{"id":23079,"date":"2022-07-27T21:32:28","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T21:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=23079&post_type=story"},"modified":"2025-04-18T02:52:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:52:20","slug":"what-will-we-do-with-gmos","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/what-will-we-do-with-gmos\/","title":{"rendered":"What Will We Do With GMOs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The subject is touchy, to put it mildly. It stokes trepidation\u00a0among writers and the foremost experts on the subject. And\u00a0so, to introduce the topic of this story, we leave it to a rideshare\u00a0driver: Anthony. He\u2019s impartial, the product of an Italian\u00a0upbringing and an American education. During a 10-minute\u00a0ride he talks about Olympic sports, World War II, family, and the\u00a0importance of patience when cooking pasta and eating it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, people in Europe are healthier because they eat\u00a0slower,\u201d Anthony says, right before he drops the three-letter\u00a0bomb. \u201cThey also don\u2019t eat GMOs.\u201d<\/p>\n

There. The driver said it first. GMOs. Genetically modified\u00a0organisms. He admits he doesn\u2019t know much about them,\u00a0only that he\u2019s heard they\u2019re unhealthy. It\u2019s an opening for his\u00a0passenger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard the same things,\u201d the passenger says. \u201cBut I\u2019ve\u00a0heard other perspectives, too. Some say GMOs might be an\u00a0answer for world hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony listens intently. The passenger asks what he thinks\u00a0of the next-level science of clustered regularly interspaced short\u00a0palindromic repeats.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever heard of it,\u201d Anthony says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s CRISPR. Have you heard of CRISPR?\u201d\u00a0the passenger says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, that,\u201d Anthony says. \u201cIt sounds scary,\u00a0but I need to learn more.\u201d<\/p>\n

We should be able to have open\u00a0conversations like this outside Anthony\u2019s\u00a0Camry, but the very mentions of GMOs\u00a0and CRISPR often stir up emotions and\u00a0resistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a complex topic,\u201d says Houman Sadri,\u00a0associate professor of political science<\/a> and\u00a0founder of the UCF Model United Nations\u00a0program. He has an interesting family\u00a0background and an open mind. \u201cThe more\u00a0I learn about GMOs and food, the more\u00a0questions I have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The questions often pivot to politics,\u00a0ethics and the environment. While those are\u00a0important discussions, something crucial is\u00a0often missing from the discussion: science.\u00a0If we\u2019re to get anywhere meaningful, that\u2019s\u00a0where this conversation needs to turn.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mixing Science with Food<\/h2>\n

Take a breath, and digest this basic truth:\u00a0Science has been at the heart of food\u00a0production for as long as plants have grown\u00a0from the ground. As plant biologists like to\u00a0say, \u201cScience doesn\u2019t make food less natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food scientists are no more nefarious than\u00a0people who\u2019ve been genetically enhancing\u00a0plants on farms and in backyards without\u00a0realizing it. If a vine produced good fruit,\u00a0you\u2019d remove the poor performers and\u00a0surround the productive vine with more\u00a0vines to phase in the best family traits. The\u00a0banana is an oft-cited example. Its ancestors\u00a0were green, hard and had to be cooked \u2014\u00a0basically, plantains. A Jamaican farmer came\u00a0upon yellow bananas growing on his land\u00a0in the early 1800s. He found them sweet\u00a0and easy to peel, so he turned an accidental\u00a0mutant into a field of what we now eat by the\u00a0billions worldwide.<\/p>\n

Simply put, plants evolve. With bananas,\u00a0it happened over time. Crossbreeding (a\u00a0sweet orange + a pomelo = grapefruit)\u00a0speeds up the process. Gene modification\u00a0(nonbrowning apples) speeds it up\u00a0even more. Now imagine using genetic\u00a0modification for something more\u00a0significant than developing bizarre fruits\u00a0\u2014 like, human survival.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith science, we can mine for\u00a0meaningful information in the DNA\u00a0and use it to increase yields with fewer\u00a0external inputs,\u201d says UCF Associate\u00a0Professor of Biology<\/a> Chase Mason.<\/p>\n

Mason grew up in a small town surrounded by farms and classmates who qualified for reduced-cost lunches. He thinks about those students when he walks through a garden full of sunflowers that he calls \u201csilent aliens.\u201d While he doesn\u2019t conduct GMO or CRISPR research, he does use the flowers to explore the secrets of why they\u2019re able to grow in ecosystems as varied as sand dunes, wetlands and mountain forests. He might find tucked into their DNA a defense mechanism they\u2019ve developed to ward off beetles or fungi. Theoretically, if someone could replicate those mechanisms in food-bearing plants, then just think of the outcomes: Plants could produce through droughts, floods, extreme weather and armies of insects \u2014 without the need for irrigation or pesticides.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you couldn\u2019t crossbreed those\u00a0traits from sunflowers to a different\u00a0crop, like peppers,\u201d Mason says. \u201cOne\u00a0would need to take the GMO or CRISPR\u00a0approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simply put, the GMO approach is\u00a0adding or removing a gene to increase\u00a0the likelihood of certain characteristics,\u00a0like pest resistance, drought resilience\u00a0or flavor. The CRISPR approach is more\u00a0precise, where changing a single letter\u00a0in the genetic code all but guarantees a\u00a0desired result in a short amount of time.<\/p>\n

One adjustment could allow an entire\u00a0crop to survive an otherwise deadly\u00a0disease.<\/p>\n

Some plants have done this on their\u00a0own. Lemons developed limonoids,\u00a0which produce their strong scent as a\u00a0mechanism to deter insects. Coffee beans\u00a0use caffeine as an internal insecticide.<\/p>\n

We can wait for plants to figure out\u00a0their own schemes, perhaps for millennia,\u00a0if at all. Or we can use the science that\u00a0quite literally bears fruit right away.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Seed of Doubt<\/h2>\n

Sadri\u2019s family moved around the world\u00a0before settling in the U.S. in the 1970s. His\u00a0father was an agricultural engineer for\u00a0the Food and Agriculture Organization, a\u00a0specialized agency of the United Nations\u00a0tasked with providing member states\u00a0with technical agricultural assistance to\u00a0increase food production and decrease\u00a0hunger.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had discussions about genetic\u00a0engineering during family meals long\u00a0before GMOs were commercialized in\u00a0the 1990s,\u201d Sadri says. \u201cMy father always\u00a0said the human body is a biological\u00a0machine and to treat it well. At the\u00a0time, he worried about the unexpected\u00a0consequences of GMOs. He was part\u00a0of the generation of scientists who\u00a0discovered that the pesticide DDT didn\u2019t\u00a0break down in nature, which led to it\u00a0being banned. He knew the possibilities\u00a0with GMO technology, but he was divided\u00a0because there hadn\u2019t been enough lengthy\u00a0studies on the health and environmental\u00a0ramifications.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t help when genetically\u00a0engineered plant food got off to a rough\u00a0public start. The Flavr Savr tomato came\u00a0to stores in 1994, with an extra gene\u00a0that promised to inhibit rotting. The\u00a0tomato disappeared three years later,\u00a0reportedly because of high production\u00a0and distribution costs. The FDA said the\u00a0Flavr Savr posed no health danger and\u00a0had the same nutritional content as a\u00a0conventional tomato. The demand for the\u00a0Flavor Savr was high, too. But its demise\u00a0over basic economics opened the door for\u00a0GMO pessimists to shape perceptions.<\/p>\n

An English professor wrote a letter\u00a0to The New York Times about his fear of\u00a0\u201cFrankenfood,\u201d a term that spread. At a\u00a0time when most people remained neutral\u00a0in the GMO debate, a plant biologist in\u00a0Britain claimed on national radio that\u00a0genetically modified potatoes damaged\u00a0the immune systems of rats. The research\u00a0institute where he did his work suspended\u00a0him for what they considered misleading\u00a0statements, but a stigma had become\u00a0rooted.<\/p>\n

The dissent isn\u2019t always peaceful. In September 2000, more than two dozen Greenpeace supporters went into the countryside of Norfolk, England, and trampled, pulled and hacked a 15-acre field of genetically modified corn before the landowner\u2019s family could stop them.<\/p>\n

Self-proclaimed \u201cGMO experts\u201d with\u00a0no advanced education in science have\u00a0grown followings by stimulating fear with\u00a0books and documentaries. Consumers\u00a0began to look for foods with \u201cno-GMO\u00a0ingredients,\u201d and entire stores made it\u00a0part of their mantra.<\/p>\n

We can wait for plants to figure out\u00a0their own schemes, perhaps for millennia,\u00a0if at all. Or we can use the science that\u00a0quite literally bears fruit right away.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With far less publicity, thousands of\u00a0studies have been released showing no\u00a0health risks from genetically engineered\u00a0plant foods. The research has come\u00a0from universities, the World Health\u00a0Organization, the United Nations, the U.S.\u00a0Food and Drug Administration (FDA),\u00a0and the National Academies of Sciences,\u00a0Engineering, and Medicine. The FDA\u00a0is one of three agencies that regulate\u00a0GMOs in the U.S. The EPA explores\u00a0environmental impacts, the Department\u00a0of Agriculture ensures GMO plants aren\u2019t\u00a0harmful to other plants, and the FDA\u00a0concludes if they\u2019re safe to eat.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut remember,\u201d Sadri says, \u201cthe U.S.\u00a0in general advocates for biotechnology<\/a>.\u00a0In contrast, Europeans approach\u00a0biotechnology with skepticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start from a position driven\u00a0by something other than evidence, then no amount\u00a0of evidence will change a person\u2019s mind.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 2015, each of the 27 countries in\u00a0the European Union were allowed the\u00a0option to ban or partially ban GMO\u00a0crops. Nineteen countries chose to\u00a0do so. Many scientists in Europe shut\u00a0down their research programs because\u00a0funding stopped and criticism of their\u00a0work escalated. Farmers feared any\u00a0connections with GMO studies would\u00a0invite the destruction of their land and\u00a0put their livelihoods at risk.<\/p>\n

The science, in essence, became wary\u00a0about being science.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start from a position driven\u00a0by something other than evidence,\u201d says\u00a0one plant researcher, \u201cthen no amount\u00a0of evidence will change a person\u2019s mind.\u00a0Those opposed to GMOs would have\u00a0looked at the science and come around\u00a0by now.\u201d<\/p>\n

If most farmers, scientists, regulators\u00a0and those working to stem world hunger\u00a0agree on the potential benefits of using\u00a0GMOs and CRISPR, then where exactly is\u00a0the strong opposition coming from?\u00a0No one in this conversation is willing\u00a0to guess.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Students

UCF students crossbreed select varieties of peppers in the hoop houses, which is part of the Department of Biology’s Plant Breeding Initiative, on main campus. (Photo by Kyle Martin)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Feeding Agendas<\/h2>\n

Agriculture and science have always\u00a0worked hand in hand. Without the natural\u00a0partnership, famines over the millennia\u00a0could very well have wiped out the\u00a0populations of entire continents. As one\u00a0researcher points out, \u201cPeople too easily\u00a0forget what could have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today we\u2019re faced with \u201cwhat could\u00a0be.\u201d According to the U.N., between 702\u00a0million and 828 million people globally\u00a0face food insecurity, and the number of\u00a0undernourished people is back on the\u00a0rise. Worse, there\u2019s only so much fertile\u00a0land left to use. Forests have already\u00a0become fields. Wetlands have become\u00a0farmlands. Organic food growing has a\u00a0nice aesthetic, but typically it requires\u00a0more land and water to produce the same\u00a0amount of food, and it\u2019s vulnerable to\u00a0climate extremes. For most consumers,\u00a0especially those in the lower and middle\u00a0income brackets, organic foods are also\u00a0too expensive.<\/p>\n

Another fact to consider: Organic food\u00a0is a $61 billion industry. Its most vocal\u00a0advocates are also the most open critics\u00a0of GMO and CRISPR science. Some\u00a0observers wonder, however, why they\u00a0wouldn\u2019t at least entertain conversations\u00a0about technology that would allow\u00a0farmers around the world to grow more\u00a0nutritious foods on less land while\u00a0using less fuel, less irrigation and fewer\u00a0chemicals.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Agency for International\u00a0Development isn\u2019t waiting for a public\u00a0consensus. It\u2019s already introduced\u00a0genetically engineered staple crops\u00a0in countries where food shortages are\u00a0prevalent. Eggplant is now thriving\u00a0in Bangladesh. Cassava, potatoes and\u00a0black-eyed peas are reliable food sources\u00a0in African nations.<\/p>\n

Yet even those encouraging outcomes\u00a0open more questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of players involved \u2014\u00a0governments, corporations and everyday\u00a0citizens,\u201d Sadri says. \u201cWhat are their\u00a0motives?\u201d<\/p>\n

From Farms to Whose Tables?<\/h2>\n

Beatriz Otero Jim\u00e9nez doesn\u2019t remember\u00a0much of the sugarcane fields that once\u00a0occupied so much of Puerto Rico\u2019s\u00a0landscape. Her grandfather made a\u00a0living from the cane harvests until\u00a0companies moved production off island.\u00a0Farming in general declined, and so did\u00a0self-sustenance. Today, less than 15%\u00a0of the food consumed in Puerto Rico is\u00a0grown there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt concerns me,\u201d says Otero Jim\u00e9nez,\u00a0a postdoctoral scholar who teaches\u00a0an honors seminar on food systems\u00a0at UCF. \u201cThe island is susceptible to\u00a0a supply interruption, which could be\u00a0catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Otero Jim\u00e9nez says there\u2019s enough\u00a0food being produced worldwide to meet\u00a0the needs of the world population.\u00a0She doesn\u2019t question the science. She\u00a0questions who controls it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe technology and the seeds\u00a0developed from it are owned by a handful\u00a0of companies,” Otero Jim\u00e9nez says. “What\u2019s their goal? Is it to\u00a0make healthy food accessible to everyone?\u00a0Is it to provide local farmers what they\u00a0need to grow food locally? Or is it strictly\u00a0to produce more cash crops for profit?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNew technology should be available to\u00a0all participants in the food chain, and not\u00a0just corporations.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the U.S. more than 90% of corn,\u00a0soybeans and cotton are GMO crops.\u00a0While grains account for most of our\u00a0caloric needs, large-scale farms also reap\u00a0government subsidies from the surplus\u00a0that\u2019s used for textiles, livestock feed, oils\u00a0and ingredients to make processed foods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe technology doesn\u2019t translate to\u00a0better access to healthy food, like broccoli\u00a0and squash,\u201d Otero Jim\u00e9nez says. \u201cLike I\u00a0said, we\u2019re currently producing enough\u00a0food. So why are people still hungry and\u00a0getting chronically ill?”<\/p>\n

Instead of pushing for GMOs to\u00a0totally disappear, she\u2019d like to see more\u00a0transparency in the end game.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew technology should be available to\u00a0all participants in the food chain, and not\u00a0just corporations,\u201d Otero Jim\u00e9nez says.\u00a0\u201cRight now, there are too many obstacles\u00a0between the technology and the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Plows<\/p>\n

Circling Back to the Garden<\/h2>\n

Even on cloudy days, a blossoming garden\u00a0serves as a foreshadowing of bright.\u00a0possibilities. A place where seeds of doubt\u00a0are replaced by seeds of hope. Those seeds\u00a0are in the hands of anyone with a massive\u00a0field or a sliver of dirt. They\u2019re distributed\u00a0from Haines City, Florida, to Haiti, from\u00a0Kansas to Kenya. From those seeds,\u00a0healthy food grows with certainty. Pests\u00a0and extreme weather are easy to combat.\u00a0Every growing season is bountiful. Food\u00a0insecurity around the world shrinks.\u00a0Wetlands and forests expand.<\/p>\n

In the U.S. more than 90% of corn,\u00a0soybeans and cotton are GMO crops.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s a place where there\u2019s a commingling\u00a0of organic food, natural selection, GMOs\u00a0and CRISPR.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can only get to a place like that\u00a0with science,\u201d says one researcher.<\/p>\n

Science begins with questions. So,\u00a0let\u2019s take a breath and end with two\u00a0researchers, that if it were safe, would\u00a0like to ask: Can we at least have truthful\u00a0conversations? Let\u2019s talk about organic\u00a0foods, crossbreeding and GMOs. Because,\u00a0really, what are we afraid of?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23242,"template":"","categories":[977],"tags":[287,359],"class_list":["post-23079","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-the-burnett-honors-college","issues-1575","issues-fall-2022"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Will We Do With GMOs?: UCF Experts Weigh In<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If we could use the science of genetically modified\u00a0organisms, or GMOs, to solve world hunger... would we do it? 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