At least, I think so.  After 3 hours spent studying the seed packet that came with an 8-page usage and warning label, finding definitions of the multi-syllable words I’d never heard of, visiting the website of the company that produced this seed, being led to subsidiary company websites, trying to translate all the corporate-speak that exists on these sites, looking up all the information possible about the fungicide that coated the outside of every seed in the packet . . . . . I cannot definitively say this is a genetically modified organism.

All indications point to yes, the seed that produced this purple pepper was genetically modified.  But in the United States, seed companies and food producers are not required to tell us that.  So why would they?

What is a GMO, anyway?

From Wikipedia: A genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically engineered organism (GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes.  The general principle of producing a GMO is to add new genetic material into an organism’s genome.

It’s worth noting that genetically modifying is much different from cross-pollinating, which has been going on since the dawn of time.   A perfect example of cross-pollination? You.  Your mother cross-pollinated (wink, wink) with your dad, their DNA came together, and 9 months later you arrived on the scene.  They hoped you’d get your mother’s nose and your father’s common sense . . . but they got what they got, and you all have to live with it.   It’s important to note that your parents were both human.  Cross-pollination only occurs within the same species.

In the plant world, there’s no sex.  Alas, there are bees.  Bees take pollen from the male flower and deliver it to the female flower.  They also deliver pollen from everything else they’ve stepped on during their route, but the female flower manages to use only the pollen from the male flower of her species.  Cross-pollination certainly occurs naturally, but it can also occur with a farmer and a paintbrush.  The paintbrush collects pollen from the male flower of a plant, the farmer carries it to female flower and drops it off.  The farmer marks that flower, and when it produces a fruit, the seeds inside are saved and planted the next season.  Here’s where the process differs from people:  let’s estimate the fruit has 100 seeds.  The farmer plants all 100 seeds — from this, all possible combinations of genes will present themselves (If you ever had to suffer through a probability section in a math class, you had this math problem.  How many recessive/recessive gene plants can the farmer expect to get?).  The farmer will find the plants that have his/her favorite attributes of the parent plants, and will save seeds from those plants for the next year.

GMO’s are controversial because they usually combine genetic material from different species, which is unnatural.

So why should we care if something is genetically modified?

Genetic engineering is in the process of creating ‘bananas that produce human vaccines against infectious diseases such as hepatitis B; fish that mature more quickly; cows that are resistant to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease); fruit and nut trees that yield years earlier, and plants that produce new plastics with unique properties.’ (source article)

According to the producers of  GM seeds, the results of their engineering produce higher yields, more nutrients, improved resistance to disease and pests, and reduced maturation time.  That seems good, right?

But.

The safety of GMOs is still up in the air – there is evidence GMOs are harming the soil microbes that help us grow food.  There’s also evidence they are causing new allergens and pathogens in people.  Unintended transfer of GMOs through natural cross-pollination is creating a loss of biodiversity.  And, many are more concerned about effects that are still unknown.  The side effects of GMOs to soil, plant, animal and human life has yet to be studied in depth.

There are ethical issues.  Seeds have always been owned by no one – in fact, most of the plants we eat originally came from some of the poorest countries in the world.  If all seeds become GMOs, the entire world food supply will be controlled by a few companies.  Poor countries will be even more dependent on industrialized, rich countries.  Plus, tampering with the intrinsic values of plants and animals just seems wrong to a lot of people.  We’re messing with nature.

The pepper I grew from (likely) GMO seed  is sitting in the fridge.  After all the research I’ve done on its behalf, I can’t bring myself to taste it.  I probably eat GMOs every day in the foods I buy at the grocery store . . although there’s no way for me to find out what those items are.

There is a grassroots movement in the United States that is calling for all products containing GMOs to be labeled as such.  If you are interested in getting involved, visit justlabelit.org to send an email to the FDA.

Where do you stand on GMOs?

Other sources for this article include:

http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/protesters-demand-labels-on-genetically-altered-food

http://www.seedalliance.org/alias/

http://www.saynotogmos.org/scientists_speak.htm

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With all this fuss over genetically modified food, shouldn’t we ask, why did we start making it anyway? Here’s a look at some of the first reasons that brought GM food into our marketplace. (What is a GMO?)

1. Rotten Tomatoes

Everyone can relate to this situation: You go to the grocery store, buy some fresh delicious tomatoes, only to have to throw them away because they rotted before you could eat them. The first GM food was created in 1994 to curb this dilemma, and it was called the Flavr Savr tomato. It worked by blocking one of the tomato’s genes so that a protein involved in ripening was not produced, giving the tomato a longer shelf life.

2. Night Vision

Here is a more serious example. Remember when as a kid you were told to eat your carrots so you could see better at night? The reason is because beta-carotene (which the body uses to make vitamin A) is essential to vision, especially at night.

goldenrice.org

Between 100 and 140 million children are vitamin A deficient. An estimated 500,000 vitamin A-deficient children become blind every year, half of them dying within 12 months of losing their sight (World Health Organization).¹ Most of these children live in countries where a majority of their diet consists of rice, which naturally contains no beta-carotene.

Though genetic engineering, Golden Rice was created. This yellow-colored rice contains higher levels of beta carotene. The technology is based on a simple principle. Rice plants naturally accumulate beta-carotene in their leaves, but not in the grain. By adding two genes, the beta-carotene is consequently accumulated in the edible part of the grain and also gives it the golden color. Potentially, it could help hundreds of thousands of children.

3. Caterpillars

We don’t eat caterpillars, but they eat leaves of plants, specifically corn. Many farmers used to spray their fields with nasty pesticides to kill the caterpillars. But then along came Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn.

Bt is a bacteria that makes a chemical that is lethal to caterpillars. With biotechnology, scientists have taken a gene from Bt and inserted it into corn. Now the Bt corn protects itself from hungry caterpillars, and there’s no more spraying of harmful pesticides on our cornfields.

What’s next?

The GM food story is long and has interesting points on both sides. These three reasons all certainly seem like they were great ideas. However, some would argue that developing GM crops isn’t safe.

What questions do you have about GM food? Let us know by leaving a comment below or by reaching out to us on Twitter and Facebook, and we’ll try to help answer your questions in future posts.

¹http://www.worldhunger.org/