More Scientific Proof: GM Food Is As Safe As Non-GM Food

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar recently (23 May) said that 18 field trials for testing various kinds of genetically modified seeds were underway. He said technology has to be encouraged to give a leg up to India’s lagging agricultural productivity.

A panel comprising biotechnologists, ecologists and sociologists has also been set up by the Environment Ministry to take a call on GM Mustard, which is being developed as part of a research collaboration involving scientists at Delhi University.

Now, this has caused a lot of outrage in the anti-GM ecosystem. So much misinformation has been spread over the years on this topic that it has created an environment where emotions often over-rule the scientific judgement. Some scream Monsanto whenever they hear GM crops. Conspiracy theories galore. For Luddite activists, GM is nothing more than evil Monsanto and Wal-mart.

How about listening to scientists who may not have all the answers but have spent a lot of time doing research looking for some of them?

The Royal Society, based in London, and headed by Venki Ramakrishnan, a Nobel prize winner in Chemistry, has published a report (pdf) answering 18 frequently asked questions on GM crops.

Venki says that “it is important to recognise that when the GM method is used the crops produced should be assessed on a case by case basis. GM is a method, not a product in itself. Different GM crops have different characteristics and it is impossible, from a scientific point of view, to make a blanket statement that all GM is good or bad.” (emphasis ours)

To reiterate: One can never make blanket statements like ‘GM is good’ or GM is ‘evil’. It varies from crop to crop.

Before moving on to the contentious issue regarding GM crops, lets define what genetic modification is and how it’s done:

So far so good. Now, here are five most important ones that would debunk a lot of myths spread by half-baked intellectuals.

What are some unforeseen consequence of GM?

Simply inserting genes doesn’t necessarily mean there will be unintended consequences. Bacteria or viruses that infect plants also insert new genes into them and plant genomes contain many ‘jumping genes’ which reinsert themselves in various places. So, all new crop varieties, irrespective of how they are bred can have unintended consequences.

It’s not GM specific.

Is it safe to consume GM food?

The report says that claims about GM food risking human health are not about the GM method itself but “about the specific genes introduced, or about the agricultural practices associated with the crop, such as herbicide treatments.”

In fact, one animal feeding trial has shown, the report claims, that the GM tomatoes modified to produce more antioxidants reduce the levels of cancer. (Antioxidants are known to reduce cancer).

Could eating GM food have an effect on my genes?

Do you know that the non-GM food we eat contain about 30,000 genes? Well, GM food has only 1-10 additional genes. And, the composition of DNA is same in both GM and non-GM food. So, relax. 10 extra genes are not going to effect your genes.

Do GM crops cause damage to the environment?

Environment is a favourite topic of our leftist luddites. Here’s what our scientists have to say:

Wrong farming practices cause damage to the environment both in the case of GM and non-GM crops. Don’t blame the technology.

In fact, crops modified to be insect resistant can have environmental benefits. Due to growing of GM insect resistant cotton, the use of insecticides has come down and this has had a positive effect on the health of farmers as well as that of the environment.

GM crops have only been around for 20 years, might there still be unexpected and untoward side effects?

Some other interesting pointers from the report:

#1 Last year, GM crops were grown in 28 countries on 179.7 million hectares – that is over 10% of the world’s arable land.

#2 Among the countries growing GM crops, the USA (70.9 Mha), Brazil (44.2 Mha), Argentina (24.5 Mha), India (11.6 Mha) and Canada (11 Mha) are the largest users.

#3 The top GM crop grown in 2015 was soybean (92.1 MHa), followed by maize (53.6 Mha), then cotton (24 Mha) and oilseed rape (canola) (8.5 Mha). This represents 83% of the world production of soybean, and 75% of production of cotton. GM crops made up 29% of the world’s maize produce, and almost a quarter of the world’s oilseed rape that year.

#4 The main GM crops, maize (corn) and soybean, are used mostly for feeding animals. Meat, milk and eggs from animals fed with GM crops are eaten by people in many countries.

#5 There are cases where a GM crop has not delivered the intended improvements. But the same problems arise with conventional breeding approaches.

The anti-GM lobby has no scientific rational to stand on. It’s time they stopped their futile resistance which is possibly keeping many millions out of the food security net.

The government should not be intimidated by the leftist cabal. It should continue with field trials.