What do you think about GMO's?

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sunnydays851
sunnydays851 Posts: 116 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm just curious about what you all think about GMO products.
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  • emmoen
    emmoen Posts: 218 Member
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    They are important for society however there is no reason why company can't post it on food labels for informational purposes
  • Agathokakological
    Agathokakological Posts: 136 Member
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    I'm ambivalent. I understand how they are necessary, but I've also done some pretty scary research. I do feel that all GMO products should be labeled as such, and the fact that the food companies do not want to label foods as GMOs is worrisome. Unfortunately, I think they're only going to become more common. People will debate back and forth over whether or not they are beneficial or harmful, both sides believing they are right and the other side is wrong. I think it's split 50/50. They make food more accessible to people, and they can cause harm. Nothing is perfect, and probably never will be. All we can do is inform ourselves the best we can and make the best choices for ourselves with what is made available to us; while trying not to shove our opinions onto other people. I'm all for debate, but there is a line that is crossed when the people debating don't stick to fact, and they start insulting the other persons beliefs.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I'm not worried about the safety of consuming them. Extremely low risk, bordering on non-existent.

    I do however have concerns on the production side. Those risks are legitimate.

    I 100% support labeling laws that allow non-GMO (or non-anything else, really) to market themselves as such. I am 100% opposed to labeling laws that don't allow this.
  • Carol_L
    Carol_L Posts: 296 Member
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    It's unfortunate that this has even become an issue. All plants are genetically modified just through the act of pollination, which results in the swapping of genes between compatible plant species. Sometimes the results are benign but other times variants can be produced with less desirable characteristics. Personally, I prefer a controlled approach with consistent results. Most of the horror stories out there are just that...horror stories. The facts do not bear them out. What is most interesting is that the man who initially spearheaded the whole GMO panic, Mark Lynas, has admitted that he had not actually bothered to look into the science and that once he had, he realized his views were uninformed. Naturally, those who bought into this are denouncing him as a traitor to the cause rather than examining the science.
  • mestabrook17
    mestabrook17 Posts: 11 Member
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    I choose not to eat foods containing GMOs - I know everyone has an opinion of them, but personally it is some scary stuff - bad to the point that even foreign countries won't even take our seeds containing GMOS. I am a label looker and choose to pay extra to avoid them
  • bulk_n_cut
    bulk_n_cut Posts: 389 Member
    edited June 2015
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    skip to 1:05

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvJKDIxuSmQ&feature=youtu.be&t=65
  • Agathokakological
    Agathokakological Posts: 136 Member
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    Things like this make me nervous, edible vaccines. While it sounds good in theory, there is so much room for error.

    Pharmaceuticals Medicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and sometimes
    require special storage conditions not readily available in third world countries. Researchers
    are working to develop edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes.16,17 These
    vaccines will be much easier to ship, store and administer than traditional injectable
    vaccines.

    16 Medical molecular farming: production of antibodies, biopharmaceuticals and edible vaccines in plants
    (Trends in Plant Science, Vol 6, No 5, pp 219-226, May 2001)
    17 Oral immunization with hepatitis B surface antigen expressed in transgenic plants (Proceedings of the
    National Academy of Sciences, USA, Vol 98, No 20, pp. 11539-11544, Sep 2001)
  • foursirius
    foursirius Posts: 321 Member
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    Don't really care.
  • 12_oz_Curls
    12_oz_Curls Posts: 140 Member
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    GMO's are the Devil! so is Gluten! and Artificial sweeteners! and Sunshine! and Unicorns TOO if you're honest!

    Everything is bad according to at least one study. Even Unicorns. So honestly in todays society I just stick with the macros and don't worry too much about the rest.

    BTW: Beer is the forgotten 4th macro
  • bulk_n_cut
    bulk_n_cut Posts: 389 Member
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    12_oz_Curls wrote: »
    GMO's are the Devil! so is Gluten! and Artificial sweeteners! and Sunshine! and Unicorns TOO if you're honest!

    Everything is bad according to at least one study. Even Unicorns. So honestly in todays society I just stick with the macros and don't worry too much about the rest.

    BTW: Beer is the forgotten 4th macro

    noo, dude...didn't you hear? the unicorn study was debunked in late 2000's because the study was flawed; turns out the researchers were biased jealous horses
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    Wheat is a GMO.
    Cows are GMO's.
    Anything that's been guided in its development by humans is a GMO.
    Anything that uses sexual reproduction is a GMO.

    I think it's a bit creepy to have bits of bacterial DNA inserted into plants intended for food. That's not a natural cross.
    And I don't like that they breed food just to be resistant to the chemicals put on the crops.
    But there hasn't been a problem (yet?).
  • Binky_Muffin
    Binky_Muffin Posts: 191 Member
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    Honestly, I really don't care. I'm sure I'm eating genetically modified foods everyday. I don't care if the food is non-organic or if it contains gluten, etc.

    There are bigger things to worry about such as poor diet and living a sedentary lifestyle.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    It's a lot of fear-mongering. GMOs are perfectly harmless and are helping prevent starvation in much of the world.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
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    I feel asking people what they feel about GMOs is a pretty quick way to find out do they even science.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
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    MKEgal wrote: »
    Wheat is a GMO.
    Cows are GMO's.
    Anything that's been guided in its development by humans is a GMO.
    Anything that uses sexual reproduction is a GMO.

    I think it's a bit creepy to have bits of bacterial DNA inserted into plants intended for food. That's not a natural cross.
    And I don't like that they breed food just to be resistant to the chemicals put on the crops.
    But there hasn't been a problem (yet?).
    Then I'm sorry to tell you that you're creepy - humans have transgenic traits from bacteria, algae, and more. Research in the last year had shown nature has been doing transgenic transfer a lot. http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21646197-human-beings-ancestors-have-routinely-stolen-genes-other-species-genetically
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I won't fully embrace GMOs until I have a unicorn delivered to my door. That is all.

    More resistant crops is one thing. So's saving millions from starving. I want my unicorn.

    (Okay, on the flip side, I'm not actually fully comfortable with crops becoming dominated by a single genetic variety of anything with similar disease weaknesses. :) More different varieties, GMO or not, pls?)
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
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    mestabrook17 wrote: »
    I choose not to eat foods containing GMOs - I know everyone has an opinion of them, but personally it is some scary stuff - bad to the point that even foreign countries won't even take our seeds containing GMOS. I am a label looker and choose to pay extra to avoid them

    That has more to do with economics than legitimate concerns.
    China rejected American corn for GMO traits when they accepted Brazilian crops with the same trait. Why? Simple, China made a futures contract to but from the USA at a high price expecting corn yield to be bad, but Brazil didn't have a futures contract - they were simply trying to break a contract with US farmers by demanding a quality they never specified in the contract.
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
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    foursirius wrote: »
    Don't really care.

    This.^^^

    Jeez, first world problems up in here.
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
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    Heh. Anyone who looks to China as a bastion of food safety is a funny, funny person.

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