Using GMOs commercially may potentially be dangerous.
GMO stands for genetically modified organism. These organisms are typically plants that have been genetically engineered for a specific set of traits including size, color vibrance, and shelf life. These crops are still in the relative beginning stages of development, and we currently understand little about the potential dangers of their use.
Decreased Nutritional Value of Foods
Genetically modified fruits and vegetables are designed for optimal superficial traits of the produce. The danger, however, is that the emphasis in this process is not directed at freshness or nutritional content of the fruit. For this reason, it is easy for consumers to be deceived by fresh-looking genetically modified produce which in reality has been on the shelf for days and has lost much of its original flavor and nutritional value.
Widespread Crop Failure
Genetic diversity is key for immunity in living things. Crops that have not been genetically modified have the benefit of a variety of genes available in the pool to provide them with protection from diseases and pests. Genetically modified crops, in contrast, have identical genetic structure. This means that if a single disease, virus or parasite mutates so that it can easily attack that plant, the entire crop could be lost. On a large scale this could be devastating not only to the farmer but to the regional economy and worse. Not only does this threaten the GMO crops, but it also poses a threat to non-GMO foods in that they could be cross-polinated with vulnerable GMO genes by birds, bees, or butterflies, making the resulting offspring plants susceptible to the same diseases and pests.
Increased Use of Herbicides and Pesticides
Many genetically modified crops are engineered to be resistant to conventional herbicides and pesticides. This is because farmers want the ability to spray their fields with these chemicals, killing the bugs and weeds without the plants being affected. This system is heavily reliant on chemicals which are unhealthy to both the environment and humans. Recently, stories have been published by Reuters describing studies which link children with high concentrations of agricultural pesticides in their urine with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Ecological Dangers
Another danger of using genetically modified organisms in agriculture is that it is impossible to contain them in one place, and once they are introduced into the local flora they have the chance to outcompete them and choke out many local plant varieties. Considering that we know little about the uses and applications of many botanicals around us, this is a potential ecological disaster. Along the same lines, any genetically modified cultivar we release or any virus or bacteria results from their use will be impossible to recall or combat.
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