gmos: genetically modified organisms in our food · • gmos, aka genetically modified organisms...

A D A M N G U Y E N

G M O S : G E N E T I C A L LY M O D I F I E D O R G A N I S M S

I N O U R F O O D

W H AT A R E G M O S ?

• GMOs, aka genetically modified organisms are living organisms who genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering.

• This creates a combination of plant, animal, bacteria, and virus genes that do not occur in nature through traditional crossbreeding methods.

• Most GMOs have been engineered to withstand the direct application of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide. But now new technologies are being used to artificially develop other traits in plants, such as a resistance to browning in apples.

O T H E R U S E S O F G M O S

• However, plants aren’t the only type of GMO that we use. GMOs are also used to produce many medicines and vaccines that help treat or prevent diseases.

• Before GMOs, many common medicines had to be extracted from blood donors, animal parts, or even cadavers.

• These medicines had a number of problems including the risk of transmission of diseases, inconsistent quality and unreliable supply. GMO medicines are more consistent and don’t carry the same contamination risk.

W H E R E A R E G M O S ?

• GMOs are everywhere in your food! They were first introduced into the food supply in the mid 1990s, GMOs are now present in the vast majority of process foods in the US. While they are banned as food ingredients in Europe and elsewhere, the FDA does not even require the labeling of GMOs in food ingredient lists.

• Although there have been attempts to increase nutritional benefits or productivity, the two main traits that have been added to date are herbicide tolerance and the ability of the plant to produce its own pesticide. These results have no health benefit, only economic benefit.

G M O S I N F O O D

• Currently commercialized GMO crops in the U.S. include soy (94%), cotton (90%), canola (90%), sugar beets (95%), corn (88%), Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%), zucchini and yellow squash (over 24,000 acres).

• In the U.S., three major commodity crops are raised predominantly from GMO seed:  field corn (92%), soybeans (94%*, and cotton (94%).  *percentages are based on U.S. acreage as of 2015 (USDA)

• In research studies, animals that have been safely genetically engineered (GE) include cattle, pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, dogs, cats, fish, rats, and mice. To date, FDA has not permitted GE animals to be placed into the human food supply. 

W H AT F O O D S A R E G M O S ?

• I N FA N T F O R M U L A • S A L A D D R E S S I N G • B R E A D • C E R E A L • H A M B U R G E R S A N D H O T D O G S • M A R G A R I N E • M AY O N N A I S E • C R A C K E R S • C O O K I E S • C H O C O L AT E • C A N D Y • F R I E D F O O D • C H I P S • V E G G I E B U R G E R S • M E AT S U B S T I T U T E S • I C E C R E A M

• F R O Z E N Y O G U R T • T O F U • TA M A R I A N D S O Y S A U C E • S O Y C H E E S E • T O M AT O S A U C E • P R O T E I N P O W D E R • B A K I N G P O W D E R • A N Y S U G A R N O T 1 0 0 % C A N E • C O N F E C T I O N E R ’ S G L A Z E • A L C O H O L • VA N I L L A ( M AY C O N TA I N

C O R N S Y R U P ) • P E A N U T B U T T E R • E N R I C H E D F L O U R • PA S TA • M A LT • W H I T E V I N E G A R

P O P U L AT I O N B A C K G R O U N D

B A C K G R O U N D

• The human population has grown at a breakneck pace and threatens to further exacerbate a problem that has worsened in recent years: chronic huger.

• GMOs crops could help relieve this problem by providing increased yields and being more resistant to environmental stressors despite health and environmental risks

C O N C E R N S A N D R I S K S F O R G M O S

G M O ’ S R I S K T O H E A LT H

• Genetically modified foods have been linked to toxic and allergic reactions, sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals.

• The effects on humans of consuming these new combinations of proteins produced in GMOs are unknown and have not been studied.

B A C K G R O U N D

• Unlike safety evaluations for drugs, there are no human clinical trials of GM foods. 

• The use of GM crops is widely debated. At the moment there is no known harm in consuming genetically modified foods.

• GM foods are developed – and marketed – because there is some perceived advantage either to the producer or consumer of these foods. This is meant to translate into a product with a lower price, greater benefit (in terms of durability or nutritional value) or both.

M AY C A U S E H E A LT H P R O B L E M S

• Human studies show how genetically modified (GM) food can leave material behind inside us, possibly causing long-term problems. Genes inserted into GM soy, for example, can transfer into the DNA of bacteria living inside us, and that the toxic insecticide produced by GM corn was found in the blood of pregnant women and their unborn fetuses.

• Numerous health problems increased after GMOs were introduced in 1996. The percentage of Americans with three or more chronic illnesses jumped from 7% to 13% in just 9 years; food allergies skyrocketed, and disorders such as autism, reproductive disorders, digestive problems, and others are on the rise.

• Although there is not sufficient research to confirm that GMOs are a contributing factor, doctors groups such as the AAEM tell us not to wait before we start protecting ourselves, and especially our children who are most at risk.

• Many scientists have had concerns that the release of these new organisms with their engineered DNA could have dire consequences.

• Those consequences not only affect the natural “wild” environment, but also conventional and organic agriculture.

G M O R I S K T O N AT U R E

H A R M F U L F O R E N V I R O N M E N T

• GM crops and their associated herbicides can harm birds, insects, amphibians, marine ecosystems, and soil organisms. They reduce bio-diversity, pollute water resources, and are unsustainable.

• For example, GM crops are eliminating habitat for monarch butterflies, whose populations are down 50% in the US.

• Roundup herbicide has been shown to cause birth defects in amphibians, embryonic deaths and endocrine disruptions, and organ damage in animals even at very low doses.

• GM canola has been found growing wild in North Dakota and California, threatening to pass on its herbicide tolerant genes on to weeds (Super Weeds).

C O N C L U S I O N

• GMO foods currently available on the international market have passed risk assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health.

• In addition, no effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved.

• Despite the risk posed to both the environment and human’s health, GMO foods are a way to combat increasing population by increasing yields in crop harvesting.

• Regardless there are still many risks among GMO foods and the risk are still existing putting more pressure on the need for more scientific research to overcome society’s fears.

R E F E R E N C E S

• http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/PH/GMOs/

• https://www.nongmoproject.org/gmo-facts/

• https://ag.purdue.edu/GMOs/Pages/WhyGMOs.aspx

• https://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-education/

• http://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-education/gmos-in-food/ http://responsibletechnology.org/10-reasons-to-avoid-gmos/

• http://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-education/health-risks/

• http://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-education/environmental-risks/

• https://www.bio.org/articles/genetically-engineered-animals-frequently-asked-questions

• http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/feeding-the-world/

• https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/GeneticEngineering/GeneticallyEngineeredAnimals/ucm113672.htm

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/marvinok/8489861223/in/photolist-dWdKXD-dNyd1n-b2uhFz-bd9p7M-o7faPJ-qKaAuA-af36Ns-cvunC1-ePw7iA-cuKf53-oewpo3-VUyMsz-7b2G3-25XqcBL-oscYA3-oweDFC-nBN9rN-c5AoqJ-6EaXeN-cxfxQY-c5AjKh-bD7mzj-fkjXxG-X6cpbu-9C7vKL-rd9t7m-Wdy4Za-nfqDYA-9TN4pg-b3Z5MR-Vtx8BF-kQTanF-WeaCNs-6GbC33-5hjPen-nxP8zT-9TXgGu-4HguD9-4CboGY-at6nRx-XSXM7A-64SPeK-a3roys-9mdTph-CHcfkA-23JHKhm-oMcfju-c5AweJ-5zyW8c-8mcPiZ