Hi all,
What do you think about GMOs?
Here are some explanations from FDA.
GMO foods have been available to consumers since the early 1990s. Since then, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have worked together to ensure that crops produced through genetic engineering are safe for people, animals, and the environment.
Despite there being a wide range of foods—GMO and non-GMO—available to consumers, there is some confusion around what GMOs are and how they are used in our food supply.
GMOs 101: Your Basic Questions Answered
To help increase consumer understanding of GMOs, in 2017, Congress provided funding for an Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative, which calls upon FDA to work with EPA and USDA to share science-based educational information about GMOs, beginning with answers to some basic GMO questions.
What makes it a GMO?
A GMO (genetically modified organism) is a plant, animal, or microorganism that has had its genetic material (DNA) changed using technology that generally involves the specific modification of DNA, including the transfer of specific DNA from one organism to another. Scientists often refer to this process as genetic engineering.
Is it called GMO or something else?
"GMO” has become the common term consumers and popular media use to describe foods that have been created through genetic engineering. This term is not generally used to refer to plants or animals developed with selective breeding, like the common garden strawberries available today that were created from a cross between a species native to North America and a species native to South America. While “genetic engineering” is the term typically used by scientists, you will start seeing the “bioengineered” label on some of the foods we eat in the United States because of the new National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard.
Why do we have GMOs?
Humans have used traditional ways to modify crops and animals to suit their needs and tastes for more than 10,000 years. Cross-breeding, selective breeding, and mutation breeding are examples of traditional ways to make these changes. These breeding methods often involve mixing all of the genes from two different sources. They are used to create common crops like modern corn varieties and seedless watermelon.
Modern technology now allows scientists to use genetic engineering to take just a beneficial gene, like insect resistance or drought tolerance, and transfer it into a plant. The reasons for genetic modification today are similar to what they were thousands of years ago: higher crop yields, less crop loss, longer storage life, better appearance, better nutrition, or some combination of these traits.
Do GMOs affect your health?
GMO foods are as healthful and safe to eat as their non-GMO counterparts. Some GMO plants have actually been modified to improve their nutritional value.
An example is GMO soybeans with healthier oils that can be used to replace oils that contain trans fats. Since GMO foods were introduced in the 1990s, has shown that they are just as safe as non-GMO foods.
Additionally, External Link Disclaimer shows that GMO plants fed to farm animals are as safe as non-GMO animal food.
Do GMO plants reduce pesticide use?
Some GMO plants contain [plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) to make them resistant to insects, reducing the need for and use of many [spray pesticides. As another safety measure, EPA works with developers and scientists to help develop GMOs that will resist insects for as long as possible through their Insect Resistance Management program. Other GMO plants are developed to tolerate certain weed killers, which allows farmers a wide variety of options for weed control. Some people are concerned that farmers who grow these GMOs will use more weed killer. While this is sometimes the case, EPA regulates the safety of all weed killers that farmers use on GMO crops and non-GMO crops alike. EPA also shares information to help farmers who are concerned about weeds developing resistance to weed killers.
. Thanks