By: Tanishtha Nath
What is a GMO?
Have you ever seen the labels on food products saying ‘Non-GMO’ and just pretended to know what that means? Everyone knows the basic idea, but what exactly is a GMO? In simple terms, GMO is an abbreviation for Genetically Modified Organism, which means that the genes of a given organism have been modified to accommodate a certain physiological characteristic; this could apply to plants as well as bacteria and fungi.
How are GMOs made?
There are two common methods of modifying organisms –selective breeding* and crossbreeding*– but these methods result in unwanted traits in the organism and take a long time to complete. To avoid these problems, scientists use biotechnology. There are four main steps when making GMOs:
Identify: During this step, the scientist needs to identify which trait they want the organism to have. After they find an organism that already contains that specific trait, they find the specific gene which is used in the next step.
Copy: Once the gene is found, it is copied, which makes it ready to be inserted.
Insert: The scientist then inserts the gene into the desired organism. This will not affect other existing traits.
Grow: Lastly, the organism is grown in a laboratory, and if successful, it is grown on a larger scale, such as in a greenhouse or a field.
What are the benefits and risks associated with GMOs?
Modifying DNA doesn’t sound terrible, right? So why are GMOs considered bad? The reason for this is that the study is vastly unknown, and could potentially have many risks. During the production of GMOs, scientists might insert the DNA of a completely different organism into another which could cause allergic reactions. However, a lot of studies have shown that GMOs do not negatively affect the health of humans, proving that GMOs should not be considered bad. In fact, they can also have some benefits. Most genetically modified foods are more nutritious, tastier, and use fewer pesticides. They are also drought resistant, which means they require less environmental resources.
*selective breeding - breeding to produce desired characteristics in animal or plant offspring.
*crossbreeding - mating two different organisms together to form a hybrid species.
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Science and History of Gmos and Other Food Modification Processes.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/science-and-history-gmos-and-other-food-modification-processes.
“Genetically Engineered Foods: Medlineplus Medical Encyclopedia.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002432.htm.
National Geographic Society. “Genetically Modified Organisms.” National Geographic Society, 8 July 2019, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/genetically-modified-organisms/.
“What Are GMOs?” What Are Gmos?, https://ag.purdue.edu/GMOs/Pages/WhatareGMOs.aspx.
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