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Sally Salim
Ibu Alissa
Biology 10
December 14 2015
Genetically Modification Organism in Tomatoes
Tomato or (Solanum lycopersicum) is originated from the Andes, in what is
now called Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador, there the tomatoes grew really wildly.
GMO or genetically moderated organisms are organism whose genetic material has
been manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering. Genetic engineering
used to kick off bacteria inside a product. Agrobacterium Tumefactions has the ability
to kick out a benign tumor growth in the plant, eventually scientist used this to see if
itll help tomato from rotting but the first try was a failure.
In 1993, about seventy million tones of tomatoes were produced worldwide
and today it involves food that is being sent to the producer, processor, retailer, and
also consumer. It is really important that ripe fruit and vegetables do not perish on the
journey due to their soft skins. TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus) is a virus that often
happens in tomatoes. The most visible symptoms when TMV happens is a dark-green
pattern on the tomatoes leaf and when the tomatoes are produces inside it would be
rotten or it turns blackish really quickly. In order for this problem to be solved
scientist came up with an idea to create the transgenic tomato. A gene from E. coli or
known as the bacterium occurs naturally happens in only mammal, and the FLAVR
SAVR is a gene that is taken from the tomatoes and is inserted into the ring of the
DNA. This is effective because bacteria in the tomatoes that caused the vegetables or
fruit to rotten fast could be gone and it surely helps the farmers a lot. Farmers and
scientist works together to faced the problem that is happening in tomatoes, and they

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finally have found the way to solved the problem and it is by inserting gene of E.Coli
to the ring of the DNA and this could help the tomatoes to be more impervious.
The main reason why the scientist makes this GMO product towards the
tomatoes is because they have seen a lot of problem with the ripeness of the fruits or
vegetables that needs to be send abroad or even outside the island. Vegetables and
fruits that have thin layer of skin could be easily rotten. Farmers are confused that
their vegetables are not ripped and they got a lot of complaints about the freshness of
the tomatoes. Which makes them really confused on what to do with it. Sometimes
there could be the plant that has a problem. This can cause a lot of money also time to
take care of it. But after the scientist takes the initiative to insert a gene inside the
tomatoes it could help a lot and solved the problem too.
Genetically modified Organism (GMO) has a lot of benefits in terms of
farming activity. GMOs are supposed to be the one who help the farming We are not
sure about the damages in our health and in our environment that modified organism
could make. For some countries Genetically modified tomatoes are not allowed and
also not approved in for example Europe and North America genetically modified
tomatoes are not allowed and no longer cultivated in those countries, because they
think that it is not good for the consumer and they think it is their priorities to keep the
materials as fresh as possible.
In conclusion, GMO could help a lot in agricultural things but then in terms of
peoples health GMO are not good too be consumed daily because it could caused a
lot of allergies and also a lot of problem related to health. GMO could also be the
other choice to make the fruits or vegetables to stay a bit longer so it could not be
rotten to easily. I also learned that thin layer skin of vegetables or fruits could easily
be rotten and this mostly happens because of the room temperature and the

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environment, but GMO is the reason why tomatoes viruses and bacteria is gone it just
depends on how each person uses the product.

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Work cited:
"Failure of the First GM Foods." Failure of the First GM Foods. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
"Genetic Modification Turns Plant Virus into Delivery Vehicle for Green-friendly
Insecticide, Say UF Researchers." News. 12 Dec. 2006. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
"How Are Genes Engineered? A Non-technical Explanation." How Are Genes
Engineered? A Non-technical Explanation. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
"Tomatoes." Genetically Modified. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
"The Transgenic Tomato: A Safe and Delicious Alternative to the Normal
Supermarket Tomato." The Transgenic Tomato: A Safe and Delicious
Alternative to the Normal Supermarket Tomato. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
"Troubleshooting Tomato Problems, Tomato Pests | Gardener's Supply." Gardeners
Supply. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
"Failure of the First GM Foods." Failure of the First GM Foods. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.