GMOs are safe and pose no more risk than crops that have been conventionally bred.
Who says so?
Over 275 scientific organizations from around the world,
including the World Health Organization, the US Food and Drug Administration,
and Health Canada, just to name a few.
How do they know?
They arrived at this conclusion after reviewing literally thousands of studies
that assess the safety of GMO crops.
It's also important to know that there are a number
of agencies who monitor the safety of GMOs.
In the United States, GMOs must be approved by the FDA,
USDA, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.
In Europe,
it's the European Food Safety Authority. [Felicia:] What about the impact of
genetically modified crops on the environment?
That's a little more complicated.
Scientists are still working on an answer.
But let's have a look at the findings of the largest study
to examine the effects of GMOs on the environment.
This study looks specifically at genetically modified corn, and
includes data from farmers across the United States, gathered over
a period of 14 years. [Caitlin:] Corn can be genetically modified to
kill insects that have eaten its kernels.
Since the corn produces its own insecticide,
farmers don't need to use as much insecticide to protect their crops.
The study found that farmers who grew genetically modified corn that
was insect resistant used 11% less insecticides over a 14-year
period as compared to other corn famers. [Felicia:] Well, but
another way of genetically modifying corn is to make it resistant to a type of
herbicide that is commonly sprayed on crops.
When farmers use this type of herbicide, the weeds are killed,
but their crops are not damaged.
Farmers who grew genetically modified corn that was resistant to
herbicides used slightly less herbicide over the course of the study.
[Caitlin:] That sounds pretty good, right?
Less insecticide and less herbicide. But the statistics don't tell
the entire story. [Felicia:] The problem is that weeds are plants,
and they can develop mutations that allow them to also become resistant to
herbicides.
In this study,
weeds developed a higher level of resistance than originally anticipated.
More and more plants were becoming herbicide resistant.
I hate to quote Jurassic Park, but, "Life finds a way."
In the end, farmers may be forced to switch to different herbicides,
or use more herbicide in order to combat weeds.
In fact, in the last five years of the study,
corn farmers were using more herbicide than at the outset of the study.
So, let's revisit the initial question once again.
Are GMOs bad for the environment?
It's not a simple yes or no answer.
What is clear is that we need to monitor insecticide and herbicide use,
and ensure regulations are in place
and are being followed. [Caitlin:] So far, we've been discussing
the controversies surrounding genetically modified crops.
However, genetically modified organisms developed to address healthcare
issues are far less controversial.
GMOs used in healthcare are a resounding success and have saved many, many lives.
Take insulin, for example. Thousands of people who suffer from Type 1 or
Type 2 diabetes are dependent on insulin for their survival.
Insulin is a hormone that is secreted by your pancreas to help control blood sugar.
People who suffer from diabetes don't make sufficient amounts of this hormone.
That means that they need insulin from another source.
But where can you find insulin?
Well, until around 1980, people with insulin-dependent diabetes relied on
insulin produced by grinding up pancreases from pigs and cows.
That's right: pigs and cows. [Felicia:] Eww. However,
genetic engineering dramatically changed that.
In 1978, scientists engineered E. coli to produce insulin.
Just four short years later, the United States Food and Drug Administration
approved synthetic insulin for human use. And the rest is history.
Today, the vast majority of insulin used worldwide is synthetic.
Pretty cool, right?
GMOs aren't just for crops.
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