7 myths about GMOs that are foolish to believe

Myth 1. If you eat GMO, you will become a mutant

This is the most amazing myth that has been exposed and dismantled so many times that it is embarrassing to even raise this topic. Allegedly altered genes from potatoes or soybeans will penetrate human genes and change something there. We will not look like Spider-Man, but we will turn into mutants from horror stories.

If this scheme worked so simply, then any genes from any potato or soybeans could penetrate our DNA and change something. Fortunately, this does not happen, because our DNA is reliably protected from genes from the foods we eat.

This is not to say that this myth has no basis at all. For example, many viruses can enter cells and provoke cancer, like some types of human papillomavirus. But these viruses are not related to the production technology of the products. GMOs and their use in food have been studied for decades, and during this time no sudden mutations associated with the penetration of genes from GMOs into the human genome have been identified.

Myth 2. GMOs are poison

The main myth comes from the fact that everyone puts their own meaning in the abbreviation GMO. In fact, it stands for it simply: a genetically modified organism. This abbreviation does not answer the question "Why modified?"

An example can be given: we have a pie. An ordinary pie. It can be baked or fried, with onions or kumquat jam. The pie may be out of date. Even stuffed with rat poison and arsenic. Does this mean that the pie is evil and should be banned? Of course not. It all depends on what's in the pie.

So it is with GMOs. You can modify products in different ways. And in theory, of course, you can construct an object that will cause poisoning. But in practice it is not profitable.

GMOs are made in order to improve the properties of products: so that vegetables grow faster, spoil more slowly, and are resistant to pests and herbicides (substances that destroy weeds in the fields).

Traditional breeding has been engaged in the same centuries, changing organisms, only through slow selection and blindly: no one knows what kind of wheat will grow after the irradiation of the grains or what kind of calf will be born from crossed breeds of cows. The technology for creating GMOs differs in this: when people change a gene, they always know exactly which gene it is, what they are changing it for and why. The modified varieties are taken into account and described in detail, so there is just nothing secret about them (unless, of course, you do not believe in the conspiracy theory).

Myth 3. Does not contain GMOs means healthy

If a product has a “Non-GMO” sticker on it, it means exactly one thing: there is no GMO in the product (we hope the manufacturer is honest and believe that this is true).

This does not imply any statements about the benefits or harms of the product. For example, a perfectly ordinary unmodified beet from a grandmother's garden can be "overfed" with fertilizers so that it causes mild poisoning. Or non-GMO instant noodles will be just a source of empty calories. A pack of non-GMO margarine will be stuffed with trans fats.

So it is definitely impossible to equate the absence of GMOs with the benefits.

Myth 4. There are solid GMOs around

The myth has different continuations: that's why we get sick, that's why there are no normal men, that's why morality falls. In fact, if you live in Russia, then there are not only GMOs around you.

All manufacturers are required to label products if the GMO content in it is higher than 0.9%. Anything less is actually trace amounts.

At the same time, in Russia itself, it is forbidden to grow something from GMO seeds for sale, it is possible only for scientific purposes. Rospotrebnadzor even regularly takes samples and checks the manufacturers.

So no, grocery stores aren't all GMOs at all.

Myth 5. GMOs cause infertility, cancer and allergies

It is generally believed that GMOs cause everything at once. In fact, there is reason to suspect GMOs only in possible allergies in people who are prone to it. Since food allergy is the body's response to a foreign protein, in theory any protein from GMOs can cause it. Therefore, GMOs are tested for allergens and are not allowed on the market before testing. However, all other proteins, from foods that have not undergone genetic modifications, do an excellent job with the challenge of allergies.

Concerns about GMOs causing other diseases are unfounded. Data on infertility and cancer emerged from the works of Irina Ermakova, Gilles-Eric Séralini and other scientists. True, upon careful examination, it turned out that these works do not meet the criteria of scientific character and the data obtained during the experiments cannot be considered reliable. But the myth began to live.

Due to the fact that GMOs cause distrust among the population (in Russia, according to VTsIOM, more than 80% of respondents want to ban GMOs altogether) and the novelty of the technology itself, GMO products are checked even more thoroughly than any other food. This is good, at least we know that GMO products that are on the market are as safe as possible (we remember that even drinking water can be fatal).

Myth 6. It's all for the money

No, this is not a myth. GMOs are made for the sake of money - to make products cheaper, to buy as much as possible, to make more goods out of them and sell them as soon as possible. For example, one of the first GMO tomato varieties was engineered to last longer. They did not even add any foreign genes to it, they simply "turned off" one of our own.

Of course, this was done for the sake of making a profit, because if the vegetables stay fresh longer, it is easier to sell the entire batch.

So it's all for the money, really. However, as well as efforts to grow a larger crop through selection, herbicides and without GMOs.

Myth 7. This publication was paid for

No, the author wrote this article on the instructions of the editorial board. The editorial board and the author did not receive money from GMO producers.