After last week’s post about the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s), I found myself thinking about the topic all week. The human race is in the process right now of deciding how to handle the ability to modify genetics, and our ultimate decision has nearly unfathomable consequence for the world.
While the study discussed last week raised legitimate concerns over the safety of GM foods, it is important to remember that much scientific data exists in support of genetically engineering plants and animals. Let’s look back a little bit, and discuss some terms, in order to better understand the debate.
For millennia, man has been selectively breeding and otherwise controlling plants and animals in order to produce desirable traits. For example, one might decide to breed one heifer whose milk production is especially high, while never breeding a heifer who only produced little. Or, man has been propagating especially tasty apples by electing to graft the branches of their trees onto new trees (the only way to ensure the same apple will grow). There is little controversy with these methods.
More recently, we took the step to modifying the genes of plants and animals in order to express certain genes. For example, one apple might be resistant to a particular pest, but taste terrible. If the gene responsible for the pest resistance can be isolated, it can be inserted into the DNA of another, more tasty apple.
The next step was introducing a gene from one species into something completely different. The common example of this is Monsanto’s transgenic corn, into which they inserted a gene from the microorganism bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) which codes for a toxin that kills off certain pests. Since this pest is killed by the corn’s “natural” defense, less pesticide is needed. Using less chemicals is one important argument in favor of GM plants.
I encourage everyone to get a basic understanding of the topic, including the legitimate arguments for both sides, so that we can collectively decide how to handle this contentious debate. One good resource is the book Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food by Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchek. Here is a review of the book I wrote for the website www.farmbrarian.com.
Know of some other good resources? Let me know in the comments.
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