Are GMOs New?
Today we’re unveiling the next question for research, as originally documented on the GMO TRUTH Podcast from Monday of this week (check it out here if you’d like a preview of the 3 new sequences we’re about to launch). Since we’re also about to kick off our new blog designed to show both sides of the GMO controversy, I thought I’d start off this new sequence with three different, detailed quotes on the question at hand, which essentially asks just how different are GMO techniques from all of the previous crop modifications we’ve employed throughout the centuries. Let’s take a look…
Conventional plant breeding, in some cases helped by safe modern technologies like gene mapping and marker assisted selection, continues to outperform GM in producing high-yield, drought-tolerant, and pest- and disease-resistant crops that can meet our present and future food needs.
That’s the first noteworthy quote I stumbled upon when researching the exact question at hand here, (revealed at the end of this post). It came from a document known as “GMO Myths and Truths”, which you can read here:
GMO Myths and Truths
Then that document led me to The World Health Organization, frequently cited by the pro-GMO side and a key player in our next question related to substantial equivalence. The WHO has this to say about GMOs:
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as organisms (i.e. plants, animals or microorganisms) in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination. The technology is often called “modern biotechnology” or “gene technology”, sometimes also “recombinant DNA technology” or “genetic engineering”. It allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between nonrelated species. Foods produced from or using GM organisms are often referred to as GM foods.
World Health Organization GMO FAQ
So I’d consider those two quotes to be an anti-GMO quote then followed by a more neutral GMO quote… and let’s close the circle here with a note from the pro-GMO front. Here’s an excerpt from an article appearing in the journal Plant Physiology, from the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB, as published back in 2001:
To develop better crop varieties, scientists have used an array of tools. Artificial crossing, or hybridization, helped us assimilate desirable traits from several varieties into elite cultivars. When desired characteristics were unavailable in the cultivated plants, genes were liberally borrowed from wild relatives and introduced into crop plants. When a crop variety refused to mate with the wild species, various tricks were employed to force them to intermingle, such as the use of the carcinogenic chemical colchicine or by rescuing the hybrid embryos with tissue culture methods. Hybrid vigor was exploited in crops such as corn and cotton to boost productivity. When existing genetic variation within the cultivated germplasm was not adequate, breeders created new variants using ionizing irradiation (gamma ray, x-ray, neutron), mutagenic chemicals (ethyl methane sulfate, mustard gas), or through somaclonal variation (cell culture).
Most people who are concerned about modern biotechnology have little or no knowledge of the processes that have been used to transform crops in the past.
Plant Physiology
On to the Next One…
Crystal clear right? That last statement, however, definitely sets the stage for our second key GMO QUESTION. So without further delay, here’s what starts our next sequence:
We’ve been doing crop modifications for centuries, but is the process for creating the GMOs that were introduced to our food supply in the 1990s drastically different than any of those previous methods?
We’ll be using the tag Are GMOs New? or #AreGMOsNew?, so you can use that at anytime to follow this sequence online here.
This is one question where we’d really like to hear from you as well, and we just made it very, very easy to not only send us a comment, but to also get YOU onto the next GMO TRUTH podcast. We want to see what the different perceptions are right now of GMO technology as it relates to what we’ve already used in the past for agriculture.
How do you send a response? Simply click on that little widget on the right side of this page that says:
“Send a voice message to Be Heard on the Next GMO Truth!”
Just make sure you’ve got a working microphone set up on whatever device you’re using to view the website, and then click the START RECORDING button. It’s really easy, and we will put YOU on the next podcast. So remember, let us know YOUR OWN answer to this question:
We’ve been doing crop modifications for centuries, but is the process for creating the GMOs that were introduced to our food supply in the 1990s drastically different than any of those previous methods?
I’ll respond to all recorded answers on the next GMO Truth podcast, and you’ll be part of the new sequence here – #AreGMOsNew?
Back in a few days with the next entry in our GMO QUESTIONS blog, and as a side note, we officially start shooting the documentary this weekend when we interview a Canadian farmer who recently switched one of his crops to a GMO variety.
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