The Truth About GMOs

Posted May 28, 2017

People are freaking out! According to the mainstream media, and those who are so separated
from agriculture to think that the media is the best place to learn about farming, GMOs are some bad
fellas. “They intoxicate our bodies,” they claim, “They’re completely unnatural, are destroying our
planet, and are snuck into our food supply by those greedy hooligans up at Monsanto to rip off the good
ole family farmers just so the big boys at corporate can make a fast buck! It’s heartbreaking, really…”

Genetically Modified Organisms, better known as GMOs, are a category of biotechnology that’s
used extensively in agriculture. They are exactly what the name implies: their genes have been
manipulated so that the organism displays a different set of characteristics than it would under
undisturbed conditions. For a more science-ish definition, I’ll quote the United Kingdom’s Health and
Safety Executive:

“GM is the process of altering the genetic material of an organism by use of a method that does not
occur in nature. Often GM involves isolating and removing the DNA encoding a single gene from one
organism, manipulating it outside the cell (in a laboratory) and reinserting it into the same organism or
into the genetic material of another organism. The aim of GM is often to introduce a new or altered
characteristic to the target organism.”

Speaking about GM crops in specific, when scientists alter the genetic “code,” they can yield a
better harvest. For example, a form of GM cotton has the ability to repel insects without any added
pesticides, which decreases the amount of chemicals that need to be sprayed and saves fuel. A group of
scientists figured out how to take “antifreeze” genes from fish that allow them to maintain a normal
body temperature in frigid waters, and put those genes into plants allowing farmers to have extra
harvests closer to the winter months. Other advancements have actually made crops healthier by either
increasing their nutrient content or balancing their nutrient levels.

The truth is that, by design, GMOs are actually supposed to be healthier and more sustainable.
 But, here at Farming Truth,
making claims that will seem ludicrous to
such a large portion of the general public
is not acceptable without studies to back
them up. It’s true that there are
researchers on both sides of the issue,
but the most recent research suggests
that GMOs are safe. The studies
concluding otherwise are typically
outdated, based on theories rather than
real-world measurements, or evaluate
health effects over a limited amount of
time. Here is only a portion of the
science that’s found that GMOs are not a Photo from knowgenetics.org/
threat:

 “The study committee found no substantiated evidence of a difference in risks to human health
between currently commercialized genetically engineered (GE) crops and conventionally bred
crops, nor did it find conclusive cause-and-effect evidence of environmental problems from the
GE crops.”

"Report in Brief." Genetically Engineered Crops at the National Academy of Sciences. The
National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine, May 2016. Web. 25 May 2017.

 “The GM foods have the potential to solve many of the world’s hunger and malnutrition
problems, and to help protect and preserve the environment by increasing yield and reducing
reliance upon synthetic pesticides and herbicides.”

Bawa, A. S., and K. R. Anilakumar. "Genetically Modified Foods: Safety, Risks and Public
Concerns—a Review." Journal of
Food Science and Technology. Springer India, Dec. 2013. Web. 25 May 2017.

 “The level of safety to consumers of current genetically engineered foods is likely to be

equivalent to that of traditional foods. At present, no verifiable evidence of adverse health
effects of BD foods has been reported….”

"The Safety of Genetically Modified Foods Produced through Biotechnology. Toxicological

Sciences. Oxford University
Press, 01 Jan. 2003. Web. 25 May 2017.

 “The human and environmental safety of Bt protected crops is further supported by the long
history of safe use around the world.”

Betz, Fred S., Bruce G. Hammond, and Roy L. Fuchs. "Safety and Advantages of Bacillus
Thuringiensis-Protected Plants to
Control Insect Pests." Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 32.2 (2000): 156-73. Raf The Beast
 Free. Academic Press,
2000. Web. 25 May 2017.

 “So long as the risks to human health from transgenic plants remain potential rather than actual,
and, in any event, appear lower than those from traditional plant breeding, hazard assessment
need not be extensive.”

Hodgson, Ernest. "Genetically Modified Plants and Human Health Risks: Can Additional Research
Reduce Uncertainties
and Increase Public Confidence?" Toxicological Sciences. Oxford University Press, 01 Oct. 2001.
Web. 25 May 2017.

The greatest advocates of biotechnology are saying that the biggest draw for GMOs is their role in
feeding a rapidly growing population. In my blog post about Food Insecurity, I discussed how the world
is currently producing enough food for everyone (the problem of hunger being caused by unequal
distribution, not inadequate agricultural methods), but acknowledged that this is not likely to be the
case forever. Farmers have a duty to step up their game and GMOs, which, as I’ve already explained,
allow farmers to make more food on less land using fewer inputs, seem to be the most
promising solution.

Some everyday products that

have been subject to GM include corn,
canola, rice, soybean, sweet potato,
lupin, sorghum, cotton, linseed, oil
palm, squash, safflower, papaya,
chicory, sugar beet, mustard, potatoes,
strawberries, pineapples, tomatoes,
apples, alfalfa, cantaloupes, kiwi,
wheat, lettuce, turf grasses, and many
more. It’s important to note that
certain varieties of GMOs are approved
only in the markets of some nations. Photo from discover.monsanto.com/

With all that said, consumers do have a right to question the safety of their food and be critical of
farming methods.

The main three concerns of GMO critics on grounds of sustainability (although these claims are
specifically de-legitimized in the research linked above) are that the crops could spread beyond just the
farmers’ field polluting other species, the crops may create resistant strains of insects and diseases, and
that wildlife species who use the original form of the crops for food might be adversely affected. It’s not
unreasonable to question whether or not tampering with genes will have unpredicted and dangerous
effects on nature… after all, nature is designed in a very specific way to create balance; tampering with
that balance may have horrific consequences.

And it’s certainly important to recognize that where shoppers put their dollar is their “vote”
about which products or methods they deem most suitable. However, consumers are being scared into
buying decisions based off of incorrect information and misleading labels (consider that a plug for my
upcoming blog series about food labels, which will cover organics, cage free, free range, hormone free,
and all those other really misunderstood phrases). Surveys show that only 37% of the general public
trusts GE foods, while 88% of scientists believe they’re safe (this wide gap is believed to be the largest
spread of any scientific issue, including climate change!). In the case of genetically modified foods,
consumers are being told that they should avoid them to stay healthy and protect the Earth, which is
ironically what GMOs inherently do! All of the problems people have with biotechnology are actually
solved by GMOs.

Even More Sources:

Kenward, K. D., M. Altschuler, D. Hildebrand, and P. L. Davies. "Accumulation of Type I Fish Antifreeze
Protein in Transgenic
Tobacco Is Cold-specific." Plant Molecular Biology. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Oct. 1993.
Web. 25 May 2017.

Key, Suzie, Julian K-C Ma, and Pascal MW Drake. "Genetically Modified Plants and Human
Health." Journal of the Royal Society of
Medicine. The Royal Society of Medicine, 01 June 2008. Web. 25 May 2017.

Lynas, Mark. "GMO Safety Debate Is over." Cornell Alliance for Science. The Cornell Alliance for Science,
24 May 2016. Web. 25
May 2017.

Newell-McGloughlin, Martina. "Nutritionally Improved Agricultural Crops." Plant Physiology. American

Society of Plant
Biologists, July 2008. Web. 25 May 2017.

Perlak, Frederick J., Randy W. Deaton, Toni A. Armstrong, Roy L. Fuchs, Steven R. Sims, John T.
Greenplate, and David A.
Fischhoff. "Insect Resistant Cotton Plants." Nature. Nature Biotechnology, 1990. Web. 25 May
2017.

"What Are GMOs?" What Are GMOs. HSE, n.d. Web. 25 May 2017.