Scientists have genetically modified the DNA of major agricultural crops, such as soybeans, corn, and cotton in order to resist a widely used herbicide.

Roundup is the flagship of Monsanto’s agricultural chemicals business and these new genetically modified plant strains are referred to as ”Roundup Ready.”

GMO: This is the acronym for “Genetically Modified Organism” and defines food products altered at the gene level with this technology.

¹A transgenic plant contains one or more genes introduced by artificial methods that include gene transference and cell fusion in place of traditional breeding. Genes of unrelated species such as, animal, bacterium or virus introduced into a different organism (soybeans, corn, cotton, etc) will irreversibly alter the genetic code of the plant.

Modern biotechnologists have created tomatoes with a longer shelf life by adding flounder genes, (that’s right..fish!) soybeans that are resistant to weed killers, and potatoes with jellyfish genes that glow in the dark when they need water.  If you find this disturbing, you are not alone.

Serious concerns include upsetting the ecosystem’s delicate balance and the flow of GMO genes among crops and the natural environment.

Broadly defined, biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms on earth. Healthy ecosystems are characterized by the complex interactions between diverse species that help maintain balance. By its very nature, growing crops necessitates the control of wild plant life, (weeds) which compete for sunlight, water, and nutrients.

Outcrossing, or ‘gene flow,’ refers to GMO crops passing their new traits on to wild plant life, potentially threatening biodiversity. The local flora may be altered in a way that could potentially enable them to out-compete other species in their habitat.

While gene flow has occurred since the beginning of time, GMO outcrossing is a primary concern for scientists and policy makers concerned with the economic and ecological consequence.

1. The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, February 2007,
pewagbiotech.org/resources/issuebriefs/geneflow.pdf