Page 57 - RealDirtENG2020

Genome editing, by comparison, typically involves targeting and changing speci c genes that are already there. To edit genes, scientists use a sort of molecular pair of scissors to cut DNA in a desired spot, and then make use of the plant’s own natural repair mechanism. CRISPR-Cas9, the most well-known gene editing technology, is an example of this method. It could potentially
be used to make milk, eggs, or peanuts safe for everyone to eat, saving people from allergies that could be life-threatening134.
These new technologies build on conventional plant breeding, and will allow for more ef cient development of crops with much- needed traits to make them more resistant to drought or other weather extremes, render them tastier, or even make them contain higher levels of healthy compounds.
corn (grain and sweet)
canola
papaya
soybeans
alfalfa
apples
cotton
sugar beets
potatoes
squash
eggplants
DID YOU KNOW?
Eating a genetically modi ed crop will NOT affect a person’s genes. The human body can’t absorb DNA through digestion.
Using science to save foods we love
In the 1840s, a fungus known as blight repeatedly devastated potato crops in Ireland, causing widespread hunger and starvation. Today, farmers can use fungicides—fungus-speci c pesticides—to protect potatoes and other crops from being wiped out.
In Bangladesh, genetic modi cation has saved up to 80 per cent of the eggplant or Brinjal crop from insect devastation, reducing pesticide use and lifting farmers out of poverty135. Hawaiian papaya was saved from ringspot virus with a genetically modi ed (GM) variety resistant to the disease, and a GM banana is currently in the works that could protect the staple crop from
a deadly fungus that is threatening the lives and livelihoods of thousands of farmers in Africa, Asia, and now South America136.
Debby J Smit
There are only 11 GMO crops available today133:
The bottom line on GMOs and your health:
GMOs do not cause cancer or any other health problems. In the more than 20 years that GMO crops have been grown in Canada, not a single case of illness has been attributed to them. Over 900 research studies from around the world have explored this topic, and these studies were analyzed by 15 scienti c societies in 2016—with no evidence of risk to human health or the environment discovered137.
Chapter 7: Healthy and safe food 57