Discussion Topic Week 5

For this post I am taking the role of a well-educated scientist at a biotech firm defending the use of genetically modified food (or GMO’s). 

First of all, it is important to understand what we mean by genetically modified food. In a strictly literal sense nearly all of our modern crops have been genetically modified over the centuries of farming to become what we now consider food. Through the basic technique of planting selected seeds from the best crops, we forever altered the natural progression of plant evolution. What we are discussing today, however, is selectively altering genes that would not happen naturally. We have come a long way from Mendel and his peas, and are now capable of inserting genes from other organisms that give us desired characteristics such as disease resistance, pest resistance, drought resistance, and increased nutritional value (James, 2012).

There are a few studies out there that show potential negative health effects of eating genetically modified foods. One study shows pigs that ate a diet of only GM food had a greater chance of stomach inflammation than pigs that ate a non GM food diet (Carman, Vlieger, Ver Steeg, Sneller, Robinson, Clinch-Jones, Haynes & Edwards, 2013). Another study looked at GM crops with genes that create toxins that make them resistant to insects and whether these toxins can be found in pregnant and non-pregnant women. The results showed that some of the women did show traces of the toxins (Aris & Leblanc, 2011). Even though these studies were done with relatively small sample sizes, their results should not be ignored. Globally, 75% of soybeans, 32% of corn, and 26% of canola is genetically modified (James, 2012). What this tells me as a scientist is that we need to have a more rigorous safety testing regiment for the foods we create. 

It also tells me that maybe we should be more creative with the genes we use. Instead of developing a corn that excretes pesticide, maybe we could develop a corn with a hard outer shell that insects cannot penetrate. Rather than have a soybean that excretes an herbicide, we could have it grow taller and with large flat leaves to block out the sun and prevent weeds from growing. There is a lot of room for innovation, and I believe the benefits will vastly outweigh any potential negatives that may exist. The population is growing and we need to be able to feed everyone in a cheap, sustainable way. At this point genetically modified foods show the most promise for being able to accomplish this goal.

References:

Carman, J., Vlieger, H., Ver Steeg, L., Sneller, V., Robinson, G., Clinch-Jones, C., Haynes, J., & Edwards, J. (2013). A long-term toxicology study on pigs fed a combined genetically modified (gm) soy and gm maize diet. Journal of Organic Systems, 8(1), 38-54. Retrieved from http://www.organic-systems.org/journal/81/8106.pdf

Aris, A., & Leblanc, S. (2011). Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in eastern townships of quebec, canada. Reproductive Toxicology, 31(4), 528-533. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2011.02.004

James, C. (2012, 02 07). Isaaa brief 43-2011: Executive summary. Retrieved from http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/43/executivesummary/default.asp