GMOs: Everything You Need to Know

Meredith Rosenberg (EcoWatch)

Jul. 06, 2021

https://www.ecowatch.com/understanding-gmos-2653417556.html

Francesco Carta fotografo / Moment / Getty Images

What Are GMOs?

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms that have been modified in a laboratory in
order to produce a specific result. For example, many types of food sources, especially corn and
soybean crops, are genetically modified in order to withstand herbicides and insects. This method
stems from the concept of selective breeding and dates back to at least 8000 BCE, although
genetically altering DNA didn't happen until 1973.

Austrian monk Gregor Mendel is credited with identifying the founding principles of genetics when
he crossbred two pea breeds in 1866. In 1922, hybrid corn made its commercial debut, while plant
breeders discovered how to alter DNA with radiation and chemicals in 1940. After 1973, the FDA
approved insulin in 1982 as the first genetically engineered product for human use. However,
genetically modified food didn't get FDA approval until 1994, when a GMO tomato became the first
to go commercial. While on the surface it appears that GMOs are 100 percent positive, they have
been surrounded by controversy for decades.

How Are GMOs Made?

Creating GMO plants first involves identifying and isolating a desired trait, from the
aforementioned herbicide resistance to drought resistance to disease tolerance. That trait is then
copied and inserted into the plant DNA that's being modified, with the final result initially grown in
a lab. The seeds from successful modifications are then sold to farmers.
Current Use of GMOs
Besides corn and soybeans, other commonly grown GMO crops in the U.S. include cotton, canola,
potatoes and sugar beets. The latter are used to make granulated (or white) sugar; in fact, more than
half of this type of commercially sold sugar comes from GMO sugar beets. GMO-derived
ingredients are also prevalent in processed foods, such as lecithin and emulsifiers from soybeans;
canola and cottonseed oil used in packaged goods; and high-fructose corn syrup, which is found in
everything from soft drinks and salad dressing to bread and sweetened yogurt. While it's often
thought that GMOs are only found in processed food and drink, genetically modified produce exists
as well: apples, summer squash and papaya are among the ones grown in the U.S.

GMO grains are also fed to the majority of livestock (cows, chickens) used in the meat and dairy
industry, with corn, soybeans and alfalfa ranking as the most popular choices. The FDA claims that
livestock fed a GMO diet pose no greater risk to human health than ones that aren't, and so far there
haven't been any conclusive studies that prove otherwise.

In the meantime, the benefits appear to outweigh any possible risks, although these might be more
apparent to farmers and the agricultural industry than to consumers, since GMO crops can be altered
to better withstand drought conditions and pests, require less pesticide, cost less money to grow and
even increase nutritional value.

Are GMOs Safe?

Though unproven, GMOs have been tied to everything from reduced fertility to cancer. GMOs are
considered safe by the FDA, but long-term effects are still being studied, and these studies have
only been performed on animals.

Cancer

Although correlations exist, there are currently no definitive studies that GMOs cause cancer, and
this is the stance of cancer organizations in the U.S., UK and Australia. A 2013 study raised
concerns when it studied the effect of glyphosate, the active ingredient used in most herbicides on
GMO crops, in human breast cancer cells. The results suggested that glyphosate could cause breast
cancer, but the lab study also used breast cell tissue that was already cancerous. Another study, this
time from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015, reported that glyphosate
doubled the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. It connected the highest risk
to farmers and farm workers, and California has since added glyphosate to its list of cancer-causing
chemicals. It should be noted that glyphosate is the main ingredient in the popular weedkiller
Roundup, which has been linked to thousands of cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Despite this,
the EPA has declared glyphosate isn't likely to pose a cancer risk in people.

The question remains whether or not GMO crops require more pesticides (including herbicides and
insecticides) than non-GMO crops. A 2016 study examined this issue. On the one hand, GMO crops
altered to resist insects technically don't require additional insecticide. On the other hand, it turns
out that farmers sprayed more weedkillers on glyphosate-tolerant corn after 2007. The same goes
for glyphosate-tolerant soybeans. As to why, a co-author of that study suggested it was due to weeds
becoming more resistant to glyphosate over time.

Organs
In 2011, the journal Environmental Sciences Europe reviewed 19 studies involving animals that
were fed GMO diets of corn and soybeans. It concluded possible links between this diet and kidney
and liver disorders, as well as altered body weight and genital cancer in second-generation females,
but that further research was needed. A more recent 2019 study published in GMO Science also
suggested a link between liver and kidney damage in rats fed a GMO corn diet. However, this
particular diet involved Monsanto-engineered corn for the Egyptian market containing a pest-
deterring insecticide. The earlier study also fed rats an insecticide variant.

Fertility Problems

A 2014 study possibly linked fertility issues to GMO-heavy diets, while a 2018 study in the Journal
of the American Medical Association suggested that pesticide-tainted food, often associated with
herbicide-tolerant GMO crops, might have been the cause behind 100,000 unsuccessful pregnancies
at fertility clinics. While the study recommended that pregnant women and those trying to conceive
should avoid pesticides and GMOs where possible, it didn't measure how much of participants'
pesticide consumption came from GMO foods that were pesticide resistant.

Offspring

According to a 2015 Harvard University article, various studies haven't proven any causation
between GMO consumption and negative impacts on offspring. The article cites a South Dakota
State University study that tracked rats eating GMO corn for four generations, including pregnant
rats, and did not find any changes in offspring size or organ damage. It should be noted that GMOs
can be found in non-organic baby food, and just like other food studies, the long-term effects are
unknown at this time.

Allergies

An early study in the '90s found a possible allergic reaction to GMO soybeans, but that was only
upon adding a nut protein, and only affected people with specific nut allergies. The FDA states that
people are only apt to be allergic to a GM food if they're already allergic to the non-GM version,
such as soy.

DNA Mutations

There have been some concerns that eating genetically altered food would alter human DNA. Bruce
Ames, a Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California
in Berkeley, developed a test to track mutations from food, and this test has been used on GMO
corn and tomatoes without any findings to suggest a connection. The Royal Society, one of the
world's oldest scientific organizations, asserts that one doesn't affect the other, and that the DNA in
GM food is no different from the DNA in non-GM foods.

Pros and Cons of GMOs

Pros of GMOs

As touched upon earlier, GMO crops are meant to provide benefits. For example, certain GMO
crops technically require less pesticide, while other GMO crops can achieve higher yields or
withstand droughts.

Added Nutritional Value

Some GMOs can also boost a food's nutritional value, although this area has been mired in
controversy. Take Golden Rice, which is just white rice that's been modified with Vitamin A to help
prevent blindness and other Vitamin A deficiencies, especially in children, in developing countries.
While a good idea in theory, Golden Rice has been caught in a 20-plus-year battle due to opponents
who question the rice's safety and effectiveness. Although the Philippines approved Golden Rice for
the commercial market in 2020, it has yet to reach consumers.

Increased Food Supply

Besides the potential to add nutritional value, GMOs are another way to possibly reduce world
hunger. Food demand is expected to grow 70 percent by 2050, and that requires even more
deforestation going forward. However, GMO crops could prevent that in a number of ways, such as
employing modifications that would double production yields without requiring additional land.
That's already the case with cotton crops in developing countries, where GMO cotton has increased
yields in India and China. Although GMO food crops are currently banned in India and other
nations that could benefit from an increased food supply.

Combat Climate Change

Then there are climate crisis considerations. There are studies indicating that GMO crops
have reduced pesticide spraying by 8.7 percent, while less soil tillage and fuel dependence have
decreased greenhouse gas emissions that are the equivalent to 15 million fewer cars on the road.
Additionally, larger GMO crop yields resulting from drought resistance, among other reasons, have
reduced the need for farmers to acquire more land. Scientists are also researching ways that GMOs
can actively fight climate change, such as altering plants that can remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere, require less sunlight or convert nitrogen for growth purposes. GMO crops could
even reduce methane emissions from livestock by employing plants that create less methane from
consumption.

Cons of GMOs

Besides the negative health implications and increased herbicide usage already covered, there are
additional drawbacks for the environment and farmers.

Superweeds

There have been claims connecting GMO crops to superweeds, where, instead of reducing a
reliance on pesticides, certain crops have become more herbicide resistant, thus requiring greater
usage of weedkillers such as Monsanto's Roundup. The elephant in the room is the fact that until
recently Monsanto owned the majority of the country's GMO seeds. Roundup has been linked to
thousands of cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leading to a $10 billion settlement from Bayer,
who acquired Monsanto in 2018. A 2018 study stated that 38 global weed species have become
resistant to glyphosate.

Decreased Pest Resistance

Insects, similar to weeds, are becoming increasingly tolerant of pest-resistant GMO crops,
particularly cotton and corn. Known as Bt crops (Bacillus thuringiensis), due to the type of bacteria
that makes them pest-resistant, they initially worked to resist common threats such as bollworms
and rootworms, and reduced the need for insecticides. However, new strains of these pests are no
longer deterred by GMO crops modified to resist them, re-upping the need for insecticides.
Biodiversity Loss

Increased Roundup and herbicide usage has also been tied to dwindling monarch
butterfly populations, one of many biodiversity issues. That's because the toxin also kills milkweed,
the main diet for monarchs and commonly found in crop fields.

Farmer Suicides

In recent decades, India has attracted attention for its farmer suicide rate, which some have
attributed to the GMO industry. There have been about 300,000 farmer suicides in the past twenty
years, and biotech opponents blame these on the GMO cotton sector, which is the only industry
allowed to use GM crops. The majority of the country's cotton comes from modified Bt cotton
seeds. The supposed problem is the rising cost of these seeds, which many farmers can't afford and
often go into debt for in order to buy them; bad crops and fluctuating global cotton prices often
create a debt spiral that's hard to recover from. Yet there are studies that dispute a connection
between Bt cotton and farmer suicide rates, instead suggesting that the reverse is true due to higher
crop yields.

Besides the theory that Bt cotton is sending growers into debt, there's the other issue of bollworms
becoming resistant to GMO cotton, requiring heavier doses of pesticides. Due to different
regulations, it's not uncommon for fieldworkers to apply toxic chemicals without the proper
protection, or even shoes and masks.

Adding another layer, a different paper found that small farms were at a higher risk for suicide rates
than large ones since they depend more on rainwater for successful crops than large operations,
which use irrigation pumps. If anything, the study authors found the bigger problem is the threat of
groundwater shortages for large farms, since groundwater usage is unregulated.

Seed Sovereignty

Not least is the matter of seed sovereignty, giving farmers the freedom to use whatever seeds they
wish, thereby decreasing reliance on major seed companies who favor patented GM seeds. Seed
sovereignty is an ongoing issue that's been ceding control to large corporations concerning which
seeds farmers can plant.

Which Foods Might Contain GMOs?

Though GMOs appear prevalent, there are only a small number of GMO crops grown in the U.S.
The most common are corn, soybeans, sugar beets, canola and cotton. However, about 90 percent of
these crops use GMO seeds. There are also GMO alfalfa crops, used mostly for livestock feed.
GMO versions exist for some produce, including apples, summer squash and papaya. Ranger
Russet, Russet Burbank and Atlantic potatoes all have GMO versions, and are sold under the White
Russet label.

While it appears easy to avoid some GMO foods, such as produce sold under a particular label,
others, including GMO corn, soybeans and canola oil, can turn up in unexpected places. For
example, corn can pop up in anything containing high fructose corn syrup, dextrose or glucose, and
encompass bread, cereal, soda, frozen meals and even Vitamin C supplements. GMO soy can be
found in infant formula, protein drinks, tofu, edamame, canned tuna and salad dressing. It's a safe
assumption that unless an item is sold under an organic label or is considered a whole food, it likely
contains GMOs.
Then there are GMO foods which are marketed as healthy vegan alternatives to meat, such as the
popular brand of Impossible Burgers. Sold by major chains, from White Castle to Bareburger, the
plant-based burgers contain GMO soy protein and heme, the molecule responsible for replicating
the realistic beef-like taste and appearance. This molecule is genetically engineered by combining
soybean DNA with yeast.

In 2015 the FDA approved AquAdvantage Salmon, a genetically engineered Atlantic salmon. This
new salmon grows faster than non-GE Atlantic salmon due to a hormone from Chinook salmon.
The FDA asserts that this GE salmon will be labeled as bioengineered. AquaBounty, the company
behind the new salmon, plans to sell it to consumers sometime in 2021. So far many entities, from
Aramark and Walmart to supermarkets and restaurants, have refused to carry the salmon.

It's worth noting that GMOs aren't limited to food. Most cotton, whether produced in the U.S. or
abroad, actually comes from the aforementioned Bt cotton seeds. So unless organic cotton was used,
most clothes, bedding and towels are GMO goods. Although GM cotton also enters the food supply
via cottonseed oil derived from cotton seeds, and the oil can be found in potato chips, baked goods
and pasta sauce.

What Is Being Done About GMOs?

GM Labeling

Due to the unknown long-term health effects from GMOs, along with environmental protestors and
preliminary studies linking them to health risks such as cancer, they're banned, or partially banned,
in 19 out of 27 EU countries, including France, Greece, Italy, Germany and much of the UK.
Additionally, GMOs are currently banned in Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Peru, Venezuela and
most African countries.

The EU also requires GMO labeling, something the U.S. has resisted, but will start adding
in January 2022. At that point foods containing certain types of GMO ingredients will be required to
display a "bioengineered" label.

CRISPR

CRISPR is a type of gene editing technology that can precisely alter cells; a new technique allows
for plant alteration without introducing foreign DNA, hence the end result is not a GMO. While this
new technology could positively alter the current GMO landscape, it's still in the rudimentary phase.

Monitoring

There are some organizations such as the Non-GMO Project that independently monitor products
for GMOs and verify whether or not certain standards are met. The site also facilitates checking
specific food items for their GMO status and provides guidance for identifying potential GMO
foods.

In the meantime, the FDA continues to monitor and regulate GMOs, which involves working with
other government agencies to ensure that the same safety standards are met as non-GMO foods.
This includes monitoring pesticide usage.

Otherwise, beyond ongoing independent studies, the American Medical Association, the National
Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the World
Health Organization, among others, have all deemed GMOs safe and as such no further action is
being taken at this time in the U.S beyond GMO labeling.

What Can You Do?

Consumers can err on the side of caution by choosing organic food and goods whenever possible,
buying from local farms, looking for non-GMO certification labels and reading ingredient lists. The
Non-GMO project also breaks down which crops are deemed most likely to be genetically modified,
along with listing high-risk, animal-derived ingredients. Some of the items might be surprising,
including honey and eggs, due to the amount of GMOs used in crops and livestock feed.

Takeaway
At of time of publication there is no conclusive evidence that GMOs as a whole are more harmful
than non-GMOs, whether to one's health, the environment or farmers, so it appears that avoiding
GMOs entirely would have a negligible impact based on the current facts available.

Meredith Rosenberg is a senior editor at EcoWatch. She holds a Master's from the Newmark
Graduate School of Journalism in NYC and a B.A. from Temple University in Philadelphia.