RJA #15: Reflection

I have learned a great deal in this class to be honest. I think most importantly is how to do proper research and where exactly to look for pertinent information for a topic. Internet research has become a huge part of basic research done today and therefore can become overwhelming in its own right, due to the enormity of data out there. It helps to know which databases exist and for what purpose, be it scholarly, a wiki, news sites and published material, including books and journals. It's amazing the breadth of information is out there, but it's also a student beware situation though because not all sources are reliable or accurate.

In terms of writing a paper it takes a huge effort to organize all the data into an understandable and coherent thought process. Pulling information from various sources and tying them all together is one of the hardest parts in all. As always these days it is also mandatory to cite and give credit where credit is due and to know the difference between common knowledge and not common. Also knowing how to trim a paper down in scope of the topic is very tricky from what I have encountered. I really enjoyed this class and learning more on a subject I would not have otherwise gone out and done research like I did on was really fun. Overall I found this class mind opening and useful in the sense I will obviously be using these skills in the future abundantly.

Write at least one paragraph about what you learned in this class this semester–about your topic as well as about the research and writing processes–and how you will be able to use it in future classes and your professional and personal life.

RJA #14b: Application Project References

APA Style Reference Sources:

Maryansk, J. (Actor). Robin, M. (Narrator). (2008). The World According to Monsanto [Motion picture]. USA: Image & Compagnie Productions.

Smith, J. (2007). Seeds For The Future (pp. 1-139). Collingwood, Australia: CSRIO Publishing.

Government Accountability Office. (2008, November). Genetically Engineered Crops: Agencies Are Proposing Changes to Improve Oversight, but Could Take Additional Steps to Enhance Coordination and Monitoring. Retrieved May 4, 2010, from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0960.pdf

Caruso, D. (2007, April 8). How to Confine the Plants of the Future? The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/business/yourmoney/08frame.html

Kelland, K. (2010, April 26). Scientists Find New Way to Help Crops Fight Pests. USA Today. Retrieved May 4, 2010, from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-03-17-Biotech17_cv_N.htm?csp=usat.me

RJA #14a: Application Project Progress Report

For the Application project I picked writing a letter to a family member to discuss a perspective of the topic from the farmers point of view. The family member that I am writing to is my grandmother, who used to work on the farm. This is a good member to use because I can compare and contrast the old way of farming with the modern way now in use.

So far for the application project I have just started putting together the letter I am writing. It is not finished all the way but the gist of the letter is complete. In the letter I have told my grandma about all the new and fancy technology that is use these days and how it makes life so much easier. This makes the letter informational and also seem like it's actually a real letter that would be written.

To finish off the the application project I have a few more things to do. First of all I have to finish out the letter and make sure it flows and is coherent. Second I need to include some of the information from my sources so that it has some proven facts to back up the claims to my grandma with whom I am writing too. That should be about it though in finishing up the project.

RJA #13c: Application Project Example

http://www.writinghelp-central.com/friendly-letter-sample.html

In this example of an old buddy writing to catch up with a friend who has moved to Tokyo for a job. This example can help with my application project in a few ways. One is that it's good to relate past experiences to new ones to give them a reference point. This way the reader can compare the two experiences. Another is posing questions in the letter to make it more authentic, this makes it seem the person to whom one is writing will continue this pastime and write back. Good to ask questions or opinions on what they think of my situation or problems I might be having. So hopefully with this example and others they will serve to better my letter writing for the application project.

RJA #13b: Application Project Plan

For my Application Project I plan on writing on writing a letter to a family member. In the letter I will portray myself as a local farmer who has just finished my second season of planting GMO corn. I will explain my own stories and revelations I have made with planting this new crop. I seek to compare the before and after of planting GMO to non GMO corn. In the letter I hope to plainly explain to my family member what I was hoping for going into this new project and if the realities lived up to my expectations. I also hope to capture the issue from a local farmers point of view so that more people would be able to relate to the situation.

RJA #13a: Word Cloud

Word Cloud Web Address:

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1965337/GMO

RJA #12b: Field Research Report

Sharon - Associate of Wellness Bodies @ Whole Foods

What is your stance on GMO foods in our supermarkets? She had no issue with GM foods in supermarkets but thinks that consumers should have the knowledge that their food is not contaminated with crops of a GM origin. She said that since she works at Whole Foods she knows that none of their products are sourced from GM crops so this is not a concern to her. But that families that cannot afford Whole Foods should have the choice like her in places like King Soopers to "vote with their wallet" as she put it.

Do you think they should be labeled separately from non-GMO products? She does think so. It's only fair to the shopper that they have the choice of ingesting GM food into their bodies. She said that scientists have not proven the fact that GM foods are just as safe as their regular counterparts.

Do you think processed foods should also be labeled? This is always a point of contention when brought up, she says. She said she knows that processed foods usually have no difference from their non GM counterpart. But that a consumer should be given a choice if they want to support GM food or not. Just because someone can't tell the difference in processed food doesn't mean they should have to indirectly support them.

RJA #12a: Annotated Bibliography, Part 3

This news article is about the debate of genetically modified crops in the public food system. It sets out to contrast the use of GMOs in different countries and the stance they take. Most notable between the US and Europe. It also highlights the introduction of China into the GMO arena and how they could have a game changing effect on the debate, in favor of their use. This is a great source because it does a great job of bringing to the forefront how different countries have reacted to the introduction of GMOs over the past couple of decades. It also includes ant-GMO stance and how they take the stance of the precautionary principle.

Weise, Elizabeth. "Genetically Modified Foods Get US Traction, Global Debate." USA Today 17 Mar. 2010: 1+. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

This informational article is about a technique used to genetically engineer plants. It is a good informational piece because it shows describes how genetic engineering was a chaotic process, fraught with misfires and lots of luck. The explanation it gives on the process are set in lay mans terms so they are much easier to comprehend. It also gives a little bit of background on the introduction of the gene gun and for what purposes it was mainly used for.

Smith, S E. "What is a Gene Gun?." WiseGeek. N.p., Jan. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

This online document was created by the Government Accountability Office, which is a nonpartisan committee that examines and proposes policy changes and improvements. It is a excellent document because it gives a background on the current and past US actions with relation to GMO regulations. Also it looks at the risks posed by GMOs and rates the performance by the regulatory agencies in mitigating this risk. The report also proposes future changes to policy to strengthen the current framework and how the development of future products might be impacted by them.

"Genetically Engineered Crops: Agencies Are Proposing Changes to Improve Oversight, but Could Take Additional Steps to Enhance Coordination and Monitoring." Government Site. Government Accountability Office, Nov. 2008. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

RJA #10c: Ideas for the Application Project

1) Write an Op-Ed piece describing my position on GMOs currently

2) Write a personal letter to family members on what they should know about GMOs

3) Write a news article about an aspect of GMO infiltration into the food supply

4) Write a dialogue between a farmer and a consumer of his crops

RJA #9b: Argument

Research Question: Do the benefits of GMOs outweigh the known and unknown risks they pose to human and environmental health?

Claim/Thesis: The ubiquity of raising GMOs for use in the food system is an alarming and looming threat to environmental, which needs to be reevaluated for the future safety of our most basic food staples and current human health as well.

Arguments For: 1) We don't yet know how changing the DNA of a food crop will impact human health and animals for which they are used as feed.

2) It is still not proven if the GMO can cross breed with its wild counterparts and the effect of this out breeding.

3) The natural insecticides and herbicides these GMOs produce could have an unforeseen effect on their surrounding environment and cause unwanted resistance buildup to readily available chemicals.

4) The use of GMOs causes a sever loss of biodiversity of certain land races particularly in Mexico, the birthplace of the modern corn. Without this biodiversity if ever a strain were to fall ill to a virus or bacterium an entire food crop would cease to exist for the forseeable future.

Counter Arguments: 1) We have always consumed DNA and adding some here and there is no different than traditional breeding currently does to plants.

2) In the growing of GMOs we have developed ways of cutting down the risk of out breeding with other non target species, such as hedges and other separating plants.

3) By stacking and altering genes used to produce certain chemicals to fight pests and weeds we can substantially decrease the chance of either one becoming predominately resistant to the chemicals and therefore genes.

RJA #9c: Presentation Plan

I) Introduction

A) GMO definition

B) Arguments and Counter Arguments for GMOs

C) Slight history on market for GMOs

II) Where GMOs Exist Today

A) GMOs in the Economy

1) Farming

2) Medical

III) Existence of GMOs in Farming

A) Food Production

1) Safety of Products in the market

2) Safety of Products in the environment

B) Current Regulations for GMOs in Food Production

1) Existing government regulation

2) Flaws or oversights in this regulation

IV) Consequences of US Regulation

A) Environmental Weaknesses with Current Regulation

B) What should be done to rectify weaknesses

V) Conclusion

A) Sum up arguments and counterarguments

RJA #9a: Thesis Statement

Research Question: Should genetically modified organisms be allowed to be grown and used in the public food system?

Precise Claim: Because of the immense power of GMOs and the associated unknowns not yet known GMOs should be used on a very limited basis.

Reasons/Blueprint: GMOs are grown out in the openness of nature where they can easily and do mingle with other wild plant relatives and other species.

The regulations in place during the inception of GMO use were not strong or stringent enough to thoroughly test the safety to the environment and human health.

Complete Thesis Statement: The ubiquity of raising GMOs for use in the food system is an alarming and looming threat to environmental, which needs to be reevaluated for the future safety of our most basic food staples and current human health as well.

RJA #7b: Field Research Suggestions

http://cbath.blogspot.com/2010/02/rja-6c-field-research-options.html#comment-form

http://kwill12.blogspot.com/2010/03/rja-6c-field-research-options.html#comment-form

RJA #7a: Evaluation of Sources

Book Evaluation:

The book "Seeds For The Future" is in the authors words is written with the intelligent layperson in mind. The book draws from numerous, reputable academic sources, including the National Academy of Sciences and Science. The book is published by Cornell University Press a well respected and known publisher. In the preface the author sets out to say that she tries to approach the issue from both angles of genetically modified organisms. This leads to a text that is well balanced and is not skewed to fit an ideological objective. The text is rather recent, being published in 2007 and seems to include recent data and discoveries.

Thomson, Jennifer A. (2007). Seeds For The Future: The Impact of Genetically Modified Crops on the Environment. New York: Cornell University Press

Reference Evaluation

This reference source is a government paper on drafting procedures on enhancing GMO oversight and tighter controls of their uses. It covers current trends and procedures and includes examples for GMOs currently in use in the food crops. The publishing source is obviously trustworthy and the fact checking has to be thorough considering it is a government document. Although depending on the agency and who may be in charge of drafting this source they may have a tendency to find facts and arguments to fit their political ideology. The text was published in November 2008 so the facts contain within are most definitely up to date.

United States Government Accountability Office (November 2008). Genetically Engineered Crops, GAO-09-60. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0960.pdf

Website Reference

The website source is a wholly created and self run website by writers. They make no claim to be scientists, only to provide a clear and unbiased argument about GMOs. They say on their website they do not care which side you are for just that you have all the facts before deciding. On the about us page of this site they do not advertise on the site, accept affiliate relationships or endorsements so they can stay unbiased. The site seems to be recently updated and include seemingly up to date information about the subject topic. As a source their is definitely some information that is easily accessible but will definitely need to be verified it seems to be an outlier from the general knowledge I gain as I research my paper.

Marshall, Jane. Genetically Modified Foods. (2010)

Periodical Evaluation

The periodical source I have chosen is from the New York Times newspaper. This source is definitely trustworthy as the article has been edited and fact checked for errors as most major news prints do this. The article was printed in April 2007 and therefore contains recent and up to date information on GMOs. The author may or may not have a bias towards or against GMOs. They may be writing an opinion piece, as writers are not required to be totally unbiased in their work. The article provides for some interesting insight in GMOs and their safety, to be explored more in depth. This can hopefully connect from my other sources.

Caruso, Denise. (April 8, 2007) How to Confine the Plants of the Future?. New York Times

Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/business/yourmoney/08frame.html

RJA #6c: Field Research Options

Local Professor

Dietician

Holistic Therapist

RJA #6b: Social Media and Multimedia

www.technorati.com

GMOs

2/26/2010

11

2

www.blogsearch.google.com

Genetically Modified Organisms

2/26/2010

452,767

2

www.blinkx.com

GMO

2/26/2010

17,000

2

RJA #6a: Websites

www.Ask.com

Genetically Modified Organisms

2/26/2010

4,180,000

3

www.metacrawler.com

Genetically Modified Organisms

2/26/2010

77

4

www.infomine.ucr.edu

Genetically Modified Organisms

02/26/2010

43

5

www.deepdyve.com

Genetically Modified Organisms

2/26/2010

3,615,762

4

RJA #5c: Reference Articles

-Government Accountability Office

-Genetically Engineered Crops

-Agencies Are Proposing Changes to Improve Oversight, but Could Take Additional Steps to Enhance Coordination and Monitoring

-Washington DC

-October 21, 2006

-United State Government

- Pages 1-109

-Auraria Library

-Genetically Modified

-None

-2/22/2010

-98

-4

RJA #5b: Periodical Articles

-Wendy Craig, Remigiusz Lewandowski, Giuliano Degrassi and Decio Ripandelli

-How well is Environmental Biosafety Research supporting the scientific debate on the biosafety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?

-Environmental Safety Research

-Volume 6, Number 3

-July-September 2007

-1 thru 5

-5

-Google Scholar

-Genetically Modified Organisms + Risks and Benefits

- +, And

- 2/22/2010

-2,530

-4

RJA #5a: Books

-Jennifer a. Thomson

-Seeds for the Future : The Impact of Genetically Modified Crops on the Environment

-Place of publication (include state if needed)

-Cornell University Press

-2007

-Auraria Library

-Genetically Modified

-None

-2/22/2010

-98 results

-5

-Auraria Library

-Genetically Modified

-None

-2/22/2010

-5 results

-5

-Auraria Library

-Genetically Modified Organisms

-None

-2/22/2010

-19 results

-4

RJA #4c: Research Question Check

http://darciemcdougall.blogspot.com/2010/02/rj-3c.html#comment-form

http://santiana75.blogspot.com/2010/02/rja-3-research-question.html#comment-form

RJA# 4b: Search Strings

genetically modified organisms OR GMOs

genetics engineering AND food crops

GMOs near benefits

+genetics + modified + foodstuffs

+genetic engineering + food production

+GMOs + benefits - risks

RJA #4a: Keywords

FO-Forms

Genetic

Genetically

Genetics

Modification

Modify

Modifiable

Organism

Re-Related

Engineering

DNA

Change

Changing

Changed

Different

Life form

Life

Living

Creature

Entity

Body

ST-Synonymous Terms

Science

Cells

Create

Creating

Animal

Plant

Bacteria

Ladder of Generalization:

Engineering

Genetic Engineering

Genetic Engineering of Organisms

Genetically Different Organisms

Genetically Modified Organisms

Genetically Modified Organisms Examples

Genetically Modified Organisms Benefits

Genetically Modified Organisms Benefits in Society

Genetically Modified Organisms Benefits in Crop Production

Genetically Modified Organisms Benefits in Food Production

RJA #3c: Research Question

Do the benefits of genetically modified food stuffs outweigh the inherent risks associated with the modifications?

Are the way organisms genetically modified increase or decrease the negative risks?

Should companies or individuals be allowed to patent genetic modifications?

Are governments doing enough to mitigate the known and unknown risks of GMOs?

RJA #3b: Research Topic Focus

Higher Crop Yields

More Economical

Improved Food Quality

Modified to be More Nutritious

Lower Level of Biodiversity in that Species

Emergence of New Diseases and Allergies

Super Bugs/Weeds Develop

Increased Use of Pesticides & Herbicides

Monopoly of Seed Stock and Livestock

RJA #3a: Research Topic Exploration

In researching my topic I found numerous websites pertaining to the science behind GMOs. I easily found basic information on many sites and even some sites linked up science journals. Also in my research I came across activist websites from both point of views, which is a great place to get polarized views on the subject. To round out my overall search though I would like to find some more scholarly sources and a few books on the topic.

RJA #2b: Research Topic

The topic I have selected to write about is benefits and dangers of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). I have chosen this topic not only because controversy surrounding the issue, but also because of the direct affect that it plays in our daily lives. GMOs are part of everyones daily life and most people have no realization of this fact.

I know many food crops are somewhat genetically modified already with seemingly little to no risk as of present. I also know of past instances in the news media where the subject of GMOs inclusion into the mail food supply has caused fear and uproar over their nondisclosure. Also that with GMOs their is also risk for allergies in humans and loss of biodiversity are inherent risks at play.

In writing this paper I hope to learn more in depth about how deep the proverbial rabbit hole goes with GMOs in the sense of how entrenched they already are in staple food crops. I hope to learn about other risks that are not well publicized and what is being done to dampen risk either to health and the environment. In the end though I hope to come to a conclusion of whether GMOs benefits outweigh the risks they involve.

RJA #2a: Possible Topics

Topic of Interest:

Economics

Finance

Genetically Modified Food

Gay Marriage