Does anyone know why canola oil was modified?
need it for school :) thanksGenetically Engineered Foods:Canola oil?
It's not the actual oil that was modified, it was the rapeseed plant from which canola oil is made that was modified.
Plants are genetically modified so that they are more productive, disease resistant and possibly drought tolerant. There are lots of qualities and characteristics that plant breeders can select for, and reinforce in successive generations of plants.
In the case of the rapeseed plant, it was modified in the early '90's to be herbicide resistant. This allows farmers to liberally spray their fields with chemicals that are harmful to weeds without killing off their crop of canola oil-producing rapeseed.
There was a large court case a few years ago with the Monsanto corporation regarding their ';Round Up'; ready rapeseed strain that had invaded a neighboring farm -- it was settled for lots of money.
I do recommend looking for sources other than the Wikipedia though.
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