What would it be like to eat a banana and get a vaccine at the same time? How about getting your entire daily iron requirement from one cup of rice? Finally, wouldn't it be great to have fruits and vegetables with a longer shelf life? No matter how futuristic these ideas seem, all and many more are feasible or have already been realized through the production of genetically modified organisms or GMOs. With all these great possibilities, including improving the environment, improving the economy, and raising the standard of living of millions of people around the world with negligible setbacks and opposition, how is it possible to say no to this science? The only thing that stops this science is the fact that many do not understand what it is. Making GMOs an easily known source means educating the general population. Before we can truly understand the benefits of genetically modified organisms, we need to understand exactly what they are. Also known as transgenic, genetically modified, or genetically engineered organisms, GMOs are organisms that have been altered in a laboratory to give them certain desired traits, such as the infamous Round-Up Ready corn (Whitman 2). This product, manufactured by Monsanto, is resistant to the herbicide Round Up. This means that farmers can spray high concentrations of this chemical on their fields to kill weeds and the herbicide will not harm corn crops. There are currently two ways to create a crop like this: traditional breeding or genetic engineering. In traditional breeding, two organisms with desired characteristics are bred in the hope that the offspring will also have the same characteristic. Unfortunately, this process is not very reliable and takes a long time. Genetic engineering is quite the focus of the paper...rel 2014.Pringle, Peter. Food, Inc: Mendel to Monasanto – The Promise and Perils of the Biotech Crop New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003. Print. “Pros, Cons of Modified Food.” Wired. Environmental news service. January 1, 2001. Web. April 21, 2014. Shah, Anup. “Poverty in the world”. Global problems. Np 1 March 2010. Web. 20 April 2014 “The pros and cons of genetically modified foods”. Prauda. Np June 15, 2006. Web. April 20, 2014.Thompson, Jennifer A. Seeds for the Future: The Impact of Genetically Modified Crops on the Environment. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2006. Print. “US Imports by Country of Origin.” US Energy Information Administration. US Energy Information Administration. June 29, 2010. Web. April 20, 2014. Whitman, Deborah B. “Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?” ProQuest. Cambridge Information Group. April 2000. Web. 21 April 2014.