INTRODUCTION TO GMOs

• GMO – genetically modified organism. GM – genetically modified. GE – genetic engineering or genetically engineered. GMO and GE are interchangeable in contemporary terminology. In 2019, the USDA introduced the term “bioengineered” as another term to refer to GMO.
• GMOs are created and patented by biotech and agrichemical corporations. Bayer-Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow, DuPont, Corteva and BASF have developed GMO commodity crops such as corn, soy, sugar beets, canola, cotton and alfalfa. Okanagan Specialty Fruits and J.R. Simplot have engineered specialty crops such as apples and potatoes, respectively. AquaBounty has engineered the first GMO animal on the market, AquAdvantage “Salmon”. Impossible Foods has engineered the first bleeding plant-based GMO burger.
• GMOs are banned or restricted in over 60 countries. [1]
• The USDA, under the direction of legislation passed in May 2016, was required to develop standards for labeling GMOs. In 2019, the standards, which don’t require on-package GMO labeling, were finalized. The mandatory compliance date for implementation is January 1, 2022. But the standard, falls woefully short of consumer expectations and is riddled with loopholes that are more confusing than helpful. Without comprehensive on-package labeling there is no traceability, accountability, or liability.
• GMOs do not and will not feed the world. The most widely grown GM commodity crops are primarily used in biofuels for cars, factory farm animal feed, and conventional clothing (GM cotton). A small percentage of GM crops are used in processed junk foods like Kellogg’s cereals and Coca Cola’s soda. There is not a single study that proves that GMOs have helped “feed the world.” The claim is not based on facts, but rather is a marketing angle used by corporations in an attempt to paint GMOs in a positive light. [2][3]
• GMOs are generally created through recombinant DNA techniques, completely unlike traditional breeding. Most GMOs currently on the market are transgenic, made by forcing synthetic versions of genes based on those from one or more species into the DNA of an unrelated species in order to introduce a new trait. This cannot occur in the natural world. Examples of this are: inserting a synthetic version of a bacterial gene toxic to insects into corn plants so that corn rootworms die when they attempt to eat the corn, or inserting a synthetic gene from an eel pout into a salmon in an attempt to make the salmon grow more quickly. The remaining GMOs on the market are primarily intragenic, made by forcing synthetic versions of genes based on those from one or more species into the DNA of a related species. Most of these intragenic GMOs include RNA interference (RNAi) constructs. These synthetic combinations of parts of genes do not occur in the natural world. Examples include the non-browning Arctic Apple and non-bruising Simplot Innate potato.
• Newer methods used to genetically engineer plants and animals include Gene Editing techniques such as CRISPR, TALENs, and Zinc Finger, and extreme forms of engineering such as Synthetic Biology, or SynBio. Although deregulated in the U.S., GMOs produced with these methods can still result in unpredictable effects, including changes in plant chemistry that may have toxic effects. Industry falsely touts these new methods as precise when peer-reviewed science shows that they are not. [4][5]
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not do safety studies and allows biotech companies to do their own safety testing. These industry papers, which always present GMOs favorably, are not peer-reviewed and not accessible by the public. Peer reviewed, industry-independent animal feeding and environmental impact studies have documented many harmful health and environmental effects. [6][7][8]
• The FLAVR SAVR tomato was the first genetically engineered crop to be commercialized, but failed in the market and now no longer exists. GMO soy was introduced in 1996 and GMO corn shortly thereafter. Since then, many commodity crops and some specialty crops (fruit and vegetable) have undergone genetic engineering. The wheat industry has resisted adopting GMO wheat. There are no legal GMO wheat varieties on the market, though there could be contamination due to GMO wheat escapes during Monsanto’s experimental open-air trials.
• GM crops currently approved in the U.S. include corn, soy, canola, sugar beet, sugar cane, cotton (for cottonseed oil), alfalfa, Hawaiian Rainbow papaya, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, potatoes, apples, pink pineapples, Golden rice, salmon and Impossible Burger/ other plant based meats created by Impossible Foods. Synthetic sweeteners Aspartame and Eversweet are also genetically engineered. GMO ingredients are used in as much as 80 percent all processed foods in America. (See above infographic)

• The majority of GMO crops are herbicide-tolerant (HT), meaning they are engineered to withstand heavy applications of toxic weedkillers like Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup, killing weeds and all other plant-life except the crop. Despite being called “weedkillers”, most herbicides such as glyphosate are proven to be harmful to human and animal health. Full weedkiller formulations, such as glyphosate-based Roundup, are shown to be much more toxic than their “active” ingredients. Newer GMOs are usually stacked-trait, meaning they are tolerant to multiple herbicides. These newer GMOs include crops tolerant of glyphosate and dicamba; glyphosate and 2,4-D; and even GMOs developed by Bayer-Monsanto that are tolerant of five different toxic herbicides: 2,4-D, dicamba, glufosinate, glyphosate, and quizalofop. [9][10]
• GMOs and related synthetic pesticides have been linked to toxic effects in the kidneys, liver, pancreas and reproductive organs, allergies, gut-related conditions, reproductive problems, birth defects, obesity, tumors, cancer and other illnesses in independent peer-reviewed laboratory animal feeding studies. [11][12][13][14][15]
• GMOs have led to massive increases in toxic agricultural chemical use in the U.S. since their introduction in the mid-1990s, polluting our precious waterways and leading to significant environmental degradation. Glyphosate herbicide and neonicotinoid insecticides have been documented in bodies of water throughout the nation, and U.S. Geological Survey research found glyphosate now falls down in the rain. This reality is the opposite of what the GMO industry promised when introducing GMOs and what they still promote to the public today. [16][17][18]
• GMO agriculture and increasing pesticide usage are major factors in the mass declines of insect populations, including valued pollinators such as honeybees and wild bees, monarch butterflies, and wild birds. [19][20][21][22]

• Contrary to popular belief, the pesticides used on GMOs and conventionally grown crops cannot be washed off as they are absorbed into the crops. [23]
• Some detractors will try to obfuscate the GMO and pesticide debate by saying that the two are separate issues. When most GMOs are genetically engineered to be HT, and conventional farmers would not plant GM seeds without using the corresponding herbicide(s), then GM crops and the pesticides cannot be separated. Additionally, nearly all GMO seeds are pre-coated with neonicotinoid insecticides, which are systemically expressed throughout the plant and its pollen as it grows. GM crops and synthetic pesticides are part of an inseparable system.
• GMO Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) crops are engineered to produce a toxic insecticide within every cell of the organism, in order to kill the bugs that attempt to eat the crops. If a European corn borer takes a bite of insecticide-producing Bt corn, they die. Most GMOs currently sold are herbicide-tolerant, or both HT and insecticide-producing.
• Agrichemical corporations claim Bt toxin easily breaks down in the human gut, but a Canadian study found Bt toxin in 93 percent of maternal and 80 percent of fetal blood plasma samples, clearly indicating that Bt toxin passes from the gut into the bloodstream and even from placenta to the fetus. More study is needed on the health effects, but studies have not been done. [24]
• The claim that GM crops can coexist with non-GMO and organic crops is a myth. GMO pollen can travel for miles by wind or via pollinating animals like bees and birds. GMO genes then infect non-GMO and organic crops. Allowing the increased use of genetically modified organisms could result in the contamination of and potential extinction of certain natural species. [25][26][27][28]

References

1. GMO-Free Regions http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/gmo-free-regions.html
2. Failing Africa’s farmers: New report shows Africa’s Green Revolution is “failing on its own terms”, Timothy Wise, Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy, July 2020
3. Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops Doug Gurrian-Sherman, Union of Concerned Scientists, April 2009
4. Science supports need to subject gene-edited plants to strict safety assessments, Claire Robinson, GMWatch, November 2019
5. Broadening the GMO risk assessment in the EU for genome editing technologies in agriculture, Kawall, K., Cotter, J. & Then, C. Broadening the GMO risk assessment in the EU for genome editing technologies in agriculture. Environmental Sciences Europe 32, 106 (2020).
6. Scientist: GM Food Safety Testing is ‘Woefully Inadequate, The Organic & Non-GMO Report: Vol. 9, No. 1 December/January 2009
7. FDA Ignored Own Scientists’ Warnings About GM Foods, Ken Roseboro, The Organic & Non-GMO Report, October 01, 2011
8. FDA Documents Show They Ignored GMO Safety Warnings From Their Own Scientists Steven Druker, Alliance for Bio-Integrity, June 24, 1999
9. Weedkiller products more toxic than their active ingredient, tests show, Carey Gillam, The Guardian, May 2018
10. Major Pesticides Are More Toxic to Human Cells Than Their Declared Active Principles, Mesnage R, Defarge N, Spiroux de Vendômois J, Séralini GE. Major pesticides are more toxic to human cells than their declared active principles. Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:179691. doi:10.1155/2014/179691
11. A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health, de Vendômois JS, Roullier F, Cellier D, Séralini GE. A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health. International Journal of Biological Sciences 2009; 5(7):706-726. doi:10.7150/ijbs.5.706.
12. Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods, Artemis Dona & Ioannis S. Arvanitoyannis,                Health risks of genetically modified foods. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 49.2 (2009): 164-175.
13. A long-term toxicology study on pigs fed a combined genetically modified (GM) soy and GM maize diet, Carman JA, Vlieger HR, Ver Steeg LJ, Sneller VE, Robinson GW, Clinch-Jones CA, Haynes JI, Edwards JW. A long-term toxicology study on pigs fed a combined genetically modified (GM) soy and GM maize diet. J Organic Syst. 2013;8(1):38–54.
14. Effect of Long-term feeding of transgenic soybean on reproductive capacity of pigs, MF Kulik, Kulik NM, SE Obertyuh, BB Hіmіch. Effect of Long-term feeding of transgenic soybean on reproductive capacity of pigs. Animal Breeding and Genetics 2015. № 49 
15. Long-term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize, Séralini, G., Clair, E., Mesnage, R. et al. Republished study: long-term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize. Environ Sci Eur 26, 14 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-014-0014-5.
16. Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the U.S. — the first sixteen years, Benbrook, C.M. Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the U.S. — the first sixteen years. Environmental Sciences Europe24 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1186/2190-4715-24-24
17. How GMOs Unleashed a Pesticide Gusher, Tom Phillpott, Mother Jones, October 12, 2012.
18. Genetically Engineered Crops Have Increased Pesticide Use, Nathan Collins, Pacific Standard, June 14, 2017.
19. Milkweed loss in agricultural fields because of herbicide use: effect on the monarch butterfly population, Pleasants JM, Oberhauser KS, Milkweed loss in agricultural fields because of herbicide use: effect on the monarch butterfly population. Insect Conservation and Diversity Volume 6, Issue 2, pages 135–144, March 2013 DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-4598.2012.00196.x
20. Researchers: GM Crops Are Killing Monarch Butterflies, After All, Tom Philpott, Mother Jones, March 21, 2012.
21. Not Just the Bees: Bayer’s Pesticide May Harm Birds, Too, Tom Philpott, Mother Jones, March 27, 2013.
22. Death of the Bees. Genetically Modified Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in North America, Brit Amos, Global Research, August 09, 2011.
23. Can Pesticides Be Rinsed Off?, Michael Greger M.D. FACLM August 29th, 2007.
24. Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada, Aris A, Leblanc S. Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada. Reprod Toxicol. 2011;31(4):528-533. doi:10.1016/j.reprotox.2011.02.004.
25. U.S. organic food industry fears GMO contamination, Carey Gillam, Reuters, March 12, 2008.
26. GMOs — Top five concerns for family farmers, Farm Aid, March 17, 2016.
27. GM and non-GM crops cannot coexist, GMWatch, April 14, 2015.
28. Truth: Co-existence means widespread contamination of non-GM and organic crops, Claire Robinson Mphil, John Fagan PhD, Michael Antoniou PhD. GMO Myths & Truths: A Citizen’s Guide to the Evidence on the Safety and Efficacy of Genetically Modified Crops and Foods, 4th Edition, Earth Open Source 2018.