Misconceptions abut GMOs

GMOs have been a very controversial issue recently, and many misconceptions about GMOs are fueling this debate. This article discusses some of the major myths associated with GMOs. Many in the public fear GMOs due to this public perception in this country that natural foods are optimal for health and are tailored for our consumption. In a way this notion is correct, for thousands of years we have been genetically modifying plants through selection and hybridization to better fit our needs. This misconception could be in part due to a large proportion of our population (40-50%) believing in young earth creationism. A religious group at one point tried to use the banana as proof that nature was tailored made for us by a deity, luckily all you have to do is google "Wild Banana" to disprove this theory. As Neil deGrasse Tyson explains in this video we have been modifying foods for millennia. The difference between what humankind did before and what we do now is that we know about genetics (and recently Epigenetics) and can use this knowledge to cause specific changes in plant genomes rather then breading two plants together hoping for the best. I chose this article specifically because it also discusses overly optimistic myths of GMOs and not solely focusing on disproving the negative misconceptions of GMOs. With the rise of the theory of Epigenetics recently to supplement the theory of Genetics, we are getting a sharper understanding of how life operates. I for one hope that these fears born out of ignorance that hinder functional application of these advances will subside when scientific literacy increasess.