The Importance of Research: Maya Bloom

At the age of 18, Maya Bloom has already written an original research paper entitled, “Are Organic Foods Free of Genetically Modified Organisms?” Although there is a federal requirement that all products labeled USDA Organic have only natural products in them, studies indicate that 85% of corn products are genetically modified. Maya Bloom formed a hypothesis that nationally produced products would possess genetically modified organisms, whereas locally grown products would not. After extracting DNA from six samples, one from a local farm and five from nationwide distributors, Maya Bloom was able to prove her hypothesis. 100% of the samples from nationwide production facilities tested positive for genetically modified organisms; the local sample did not.

After successfully completing this project, Maya Bloom realized the importance of research. If there is something you are questioning or that you want to prove, Maya Bloom wants to encourage you to construct a research project. Maya Bloom believes that research can help solve existing problems or even identify problems that people did not know existed. Many people trust the USDA Organic stamp; however, through this experiment, Maya Bloom discovered that it is flawed. She hopes that people will learn from her research and start looking for ways to fix this problem.

Maya Bloom believes that if you want to acquire new knowledge, it is vital that you do your own research. Without research, new findings would never be uncovered. Maya Bloom hopes to inspire other young students to start reaching out to mentors and begin researching areas that are of interest to them. The more research we possess, the better we can form our own opinions. In the future, Maya Bloom hopes to continue researching other areas of interest to her. After finishing her first paper, she now has the confidence to continue uncovering new knowledge.