Today i want to express with you how important it is to know what the fuck you are eating. I am going get in your face about GMO’s and the briefly touch on a recent breakthrough in self-replicating organisms
Do you know what you consume?
A Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) is an organism that has been genetically altered to reach a certain outcome and, although it is a multi-step technique, the process varies. There are many different organisms that are modified today including plants, animals, and microorganisms.
Around 85% of corn and 90% of canola are genetically modified. Corn, Soy, Canola, Sugar Beets, and Milk are all popular foods that are well known for GMO’s.
I always say, “Genetically modified organisms make genetically modified humans, you are what you eat”.
Public Perception and GMO’s
I personally think that most people are attracted to the idea of not consuming GMO’s but it simply isn’t that easy.
When you live in a country that is not required to label them then it’s pretty hard to not consume them. Regulations are driven by politics and that’s where it must start. In the mean-time, we are all out here consuming more than ever and we are still not sure about the health concerns.
Milk has been combined with what’s called Recombinant bovine growth hormone which is banned in the EU and other prominent countries
It is way too easy and a lot more affordable to buy these products over fresh farm-raised organic non-GMO products, thus, pushing the demand from companies to deregulate more. It last longer and looks better but has less nutrition.
If we would invest more time into teaching younger generations about growing their own crops, raising their own meats, and self-sustainability we would be far less dependent on genetically manufacture organisms in the future.
That self-replication thing
The surge in technology over that past 20 years has paved way for new biotechnical advancements including the creation of the first synthetic organisms. Ethically, some may view this as a reach or overstep as biologists play God but I do not see it like this. Any advancement in modern medicine benefits the masses so this new technology should be talked about on a larger stage where it can grab more attention. A self-replicating synthetic organism can show us how to manipulate the number of codons used to alter the way viruses inject DNA into cells. The virus relies on information from the host cell to make a copy of that DNA and if you can alter the organism with fewer codons it could help prevent the sharing of information.
My goal was to open your eyes to what you are consuming. This conversation needs to happen on a higher platform and the spread of knowledge on how to produce your own food needs to go viral
References mentioned in this blog.