HARC - 6/19/14

Hawai'i Agriculture Research Center

The Hawai'i Agriculture Research Center (HARC) is an organization that falls under the category of a highly controversial issue: genetically modified organisms (GMO's). Originally established in 1895 as Hawai'i Sugar Planter's Association (HSPA) and changed to HARC in 1996, HARC has been modifying crops for farmers for years. The intircate science that is behind all of this has been misconcepted by many since they were introduced- which is why we were learned with the real story. 

We started with a tour of the property, escorted by environmental engineer, Ming Lee. She taught us about how genetically modifying a crop can sometimes be simply changing the tempurature of the environment that plant lives in or as technical as extracting the DNA trait from one plant to another. But, all of this work isn't just to make 
money. Ming Lee informed us that they recieve crops from farmers which they multiply into thousands, using their farming fields. Then, within 6 months, the thousands of crops are given back. The non-profit organization also researches new technology that can heal sick plants, prevent diseases and insect infestation, and notify them of future fertility failure in order to reserve time and work.

We also got a chance to sample GMO papayas, extract papaya DNA, participate in gel electrophoresis activity, identify different genders of papaya, and be a part of a DNA dance that would help them better understand the behavior of DNA.

Before going to HARC, our understanding of GMO's were very little. Being able to learn the technical science of how these plants actually behave turned out to be neat. At first, we were guilty to admit that we thought GMO's were totally bad, but after learning about them, we were astounded and estatic to spread the word about the real deal of genetically modified plants and their not so bad existence.