Could Genetic Modification of Fruits and Vegetables Be Beneficial to Human, Animal and Environmental Health?

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d Genetic Modification of fruits and vegetables be beneficial to human, animal and environmental health? Problem: Around the world many young children and adults are suffering from malnutrition leading to disease and mortality. The World Health Organisation estimates that there are 178 million malnourished children worldwide, all of whom are less able to fend off disease and 20 million of whom are at risk of death, showing that we need to find a solution for this growing problem. (4) The body as a whole needs to receive the correct amount of vitamins, minerals and other crucial nutrients for its organs and tissues to function properly and to keep them healthy. People who live in more economically privileged countries, predominately Europe tend not to suffer as badly from malnutrition, but with the growing number of obesity rates and heart disease there is a clear indication of an unhealthy, unbalanced diet. They may have the recourses available but many are receiving not enough nutrition in their diets. Due to this large summons of money has been invested into research to develop fruit and vegetables using Genetic Modification with enhanced use of antioxidants. Inadequate or unbalanced diets are a main culprit of malnutrition, although medical issues such as digestive problems also can lead to it. The illnesses symptoms include fatigue, depression, pneumonia, starvation and a weakened immune system; which increases the likelihood of infection and prone to disease, damaging the body further. Much of the research has been focused on fruit and vegetables as they are the main suppliers of vitamins and nutrients in our diet. At the John Innes centre a government funded researcher based in Norfolk, U.K have been looking into genetically modifying plants to give the consumer potential health benefits. When recently visiting the facility we looked at current

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