What Are Genetically Modified Organisms?

No corporate activity today is more controversial than the production and sale of genetically modified
organisms (GMOs; another common abbreviation is GM for genetically modified foods). One company in
particular, Monsanto, has become so closely associated with GMOs that it has become the target of
worldwide criticism and a number of public protests.

Though news articles and editorials appear daily about public interest campaigns against GMOs, many
consumers still are not sure exactly what GMOs are or why they are so controversial. As you walk down
the aisle of your local supermarket, you may have noticed package labels that state, “This product does
not contain GMOs.” Should you buy such products? Should you prefer them to other products that do
not make the same claim?

A GMO is any organism whose genes have been modified unnaturally.1 “Unnatural” gene modification
involves isolating a gene from one species and splicing it into another. For example, this could involve
isolating a mildew-resistant gene from one plant and splicing it into a different species of plant in order
to create a product that stays fresh longer.2 In one sense, genetic manipulation is quite ancient. Ever
since the origins of agriculture thousands of years ago, farmers have known how to improve crop quality
by selectively breeding strains of vegetables, fruit, or grain. However, such hybrids are not GMOs
because the process of creating them does not involve the transfer of genes from one species to
another.

The term GMO refers not only to food products, but also to animals, insects, and medications that have
been produced through genetic modification. The first medicine produced through genetic engineering
was insulin. Previously, insulin for diabetes patients had been harvested from animals.3 Introduction of
GMO-derived insulin reduced dependence on animals for the creation of this drug, and also reduced the
number of negative allergic reactions among diabetes patients who were sensitive to animal-derived
insulin. Genetic engineering has been used to develop medicines and treatments for a number of
diseases, including cancer. This ability to engineer the genetic make-up of an organism has been
referred to as conscious evolution.4

Genetically modified crops can be designed to provide benefits for producers or consumers. To date, the
primary focus has been on improved farming productivity. Most GMO crops available today were
created to be resistant to specific pests, pesticides, diseases, or difficult environmental conditions such
as flood or drought.5 For example, one of the most commercially successful genetic modifications for
crops is one that makes them resistant to glyphosate, an especially effective herbicide developed by
Monsanto and sold under the trademark Roundup, but which is now produced by many other
companies.6 Monsanto has developed seeds for GM crops that are resistant to glyphosate and are
therefore marketed as “Roundup Ready.” By using GM crops that are resistant to glyphosate, farmers
can control weeds more easily. This allows farmers to increase harvests while using less labor, because
there is less need to plow fields once they have been cleared of weeds with glyphosate. Clearing weeds
also reduces the presence of insect predators that could diminish crop yields.
One commonly cited example of the potential benefits of GMOs comes from the extensive reliance on
GM crops in China, which has allowed China to greatly improve farm productivity.7 Cotton plants
genetically modified to be resistant to local pests are already widely-used in China. By switching to this
cotton, use of pesticides has decreased by 80%.

Genetically modified organisms play a larger role in our world than most Americans realize. In the
United States today, over 90% of soybean, cotton, corn, and other crops are genetically modified.8 If
you were not aware of the extent of GMO usage, you are not alone. A 2005 survey asked Canadians,
Americans, and Britons if they were paying close attention to genetic engineering in their medication
and food: Only 9% of Americans reported that they paid close attention to the issue and 31% were
somewhat interested, but 25% answered that they had not paid any attention to the issue, and an
additional 35% had paid little attention.9

Arguably, one of the reasons the public does not know more about genetically modified organisms is
that research in the field is primarily conducted by the main companies who develop GMOs, and these
companies do not wish to alarm the public.10 Large corporations have dominated the world of genetic
engineering since the Supreme Court ruled that genes could be patented.11 Patent protection and
enforcement by large corporations make it difficult ent researchers to study patented genes without
approval from the companies that own them.

GMOs and Biodiversity

The impact of GMOs on biodiversity is widely debated. Pro-GMO researchers maintain that if crops are
genetically modified for pest resistance, farmers can reduce their reliance on insecticides, so that local
fauna, such as birds, rodents, and insects, can flourish in the area. Secondary pests that would have
been eliminated through widespread insecticide application are not suppressed by the scaled-back
insecticide use permitted by GMOs. Because these secondary pests remain, other small predators—the
birds and rodents that feed on the secondary pests—remain viable.15 In addition, the development of
drought-resistant or flood-resistant crops allows arid or flood-prone land to be used for growing crops.
This means that less high-biodiversity terrain needs to be converted for farming.16

On the other side of the debate, GMO skeptics have argued that up to 75% of plant genetic diversity has
been lost since farmers switched to uniform GM crop varieties. In this view, less popular, non-GM seed
varieties are being neglected.17 Moreover, widely used GM crop varieties can spread to neighboring
fields and eventually mix in with non-GM crops. A farmer who wishes to continue using a non-GM seed
variety, or who desires to maintain the organic status of his crops, must adopt potentially expensive
measures to protect his crops from contamination or cross-pollination with his neighbor’s GM crops. It
has also been argued that the over-popularity of certain GM crops may lead to greater susceptibility to
pests and disease.18 Pests may evolve to target the monoculture of popular and overused crop
varieties. Moreover, it has been argued that the evolution of glyphosate-resistant weeds has required
farmers to make ever-greater use of glyphosate, the toxicity of which poses dangers for human health.
It has been hypothesized that GM crops can harm insect species that are not pests. Insects that feed on
GM crops will carry GM pollen, which may prove toxic in the long term and result in depletion or even
extinction of insect populations.19 The genetic integrity of any plant or insect that lives in close
proximity to GM crops can be compromised because gene transfer from one organism to another can
occur, and such genes may pose unanticipated risks. GM traits have been found transferred to insects,
water life, and soil.