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Genetically Modified Organisms
Genetic engineering is an emerging science in the field of biotechnology. That is to say, scientists are now able to work at the microscopic level, manipulating the very building blocks of life—genes—in order to force the expression of certain desirable traits in an organism. Genetic engineering has led to the development of improved varieties of plants that are, for example, immune to certain stressors in the environment, such as disease or particular pesticides. These plants are called genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. They are also referred to as transgenic plants. A GMO can be any living thing with altered genetic material (DNA), allowing selected genes to be transferred from one organism to another and between nonrelated species. Since its initial application in the 1970s, ...
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