GMOs HAVE IMPORTANT USES OUTSIDE OF AGRICULTURE

Lindsay Mitchell

Sep 24, 2015  |  Today's News

A new story from Fortune magazine tells some Americans what they never wanted to know – genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are in much more than their food.

Monsanto’s Rob Fraley says, “I want to bring attention to a fact that many people may not realize: GMOs in agriculture are just one small part of a much bigger story. The use of GMOs in crops is not an isolated development. To the contrary, GMO science and its applications are everywhere around us. And GMO technology is saving lives every day.”

Dr. Oz’s Thursday afternoon show, “The Food Fight of the Year: GMO Labeling” will likely add fuel to the fire and give skeptical consumers another reason to fear science. Join the Illinois Ag community and talk truth about GMO labeling using the #WeEatGMOs or on IL Corn’s Facebook  page. 

The article provides proof of this claim – insulin, once made from the pancreas of livestock – has been made using GMO technology since 1982.  And the FDA actually believes the technology has made the treatment safer.

“Despite early reservations about the technology,” the FDA now says, GMO proteins like insulin have turned out to “actually have an enhanced safety profile.”

Other uses like in vaccines, cancer treatments, food processing aids, vitamin production, even laundry detergents have added to the pursuit of more healthy living and the common good.

Will advertising these positives do good for those who only focus on the perceived negatives?  Will a better understanding, although basic, of the science help us to appreciate the role of science in our daily lives?

Fraley ends, “It’s my hope that over time, the all-too-common narrow perspective will be resolved through greater transparency and dialogue. Because we do need to be able to use science — including genetic modification techniques — to help solve our problems – both those we face today and the ones our children will face tomorrow.”

Read the full text of the Fortune article here.