GMOs in Crop Production

Contents

1. What is a GMO?
2. Can GMOs feed the whole world?
3. What GMO foods do we eat?
4. Why are people afraid of GMOs?
5. Benefits of GMOs
   • GMOs contain fewer pesticides
   • GMOs are cheaper
   • GMOs have more nutrients
6. What are the possible consequences of GMOs?
7. The future of GMOs.

What Is a GMO?

Genetic modification is a technology that involves alterations of DNA structure. To get a genetically modified plant, you need to change its genotype, that is, add a new gene to a cell genome. Genes are DNA sections carrying instructions on how to make proteins. These proteins influence the plant characteristics. For example, they participate in pigmentation. With their help, a plant can change its color. For instance, this is how red cabbage was bred.

In addition to changing color, genetic modification can give the plant new characteristics:

• build resistance to a particular disease or herbicide,
• improve nutritional value,
• reduce food waste.

The new DNA becomes part of a genetically modified plant's genome, which will pass to the seeds produced by that plant.

One of the most famous examples of the use of genetic engineering in crop production is the cultivation of papaya on the Hawaiian Islands. Between 1993 and 2006, the papaya ringspot virus caused the 50% papaya production cutdown. The Hawaii Department of Agriculture turned to genetic engineering and managed to return to the previous yields. Today, genetically modified papaya has almost replaced the common one (its share exceeds 90%).

Can GMOs Feed the Whole World?

Many factors affect food production:

• amount of precipitation,
• soil quality,
• weeds that compete with crops for nutrients and moisture,
• insects that feed on plants, etc.

Genetic engineering technologies cannot control all of these factors, but they can negate the impact of weeds and insects on yields.

Every weed growing in a field robs nutrients and moisture from a food plant. Inefficient weed control is the main cause of low yields. Thanks to genetic engineering, herbicide-resistant crops have been bred. This made it possible to spray highly active chemicals over the fields, destroying weeds and not fearing for the future crop.

The creation of insect-resistant genetically modified plants had a great impact on crop yields. A remarkable example is Bt-corn, a GMO crop with an added gene of a soil-dwelling bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. It makes the corn produce a protein that kills pests. We can say that a plant with this gene has an "innate" pesticide in its genome.

What GMO Foods Do We Eat?

Many products sold in our stores contain GMOs in various amounts. For example, genetically modified soybeans are added to sausages and dairy products. There are also fully genetically modified vegetables and fruits in grocery stores:

• tomatoes,
• zucchinis,
• beets,
• potatoes,
• corn,
• apples,
• carrots, onions, etc.

The complete register of GMO products and manufacturers is published here.

Why Are People Afraid of GMOs?

Despite the WHO-confirmed indisputable advantages of GMO crops, many people, including some scientists, express concerns about the negative consequences of such foods for the health of future generations. According to the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 80% of Russians demonstrate a negative attitude towards GMOs. They believe that eating genetically modified plants can change human DNA. This is the belief of those who have a vague idea about the process of bringing new genes to the DNA.

A plant is modified in several main steps:

• Researchers identify genes associated with some property of a plant, such as insect resistance.
• They create copies of those genes in a laboratory.
• Next, the scientists insert the gene copies into the DNA of another plant's cell.
• They use these modified cells to grow new insect-resistant plants.

Since scientists can choose the most usable traits for crop modification, genetically modified foods offer many benefits.

Benefits of GMOs

GMOs contain fewer pesticides

At present, soy, cotton, corn, rapeseed are grown almost entirely from seeds with pest-resistant Bt gene in their genome. This has allowed farmers to reduce the amount of chemicals used. A 2020 study has shown that agricultural holdings that grow GM crops decreased this amount by 775.4 million kilograms (8.3%) between 1996 and 2018. This trend in crop production will reduce risks to human health as well as environmental damage. Sowing without treatment improves soil condition and reduces the probability of erosion. Reducing the number of working equipment in the fields reduces fuel consumption, and therefore reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

GMOs are cheaper

GMO crops are bred to increase yields. They have allowed agricultural holdings to produce the same amount of food using less land, water and pesticides than conventional crops. Resources are being saved, hence lower prices for GMO products.

GMOs have more nutrients

Some GMO crops are packed with vitamins and minerals. For example, scientists have created a modified form of African corn that contains:

• 2 times more folate (water-soluble vitamin B9),
• 6 times more vitamin C,
• 169 times more beta-carotene than traditional corn.

Eating genetically modified foods is of particular importance in regions where the population suffers from nutritional deficiencies.

One example is the fight against irreversible childhood blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency. Beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A during digestion, has been genetically engineered into rice. As a result, scientists have received a new variety "Golden Rice". In August 2013, anti-GMO activists sabotaged field testing of the plant by the Philippine Department of Agriculture. The scientific community condemned this campaign by signing a petition in support of GMOs. The main reason for such an active reaction of scientists was that Golden Rice was created to meet a critical humanitarian need.

What are the possible consequences of GMOs?

Scientists who talk about the dangers of GMOs for humans name several negative consequences:

• Allergic reactions. As genetically modified plants contain DNA of other organisms, they can cause allergies in people who didn't have them before. This is what happened with GMO soybeans. Created using Brazil nut DNA, it proved unsafe for people with nut allergies and could not be marketed.
• Resistance to antibiotics. When introducing new DNA, scientists add a gene that makes the modified cells resistant to antibiotics. They then use an antibiotic to kill any plant cells that have not accepted the new DNA.

Researchers have found that modified DNA does not always disappear after a person digests food. It ends up in sewer systems. Scientists fear that harmful bacteria that live in sewers and in the gut could pair with antibiotic-resistant genes. This will lead to the emergence of superbacteria – agents of serious diseases, such as staphylococcal infection, and conventional antibiotic treatment will be powerless against them.

The Future of GMOs

A new report from the World Resources Institute says genetically modified foods will be an important tool to feed a global population that will reach 10 billion by 2050.

Scientists warn that people need to embrace and implement new technologies amid the necessity to produce enough food for a growing population. They emphasize that GMOs are just one technology that should be part of the big solution. The report, prepared jointly with the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme, names several potential solutions, including genetic engineering techniques. The prospect of food shortages in the world is a complex issue with a socio-economic and political context. The main factor that can affect this problem is the correspondence of the world demand growth to the growth rates of the yields of the main crops (primarily cereals), fodder and livestock (including fish). Only an integrated approach can stabilize the emerging problem.