A lot of plant-based foods at the grocery store are labeled non-GMOas if genetically modified crops should be avoided. In reality, we ought to embrace the technology.
Genetic modification to our food is as old as agriculture itself. When humans began domesticating plants, we used selective breeding to enhance desired traits. This meant greater crop yields and bigger, tastier fruits and vegetables.
With the discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953, it eventually became possible to directly transfer favourable genes from one species to another. Naturally, this has dramatically expanded the scope of what we can do when compared to traditional methods of selective breeding.
The Non-GMO Project, which is responsible for all those labels on our food, argues consumers should have an informed choice about what they buy. But widespread anti-GMO sentiments are based on superstition, not facts.
Those who vehemently oppose GMOs claim our food is injected with viral particles and bacteria which are harmful to human health. In the most common genetically modified crop, corn, a gene from aninsect-killing bacterium is inserted. This allows the corn to produce a protein that kills insects but is harmless to humans, negating farmers need to spray potentially harmful insecticides on their crops.
There are plenty of substances that are deadly to one species but not another. Caffeine is a naturally-produced insecticide, but is consumed and enjoyed by humans every day.
Moreover, GMOs are essential to meeting the food demands of a growing population while minimizing the negative effects of agriculture on climate change. By engineering crops that need less water, we can create drought-resistant food sources at a time when droughts are becoming more frequent.
In addition, it may be possible to produce crops with a much greater yield so we can continue using farmland we already have and avoid clearing forests to create more.
Next time you see the label non-GMO on packaging at the grocery store, dont celebrate it. Theres no reason to shy away from a revolutionary technology that stands to aid us in the fight against climate change while improving human health.
Nathan is a fourth-year English student and The Journals Arts Editor.
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Despite fearmongering, GMOs are the key to a healthy and sustainable future - Queen's Journal
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