We live in a dynamic world, where changes occur every day. Some of them like our transition from coal to uranium and petroleum are more obvious, and yet some changes, which occur on a molecular scale, are hidden from our eyes. The evolution, which is another more common name for our DNA mutation, has never stopped. Nowadays our modern technology allows us to speed up the mutation or adjust DNA of some species and crops, so that they suffice our needs. It is an intervention into the nature, but yet at the pace our population and global economy are growing, it may be the only way for food industry to keep up with the speed of growth.

In the last few years, this relatively new field of genetic engineering attracted more and more attention from the government and international organizations, some of which consider this science and its implications on our food as potentially dangerous. As new regulations are put in effect and new laws are enacted to provide more transparency as to whether some food contains traits of genetically modified crops or species, there should be also some change in education, so that people actually know what GMO means and what it stands for.

As of now common people prefer not to buy products labeled GMO and are even willing to spend some more money for products, which claim they do not contain any genetically modified ingredients. Yet in general an average consumer in a supermarket even does not suspect what GMO is and why white strawberry or square watermelons are not GMO¹. An average consumer also does not know that GMO can potentially save lives and cure illnesses (golden rice project)². An average consumer cannot draw a clear distinction whether to consider deleting genes or replacing them with the genes of the same species or crops is GMO or not, when indeed it is not³. Viewing GMO in a negative context of health hazard is itself dangerous, because it omits the fact that the food industry cannot sustain the existence of our population without genetically modifying products. Moreover in forming its opinion, the society ignores the fact that all the crops and cattle were at some point genetically modified by our ancestors in the form of cross-breeding. Although there is a distinction between genetic engineering techniques and cross-breeding methods used by ranchers and farmers before, cross-breeding, even though more natural, is also a form of intervention into the structure of nature.

As a bottom line:

All inventions once were considered dangerous, and their popular use was as unrealistic as the fact that one day we are going to eat food “grown” in the laboratory. The initial wave of xenophobia will and should at some point end, and with sober minds we are to embrace GMO products as part of our everyday ration in the nearest future.

^1,2,3– Harmon, Amy. “How Square Watermelons Get Their Shape, and Other G.M.O. Misconceptions.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 July 2016. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.