What If We Make Bitter Gourds Sweet?

I was not fond of eating bitter gourd, or commonly known as ampalaya. This vegetable is bitter, true to its name. But, because of the nutrients and health benefits it provides, I still tried to eat it. I have only liked it when it was cooked as an omelette. Yet, most of the time I try to avoid it when served at home. Unfortunately, I did not know how hard it was to grow ampalaya in our locality.

Bitter gourd or ampalaya are a favorite host of fruit flies and worms. Farmers struggle to grow bitter gourds as they are susceptible to pests. They usually protect the fruits by bagging them with plastic bag or newspapers. However, using plastic bag would make the fruit curl while using newspaper would not fully cover the whole fruit. This also requires them more work.

Therefore, I thought of having ampalaya genetically modified to be resistant to pests and fruit flies. Cotton and corn are Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) that are resistant to insects, by having the Bacillus thuringiensis engineered into them. Bitter gourd should also be modified to be pest-resistant by engineering this Bt toxin to them.

Additionally, many people does not appreciate ampalaya even if it has a lot of benefits. One characteristic of this GMO bitter gourd is that it is a lot sweeter and delicious than the common ones. With this, more people would patronize bitter gourds.

In what ways do you think this GMO can positively impact society?

There are a lot of farmers that grow and sell bitter gourds. However, because of the damages their crops suffer, they also suffer a lot of losses financially. Creating a crop that does not get affected by pests will lead them to more profits. Farmers enjoying the fruit of their hard work will benefit their family and community. Additionally, ampalaya farming constitute a profitable livelihood option for the society.

Making bitter gourds easier to grow and appetizing to eat will add more to our viable food supply. Since people would me more willing to it bitter gourds and farmers ensure its supply, this GMO will ensure food security more. Bitter gourds, known for its nutrition benefits will also make people of our society healthier and less susceptible to diseases like diabetes.

What ethical issues or concerns arise as a result of this GMO?

One ethical issue of this GMO bitter gourd is its potential danger to the environment. Making it resistant to pests may cause other insects to be harmed because of its modified characteristics. It may pose a danger to insects that do not damage the fruits. This will cause harm to the environment because it affects things that should not have been affected.

Another issue is the possibility that it may harm human health in the long run. The modification of bitter gourds may have an impact on human health that is not evident immediately.

Developers of this GMO may exploit farmers by making it too expensive for them to buy. Big companies that will distribute this crop may not sell it cheap to local farmers. Farmers not having access to this GMO will settle for the non-GMO bitter gourd. However, the companies that will sell this better tasting bitter gourd may monopolize the market, causing losses to the farmers.

But, this is only an imagination of mine. I am not a scientist so I would not know if this is really possible. Yet, it's fun to think that there is a possibility to modify bitter gourds. As we all know, the only permanent thing in this world is change.

Lead image edited in Canva