Are We Ready for GMO Foods?

GMO, or Genetically Modified Organisms, are modern Science’s way of making our food sources provide more usable product and cost less to do so. GMO foods are also a hot topic of debate between a great number of folks questioning the safety of GMO’s and the large corporations producing such foods. While the science of GMO’s is used to support both sides of the argument, Science leans towards the business side of the debate. And that is where we come into the conversation.

Brief History of What We Now Know as GMO

GMO, by definition, is change to the DNA of a plant or animal that produces offspring that possess altered characteristics that its parents did not. This is a naturally occurring process that has happened in Nature from long before the arrival of us more advanced forms of Life.

Given the almost limitless possibilities in genetic combinations, Mother Nature regularly creates a different version of an established organism. Some of these changes are helpful, like a bacterium that is better adapted to surviving in its environment.

Many of these changes (mutations) however, just don’t work out. The resulting offspring end up being worse off. A lot of them just don’t live long enough to reproduce.

It was with the work of Gregor Mendel in the 19^th century that mankind first applied Science to this variability in Nature’s GMO program. Instead of Nature’s shotgun approach to changing DNA, Mendel started breeding pea plants for certain physical attributes, like the color of the blooms.

Modern GMO Methods

Certainly the tools that modern-day scientists work with are a far cry from Mendel but we are still doing much the same work.

With the tools afforded by the Atomic Age, Science approached the process of creating genetic mutations in a shotgun fashion similar to the natural process by irradiating foods. Some useful outcomes but plenty of failures too.

Genetics is complicated and when you don’t really know what you’re doing, success can be spotty.

As Science’s knowledge base and technology skills improved, much more precise methods of changing genetic information evolved. Scientists can now change genetic information and produce offspring that possess the desired characteristics without as many failed versions as before.

The Money Angle

On the business side of genetics, there are a number of profit motivations that guide the actions of large corporations involved. Producing products that yield marketable characteristics (uniform color, texture, taste) are desired at the least investment of monies by the business. So tweaking some genetic information that creates a high-yield form of wheat that is resistant to drought makes sense from a business perspective.

Monsanto is one of the better known corporations for GMO creation. They developed a soybean that resists the killing effects of Round Up (glycophosphate), so farmers who plant the crop can spray the entire crop and only the surrounding weeds are killed. This in turn increases the yield because the soybeans no longer compete with invading weeds.

Consumer Safety

Numerous concerns for the safety of the consuming public have been raised about the consumption of GMO products. Whether the altered genetic information in foodstuffs poses any direct threat to the consuming public, as well as questions about the retention of glycophosphate in farming soil, are all questions that are being studied.

It is notable that the GMO issue is a very emotional one for many consumer safety groups.

Where Are We Now?

[pullquote style=”right” quote=”dark”]Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.

-Arnold Bennett[/pullquote] Given the vastness of the subject of genetics, nailing down a solid answer takes time. What we have so far is that GMO foods appear to pose no threat.

Scientific studies take time and money. The solid studies in so far have not found a threat to our lives. The difficulty in these, like so many scientific studies these days, is finding reliable studies.

So the jury is still out on GMO’s but it is looking pretty safe.

The pesticide issue is a recurring one but the chemical nature of glycophosphate is one that is detrimental to plant life, has a short effective life, and does not have a harmful human track record like earlier pesticides used commercially.

Again, based on current reliable evidence, the smoking gun between glycophosphate and human disease has not been found. As with any toxin, limiting exposure under all circumstances is a reasonable approach and likely to be the safest. (Remember this too when considering that organic does not mean no pesticide use.)

Looking at the Evidence

In a situation remarkably similar to the cannabis debate, we are still in the early days of GMO development and usage. We know a lot already but there is much, much more we still have to learn.

So far, Science is pointing us in the direction that GMO consumption is likely a safe act but that has not stopped a lot of emotionally charged accusations and assumptions to be thrown around in the debate.

Just use your head and follow the evidence. If you don’t think eating GMO foods is wise, then don’t. This whole debate is not about everybody in or out. It is about having reliable information upon which to make sound Health decisions for yourself and your family.

 

Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.
– John Kenneth Galbraith