OMG GMOs

genetically modified organisms
have been a hot topic of debate
a genetically modified organism is an organism that has had some novel genetic information inserted into its genome
humans have been playing around with animal and plant breeding for ages
but now we have the technology to be able to transfer genes between organisms of entirely unrelated species
some would say that this prospect is revolutionary
others would say it’s scary
GMOs have the potential to be extremely beneficial
they could allow for farming in previously untenable regions
like subsaharan Africa
they can also be engineered to be extra nutritious
like golden rice
a GM rice plant that is rich in vitamin A precursors
the initial plan with golden rice was to bring it to Asiatic countries where childhood blindness is common as a result of a vitamin A deficient diet
the thing is
the golden rice plan never came to fruition
now
more than a decade after the invention of golden rice
the crop is is still sitting on the shelves and not in the fields
and why?
because of fear

there is strong opposition to GMOs all across the world
and golden rice is merely one example of a staunch rejection of a genetically modified organism
organizations like the non GMO project and companies like Chipotle are on board with the anti GM crusade
bolstering their claims by saying that we don’t know if GMO plants are safe to eat
and that there haven’t been enough non-industry studies done on these plants to ensure that the information we do have about the relative safety of these plants has not been skewed by profiteering corporations
the FDA and Monsanto
one of the world’s leading seed engineering companies
assure us that there is nothing dangerous about these plants
if that’s not convincing enough
there have also been plenty of independent studies done to prove that we can indeed ingest these plants without any negative effects
genetically modifying organisms is actually a cleaner way to modify crop plants than by traditional methods of cross breeding
there is the possibility of the new gene combinations from cross breeding or genetic modification to produce toxic proteins
but
in the making of a GMO
only one piece of DNA is taken from an organism and put into the already formed chromosome of another organism
in traditional cross breeding
two genomes are being mashed together and the results are much less predictable
never fear though
plants produced through both methods are rigorously tested before being put out on the market

the point is
there is no need to fear the science behind the creation of GMOs
there are no franken-plants
there are no scientists plotting to poison entire populations with toxic foods
the only reason anyone has for fearing science is lack of information
in a void where only science exists
GMOs are a fantastic idea
but science does not exist in a void
science exists within society
within a political sphere
within an economic context
so all of these things have to be taken into consideration
the biggest problem with GMOs is not the seeds, it’s the system
that catchy alliteration is from a great article by Richard Schiffman from The Guardian
in which he argues that “GMOs aren’t the problem. Our industrial food system is.”
I think that’s right on the money

There is no need to fear the plants themselves but there is reason to be concerned with the way our industrial food system works. If GM seeds are patented by multinational corporations, are those plants really going to be for the benefit of the small subsistence farmer? Likely not. The crusade against science is a frivolous waste of time when we could be working together to face the actual problem, which is the fact that the current way food is managed leaves it in total control of big business. The scientific advances are not going to go away.

All this said, clearly my opinion is not the only one that matters. What are your thoughts? Any nuance added to the continual debate is welcome as we are all here out of a mutual desire to learn and grow.