TPO 21 – taks 1

The professor discusses the disadvantages of genetic modification and refutes each of the author's points one by one. The information she presents contradicts the facts outlined in the reading passage.

First, the speaker claims that resistance does not ensure survival. Naturally, the trees in one area are genetically diverse; hence, some types of trees might die due to environmental effects, but the resistant ones will survive. The genetically modified trees, however, might be wiped out completely due to climate change or new pesticides since they are all the same and resistant to a certain condition. On the other hand, the reading passage indicates that genetically modified trees are more likely to survive than their unmodified counterparts are.

Second, the lecturer is against the point about the economic benefits for those who grow the modified trees. Because the genetically modified seeds are charged more than the unmodified trees, the farmers have to pay more money. Moreover, according to a law, the farmers have to pay some amount of money to the government every time they plant the genetically modified seeds. On the contrary, the article asserts that planting the genetically modified trees allow the farmers to get faster and greater return on their farming investment and save on pesticides as well.

Third, the processor posits that the genetically modified trees cause more damage to endangered native trees. Since they grow more aggressively than the native trees do, the native trees would be damaged seriously. Indeed, the modified trees compete with native trees for water, nutrition, and light. Quite the opposite, the reading passage makes the point that planting genetically modified trees can save the endangered native trees.