Preliminary Thoughts for Research Paper

For the final paper, I didn’t really know where to start in terms of a topic. As I started doing “dirty research” there were a few topics that I came across that peaked my interest, but I didn’t know if there would be enough information for the entire paper. Some questions I was thinking about addressing in my paper include: How do we know what food tastes good? And how different foods interact with our senses. I was also thinking about how our food preferences change based on what we are used to and what we have experienced, and relate that in some way to disgust and the different elicitors of that response. The part of the course that I found very interesting and fun is the part with food and folklore, specifically the juniper tree (and other stories similar to that). I was trying to think of a topic that I could write about including food and folklore, but I don’t think there would be a strong enough central claim to base my entire paper on. As I continued to research, I started drifting more and more toward food science and the various health effects scientifically modified food could have on the human body and its physiology. I finally ended up in the field of food biotechnology, also sometimes referred to as functional food or nutraceuticals, using genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and other scientific methods to enhance the benefits food can provide us with and the effects they have on human health. But this field and technology, like many new advancements has opposition, and what I would like to cover in my paper is the benefits and potential risks of these new food developments and whether or not the oppositions points are valid.

I ended up choosing this topic because, as I told you in my introduction paper at the start of the semester, medicine and technology are two passions of mine, and biotechnology seems to be a very nice mix of these two fields along with food. Also with the other topics that I found, although they may be interesting, I feel it would be more of an expository paper rather than a persuasive one, persuasive being what I think you’re looking for based on the presence of a strong central claim rather than the unbiased explanation of a topic without taking a side.  

Some preliminary questions I plan to follow (still a work in progress) are:

What is functional food? Scientific food vs. natural food, what is the difference?

Health benefits of scientific food. How can science help improve natural foods and make them better?

Opposition's points and if they are valid?

Are they safe? Potential health risks?

Government regulation, oversight and control of these products. USDA, FDA, and other's roles in biotechnology development and distribution that help ensure health safety.

Lack of public knowledge in this field and its relation to anxiety and adversity of this technology.

Food statistics related to disease and health and how food science can help improve them.

Future outlook of this field and potential new developments.