ARTWORK: Navita Wijeratne
converted into methane by bacteria in the water-logged roots, carbon dioxide is stored in the starch, also increasing its nutrients. There are other applications for GMOs aside from climate resilience, nutrition and herbicide tolerance. Firstly, modifying plants to mature faster could provide farming opportunities in areas previously deemed unviable for growing food. Secondly, modifying mosquitoes to be resistant to malaria could help prevent up to 3,000 childhood deaths per day. The media can often spread overhyped information about GMOs, leading to unwarranted public concern. In 1999, a small study published by Cornell entomologist John Losey in Nature about the negative impact of pest-resistant GMO corn on monarch butterflies sparked widespread criticism of the industry. The study was later debunked due to improper methods, as the concentration of the corn pollen used far exceeded natural levels, and the migratory patterns of butterflies didn’t align with pollen shedding patterns. But the damage was done. Opponents of GMOs used the study to cast doubt on the opportunities that GMOs could offer, stalling innovation in the field for several years. Another major concern of anti-GMO proponents is that GMOs will pollinate wild, non-GMO forms of the crop, creating unwanted and potentially harmful characteristics. However, farmers have been successful in creating ‘buffer zones’ around GMO crops to avoid crossbreeding, and scientists have created GMO crops that are so genetically different from their wild-type counterparts that they can’t produce viable offspring. There are also concerns about access to costly GM seeds in developing countries, and about private corporations patenting and monopolising GMO technology. To remedy this, the advent of genetic engineering must be accompanied by a systemic change in economic, legal and social structures to ensure that the technology can be equitably accessed worldwide whilst preserving intellectual property. There are often concerns raised that GMOs are too ’artificial’ for human consumption. However, humans have been genetically modifying food for centuries, millennia even, just not with the technology and scientific jargon associated with GMOs today. Take bananas for example this is what they used to look like, over 6,500 years ago. Through the process of artificial selection, we created the sweeter, more nutritious bananas we enjoy today. Although GMOs aren’t perfectly comparable, as genes are often combined from different species, we cannot continue to view GMOs as a foreign, mysterious, artificial food source. Instead, they are a tool to ensure that we can equitably feed every person, on a warming and deteriorating Earth, without clearing more land or deforesting natural habitats. GMOs represent not just a pinnacle of modern biotechnology, but an opportunity to ensure each person is nourished, slow down climate change, and reduce the impact of fatal diseases on people across the world. So, the next time you’re considering leaving GMO products on the shelf, think twice – the planet may depend on it.
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