GMO - Unit 4 Research Investigation

[mayellie101]

Hi guys!
For unit 4 biology, I am doing my IA3 (research investigation) and have selected a claim around the word of 'genetically modified organisms can solve world food shortage issues'. I have found lots of information on different GMO increasing crop yield, and consequently decreasing food shortages, but I have only managed to find actual statistics on bt-corn and most the grade has chosen this crop. I was just wondering whether anyone knew of any case studies to look into? I originally was talking to my teacher about doing Golden Rice and its Vitamin-A qualities, but due to its lack of commercial use, there are no human (or animal) studies to back up my research. I was thinking about doing a comparison to before/after GMO use and linking it to the claim. Please let me know if anyone had any advice about which direction to head in to help me out I found a little bit on soybeans, as well as drought-resistant wheat, but I can't find a lot of data/graphs. I'm trying to do my best on this assessment, as I have consistently received high marks and would like to maintain this
Thank you so much!
From May 

[Bri MT]

Hi May!

It sounds like you're on the right track for how you are thinking about this.

There are three main angles I can think of for this topic:
- increasing crop yield (could also consider resistance to various things here)
- decreased negative environmental effects (potentially allowing more land to be used for cropping)
- increasing nutritional value of crops
- socioeconomic connections


You might find this a useful starting place for your research to get ideas on what kinds of GM crops are out there.   Let me know if this helps (or not) - if needed I can try to dig up the GMO assignment I did in first year uni and see what examples I used there

Best of luck!

[mayellie101]

Thanks so much Bri!
That really helps, I think I was just struggling to find actual "data" but I'll consider the things you mentioned. If you could find your Uni assignment that would be amazing!
Thanks again
- May

[jknow43]

Hi I've just received my IA3 and my chosen claim is:  Recombinant DNA Technology has made considerable improvements to the quality of human life.

I've also already come up with a research question which is: Is β-carotene found in the biofortification of Golden rice sufficient in improving Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) for humans in developing countries, and hence reduces the risk of blindness?
 
I'm just struggling to connect the claim to my research question in the rationale. And what key information that should be in my background information. Thanks in advance! (P.S. Sorry for posting this twice