Are GMOs Safe To Eat?

THE SAFETY OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS

Every living thing is made of genes. And genes are made of DNA (a set of instructions that controls how cells grow and develop). Genes are responsible for a plant’s characteristics, from the nutritional value to its ability to survive harsh conditions.

Genetically Modified organisms (GMO) refer to any organism whose DNA has been changed using genetic engineering technology.

PURPOSE OF GENETIC MODIFICATION

GMOs have been genetically modified for various reasons, including nutritional boost, pest resistance, ease of cultivating, and growth improvement.

Higher Nutritional Value

Some GMOs are made to contain extra nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, that your body needs. An example of nutrient-rich GMOs is the "golden" rice, which is rich in beta-carotene (an antioxidant that boosts your eye and skin health). There is also the soybean, whose fats have been made more like olive oil (a heart-friendly oil).

Scientists are currently doing experiments to improve meat by boosting its omega-3 fatty acid content. These fatty acids can help prevent heart diseases, stroke, cancers, and other health issues. They can even help improve the management of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and eczema. Your body cannot make these healthy fats, so you have to get them from food.

Higher Food Production Output

As the world's population increases, it gets increasingly difficult to grow enough food to feed everyone. According to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), food production will have to be double in some parts of the world by 2050 to cater to the population.

With GMOs, more nutritious foods can be made available with limited resources like land and water.

Better Farming Practices

This modification has improved farming practices a great deal. For instance, it has resulted in soybeans that can resist herbicides, virus-free papayas, corn that can survive drought, and crops that yield more with less cost.

This can help farmers grow more crops with less harmful herbicides.

NATURE ON FAST-FORWARD

Gene modification is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it happens in nature because no plant or animal is exactly the same as it was hundreds of years ago. Favorable traits help plants (and animals) thrive better than those without them. So, these traits get passed along to the next generation and eventually become common. Our ancestors sped up this process by saving the best plant seeds to grow in the next planting season. This is why we have juicy corn cobs today instead of the small kernels that were available many years ago. With animal breeding, top picks of the litter were bred to produce “new and improved” babies.

This selective breeding is a natural way of giving plants and animals desirable traits. It has been used for many centuries. However, the natural process takes a long time, usually generations. It is also difficult for breeders to determine what genetic change created the new trait. Fortunately, genetic modification helps accelerate this process by using scientific methods to give the plant the desired quality.

Scientists can bypass many generations of changes/improvements today through genetic engineering. This modification is often done to elicit a desired feature in an organism, which can be through radiation treatment of the organism's DNA. It can also be through transferring the desired quality from one plant/species to another.

Genetic modification can also be applied to microorganisms. For instance, some bacteria have been genetically modified to produce beneficial substances that can help prevent, manage, and even cure diseases. A typical example is insulin used in the management of diabetes mellitus.

Another example of beneficial genetic modification is the Bt Corn. Bt corn has been modified to produce Bt toxin, a harmless insecticide that helps the corn resist pests. This ultimately reduces the need for pesticides in growing this plant, resulting in less harmful pesticides in the harvested products.

GMO crops are ubiquitous. In fact, up to 80% of foods in the market are estimated to contain genetically modified plants. At least 90% of soy and corn in the market is also grown through genetic modification techniques.

ARE GMOs SAFE TO EAT?

Though GMO plants make farming easier, there are concerns about how safe they are for human consumption, especially in terms of allergies and other diseases and the potential effect they might have on the environment.

But gene alteration does not automatically make something toxic. Take the ruby red grape, for instance. It came into existence through natural mutation, but there is no concern about the random genetic changes that led to the development of these grapefruits. 

Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and USDA have all confirmed that you can consume GMOs without worrying about safety. Several kinds of research show that GMOs are safe for your consumption. Some major concerns include:

Allergies

You may have concerns that some GMO foods may trigger an allergic reaction. Mainly because these foods contain foreign genes from other foods that may potentially trigger a response. But you do not have to totally avoid GMOs for this reason because there have been no allergy reports about the GMO foods currently available in the market. The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) also ensures that GMO researchers and developers run multiple tests to ensure that allergens are not transferred from one food to another.

Furthermore, research has shown that GMOs do not pose a higher allergy risk than non-GMO foods. So, say you are allergic to soy, both GMO and non-GMO soy will still trigger a reaction.

Cancer

Another common concern is that GMOs may hasten cancer progression. This is because cancers result from DNA mutations. So, there is the fear that consuming GMO foods with modified DNA may affect your DNA.

However, there is currently no evidence to link GMO consumption to cancer development or progression. According to the American Cancer Society, consuming GMOs will not affect your cancer risk.

Environmental and Other Health Concerns

There is no doubt that GMOs are more convenient for farmers to cultivate. Because these crops are resistant to herbicides, which makes it easier for farmers to use herbicides on weeds without worrying about damaging their crops.

Unfortunately, many weeds have developed resistance to herbicides, which results in more herbicides being sprayed on the crops to kill these resistant weeds. After all, the herbicides won’t harm the GMO crops.

However, some herbicides have been linked to various diseases in humans, so they may not be safe to consume beyond certain levels. Furthermore, excessive use of these herbicides may result in crops containing herbicides getting on the market. It may also harm the environment.

But considerable research has shown that herbicides present on GMO foods are safe for consumption in small amounts. The low herbicide requirement in cultivation is also good for the environment.

THE ROLE OF THE FDA IN GMO SAFETY

The FDA is responsible for ensuring that all foods, whether genetically modified or not, are safe for your consumption.

One approach is through the FDA’s Plant Biotechnology Consultation Program that raises safety concerns during the genetic engineering process to help GMO developers identify the critical safety testing they need to do.

During the safety evaluation process, the FDA reviews the information provided by the developer to understand how the engineered product is different from the original. Some key check areas include the nutritional value and allergy potential. For example, the FDA prevented the Brazil nut-enriched soybean from being introduced into the market because of its potential to trigger an allergy in people with Brazil nut allergies. The soybean was also prohibited in animal feed.

The FDA also has guidelines containing high standards for genetically engineered animal products that ensure your safety.

In addition, the Environmental Policy Act also requires the FDA to consider the potential effects of GMO animals on the environment before these animals are made available for your consumption. Some of the effects include the ease of spreading diseases.

KEY TAKEAWAY

The findings from various research and tests show that GMOs are safe for your consumption. Plus, GMO (and non-GMO) foods are generally not approved for your consumption until it's been reviewed by the FDA and considered safe. The developer also conducts various testing to ensure that any GMO food product is safe.

But there is no ruling out the need for further safety research because there could be health and environmental consequences that no one has thought to look for yet.