GMOs

“A common question often asked of GMOs is “Are genetically modified foods safe?” The answer is yes, GMOs are safe to eat…. In the spring of 2016, The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) issued a comprehensive report which answered the question: “Are GMOs safe?” There were more than 20 scientists that help answer that question. They did almost 900 studies and that answered questions like, are GMOs healthy, and how safe are they? “They concluded – as other previous research concluded – that GMOs are safe to eat.” The researchers found that GMOs have the same nutrition as non-GMO crops, and have no connections to developing allergies, cancer, celiac disease, and more. Before the GMO seeds can be planted, they need to go through a lot of testing to be able to go to market after the crop has been grown. The reason they need to go through testing is so that we know that they are safe to eat (GMOAnswers).

GMOs have been around for thousands of years. Some early examples are maybe you had a really loyal hunting dog, so you bred it with another dog, so you could keep having good dogs. That would be more of selective breeding, but it is the same concept, modifying organisms to be better. Another example is that maybe you had a good harvest, so you replanted those seeds, so you could get another good harvest. Even though GMOs and selective breeding have been around for a long time, some people still have questions, and concerns about it. More than 1,000 studies, with over 30 years of research, have concluded that GM (Genetically Modified) crops are completely safe to eat. Some people worry about how GM crops are made to have natural pesticides in them that are meant to kill certain pests. Some people worry that they will be affected by these natural pesticides. The natural pesticide is designed, and created, to only affect certain pests, and not humans. The natural pesticides go after the digestive systems of the bugs after they have eaten it, like how chocolate harms dogs, but not humans. It is because our digestive systems are different. The GMO crops are also bred to withstand certain herbicides. The reason for that is so that farmers can spray a lot of good herbicides without having to worry about the crops being affected by it. The main herbicide that they are bred to be resistant to, is the chemical named Glyphosate. Glyphosate is one of the safest herbicide chemicals out there, and it kills many of the weeds that sprout in fields. Over 90% of the GM crops are resistant to Glyphosate. Studies have shown that food consumption will increase by 70% by 2050, and GM crops are one of the only ways that farmers will be able to keep up with that change (Taylor).