If you’re reading this blog, you probably already have an idea about what GMOs are. For those of you that are uncertain, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms that have had their DNA edited through human intervention in some way. In this blog post my goal is to educate you and hopefully clear some of the haze away from GMOs.
What does “genetically modified” mean?
The term “genetically modified” means that humans changed the DNA sequence of a living thing in some way. At its most basic, humans have been genetically modifying plants and animals since the dawn of civilization through selective breeding. In fact, your cat or dog is actually the byproduct of genetic modification that has taken place for hundreds or even thousands of years. However, the current fuss about GMOs that you hear about in the news is not about selective breeding, the fuss is about powerful bio-technical methods that can edit DNA directly¹.
DNA!!!
DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, and it is the instruction booklet for your body to grow and shape you into who you are right now. Every physical characteristic about a person is stored in their DNA. How DNA works is fascinating and could fill hundreds of blog posts. For a comprehensive review of how DNA works, go here.
To make a long story short, here is a quick summary of how DNA works.
DNA is made up of units that are called “nucleotides”. These nucleotides have 4 basic types called “bases” denoted by the letters A, T, G, and C. Information is stored in the DNA by arranging these bases in certain sequences that are called “genes”. So in reality, the color of your eyes is only really determined by the order of these 4 letters.
It is important to note that every living thing on the planet has the same DNA and uses it in the same way. The only real difference between a human’s DNA and a frog’s DNA is the order of the bases. This similarity between all of life allows for scientists to take a sequence from one organism and then insert that same sequence into a different organism, which is often what modern genetic modifications are.
Modern GMOs
With today’s knowledge of how DNA works within organisms, scientists are able to do incredible things. One popular example is an insect resistant corn called Bt corn. This organism is regular corn that scientists inserted a DNA sequence for the Bt protein, which is toxic to insects. The corn produces this insect killing protein along with the rest of the proteins it normally makes. This allows for less pesticide use on these crops.
Along with pesticide proteins, scientists can insert DNA sequences for higher yields, drought tolerance, disease resistance, and any other trait you could think of¹. Importantly, this DNA being inserted has no innate differences to the DNA already in the organism.
Why do we need GMOs?
We live in a planet that has a population that is increasing at a very high rate. If we push against GMOs in agriculture, we would need to use more farm land to produce the same amount of food we do now. Imagine a population that is double what it is today, and the amount of farmland we would need is astronomical. GMOs are the key to the future of agriculture and I urge you to agree.
Cited References
¹Hokanson, K. E., et al. Not all GMOs are crop plants: non-plant GMO applications in agriculture. Transgenic Research, Dec, 2014, Vol.23(6), p.1057(12)
Great blog! You did a very good job of laying the foundation of GMOs and made it easy to understand. Your argument was logical and factual, making it very convincing.
I really enjoyed reading your post and I totally agree with you. I like how you had a brief summary of how DNA works, and then provided a link to a site where it explains extensively how DNA works.
I enjoyed reading your blog post about GMO’s! I agree with you that GMO’s are misunderstood in the public eye and that they’re necessary for the future of agriculture, however if you wrote this blog post to persuade people to like GMO’s than I would have added some of the myths that people believe, and how there isn’t any evidence to support those beliefs. Another thing you could add to the DNA section would be a picture of the purine and pyrimidine bases that are the “letters” you talked about. Some people may actually think that you mean legit letters depending on their knowledge of science……… I know this sounds stupid, but trust me there are those people out there.
I agree with Kaitlin about addressing some of the myths. I can see someone thinking insect resistance is all very well and good, but that modified corn will make their children into mutants or give them cancer or something.