Genetic Modification. The very phrase or its allegoric GMO
counterpart elicit a knee-jerk reaction in most folks, similar to that of the
GOP when they heard the name Obama : it’s BAD !!
I invite you to take a moment, put away the emotion and FB
memes and consider this technology rationally, for a change.
Most folks know little or nothing about their food
sources, agriculture or plant breeding. We are a society well disconnected from
our food production and therefore susceptible to false ideas about it. I hope I
can shed some light in the next few paragraphs that will give you pause about
the widespread GM antipathy.
Man has been altering the genetic make-up of our food
since agriculture began. It started by simply noticing that some plants and animals
grew larger or faster than others or maybe tasted better or were less likely to
get sick. We instinctively selected these “better” specimens and kept the seed
or bred them with other “better” animals. Sometimes the resulted in better
offspring. But not always. Gradually, over 1000’s of years, the plants and
animals did become more to our liking. Let’s call this Level 1 of genetic
modification.
Then, we (with guidance from the good Dr Mendel) got even
more clever and specifically cross-pollinated certain plants with others,
attempting to get an even better plant result. Again, the results most often
were disappointing in the ensuing generations. But, on rare occasions, the
plant breeder got lucky and found a genetic combination that would produce
similar offspring generation after generation. These are sometimes called
heirloom varieties. Level 2 GM is certainly not a naturally occurring process.
It requires major intervention in the genetic makeup of crops, as well as skill
and patience.
Level 3 GM is hybrid varieties. These are cross pollenated
varieties which are either sterile or will not produce the desired plant in
future generations. Farmers can’t save seed and expect a good crop from them.
The same parents must be used year after year to produce the desired seed.
There was a great deal of fuss when hybrid seeds were first introduced. It made
most farmers reliant on the seed company year after year. But, the extra yield
or disease resistance that was bred into the hybrids made the deal attractive.
We now come to Level 4 GM – reproduction of hybrid like
results in same species by gene splicing. While all the efforts to manipulate
the gene structure before have been carried out in the field, gene splicing is
a laboratory process. It starts with a HUGE effort to “map” the plant gene and
further work to identify which characteristics are controlled by which DNA
segments. Not as simple as it sounds, since often more than one segment “gene”
contributes to the end result. So, you take gene snippets from the likely areas
of the DNA molecule and splice them into the DNA from a similar plant. With
lots of luck, you could take a gene from a high yielding corn and splice it
into its cousin that is resistant to some disease and BINGO – you have a plant
with the best of both “parents”, which can be cloned to produce seed.
Here is my point about Level 4 GM : The result is EXACTLY
what could have happened with years and years of cross pollination, hybrid
technology. It is still a corn plant, with all corn DNA. THAT, my friends is
the genetic modification you are so afraid of. And here’s the news flash :
almost EVERY SINGLE SEED used in agriculture today is genetically modified in
just this way.
And I’m not alone in this. Bill Nye “the science guy”,
Scientific American and hundreds of respected plant scientists around the world
agree. See :
A ban on all GM crops would throw agriculture back by 20 or 30 years. Even more if hybrid technology is included in the GM definition.
If you want to know which foods are produced from seed
that has used GM technology – fine. But, what you will discover is that “non
GM” food is really rare these days – except in some hybrid and heirloom crops.
The reason many food producers are fighting the labeling laws is that they
don’t want to be forced to go back to inferior plant production, simply because
the masses don’t understand the technology.
Of course, there is a Level 5 GM. And that one we really
should be afraid of. Level 5 is when you start splicing bacteria DNA into corn
or potato DNA into soybeans. Monsanto and others have found such combinations
to be quite useful and highly profitable. But, they are NOTHING that could be
found in nature. We have no idea what could happen from accidental cross
pollination of these crops. Every technology can be abused. And this stuff is
pure abuse and must be stopped or regulated.
So, my bottom line is : Don’t throw out the baby with the
bath water. All GM is NOT bad. Most of it can increase yields, prevent famine
and feed millions – and is just about as “natural” as what we’ve been doing for
centuries. How much human intervention in seed production is OK with you? Where
do you draw the line? Let’s be smart and specific about our GM concerns. Intra
species splicing is not something to engender rational fear. Let’s save that
for the real GM abusers.
Further on my GM ponders:
“Does she or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for
sure” – Clairol ad from the 60’s
How will regulators determine which crops are genetically
modified ?? If gene segments from another species are inserted, that should be
fairly easy, though time consuming. But, when segments from same species are
used, it would be next to impossible. The DNA would look like any other DNA
from that species. Especially if that GM plant is cross-bred with another
hybrid. Even using genes from a similar plant, like tomato gene inserted into
the remarkably similar potato DNA would produce a plausibly “natural” DNA.
Moreover, if the resultant GM DNA looks, smells and
behaves just like a “natural” version, what is the problem ??
In the past, seed producers have announced their GM
origins by patenting the seed. But in the future, they may not be so
forthright. Leaving regulators and the consumer to ask the question : “Is it or
isn’t it?” Only your plant geneticist knows for sure.
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