b'YOU ARE MYTH TAKENGMOsCOMPILED BY MARCEL BRUINSGMO stands for genetically modified organism. It most commonly refers to organismsoften plantsthat have been modified to achieve desired traits, like drought-tolerance and pest-resistance, using recombinant DNA techniques or genetic engineering (GE). Its a misleading term, since weve been modifying the genetics of organisms since the dawn of agriculture. But the name isnt the only thing that people get wrong.MYTH:FACT:Farmers voluntarily agree notMYTH:FACT:Some genetically modified Farmersto save and replant patented GMOGMOs causecrops, like Roundup Ready corn or cannot saveseeds since they are frequently pro- an increasesoy, can tolerate herbicides. This seeds oftected by intellectual property laws.in the needtrait reduces the need for weeding their GMOFor many farmers, this is not a newfor pesticides and tillage, which disturbs the soil. varieties problem because hybrid seeds, whichGMO crops with a natural insect-have been available for decades, alsoresistance can minimize or eliminate need to be purchased each seasonthe need for insecticides. Overall, because they dont breed true.according to scientists, the usage of Farmers decide to buy these seeds inpesticides, including insecticides and both situations because they obtain aherbicides, has decreased by 37 per better yield and earn more money.cent because of GMOs. Additionally, many GMO crops are available as a result of pub-lic-private partnerships, like the virus-resistant papaya in Hawaii, the insect-resistant eggplant inMYTH:FACT:Among other things, genetic Bangladesh, and the drought-toler- GMOsengineering technologies can reduce ant Water Efficient Maize for Africa,are onlythe need for pesticides. Public sector and no royalties are required. made byscientists are currently working to the privateincrease the nutritional value and sector viability of major food crops impor-tant to their region, such as cassava, lentils, mustard, brinjal, potatoes, MYTH:FACT:Developing countries haverice, and bananas, by breeding GMOs aredevoted more hectares to growingvarious GMO crops in developing a corporatetransgenic crops than industrializednations. These crops are primarily scheme tocountries for several years in a row,grown by small-holder farmers to dominate theand they are increasingly choosingfeed their family and sell in local worlds foodGMOs. Because these crops havemarkets.supply andincreased the incomes of 18 million developingsmall-holder agricultural families, countries providing stability to more than 65 million people in developing coun- MYTH:FACT:Governments throughout tries, farmers in these countriesGMOsthe world follow strict biosafety prefer biotech crops to help fighthaventguidelines to make sure that every hunger. The poor, who arguablyundergonenew GM product doesnt endanger stand to benefit the most from thisenoughthe environment or the health of technology, shouldnt be left out. testing people or animals. These techniques call for extensive field and laboratory testing. A large majority of the hundreds of scientific articles that evaluated the safety of GM crops found that they are nutritionally equal to their non-GM counterparts.20IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'