineering. (Dictionary.com) This alteration usually involves taking one living thing’s genetic material, such as DNA, and inserting it into another organism. It is part of an ever growing field of science called genetic engineering. Most of the time that you hear about genetic engineering is in reference to the crops and vegetables that we find in our supermarkets. We hear a lot of conflicting sides about if we should eat GMOs and if they are healthy. Before we look at if GMOs are or are not healthy, it is important to understand†¦show more content†¦In truth, while this is possible, the most common source for DNA to make GMOs is simple bacteria. Scientists use Restriction Enzymes to cut out small parts of DNA from bacteria. Restriction enzymes have a unique shape and act like tiny scissors that cut DNA into small segments. These enzymes are na turally found in bacteria. They are the bacteria’s defense mechanism against viruses. If a virus gets into this bacteria, the enzymes cut up the DNA making the Virus harmless. (â€Å"How Are GMOs Made?†) Scientist have harvested many different types of restriction enzymes. Each type of restriction enzyme has a distinct shape and attaches to a specific part of DNA where it eventually makes the cut. Through the use of specific restriction enzymes, scientists can cut out the exact part of the bacteria’s DNA that they would like to use. Once they have a small snippet of DNA from a bacteria that is responsible for what they want to get, like size or taste, they have to get it into the organism. In order to accomplish this a vector is used. The vectors that are used are essentially viruses that have the ability to go into a living thing and insert their own DNA into them. There are other types of vectors besides viruses, but they are the most commonly used. Usually these kind of viruses are very harmful to their hosts, but scientists have removed the harmful part of the virus and instead of it inserted the desired DNA section that they