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GM Foods Are Pesticide Factories?

By on 1 year ago

I read that genetically modified food crops are so engineered that they produce their own pesticides. And apparently, they continue producing these pesticides even inside our tummies. Sounds scary. Is this true or is it one of those conspiracy theories?

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4 Answers

  1. arunpillai 1 year ago #

    Insect resistance in Genetically Modified crops is achieved by incorporating into the food plant the gene for toxin production from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT). This toxin is currently used as a conventional insecticide in agriculture and is considered safe for human consumption. But this toxin has been shown to be present in fetal blood suggesting a possible impact on future generations,

    Also, a test conducted on rats over a period of 15 months - some reared on GM soy and others on organic soy resulted in the rats fed on GM soy suffering from reproductive disorders and high infant mortality rates - which may point in the direction that the pesticide is doing its job - but on the other hand we are eating the same thing that they are eating and the ill-effects may not be immediately evident.. for the sole reason that the amount of time it may take to damage human organs would be a lot longer than in little rats.

  2. divyajeychandren 1 year ago #

    genetic modification is used for introducing all types of resistance/tolerance, ranging from drought tolerance, pest/disease tolerance, and obviously to increase yields by increasing say the pod length or number of ears/or other such, protein content or related things.

  3. divyajeychandren 1 year ago #

    so far i havent heard any thing producing its own pesticides as such. But Bt is the most debated. Bt crops express Bt toxins which prove harmful only to certain insects. However the issue of effect of Bt on non target insects have been a concern. Please let me know more on this pesticide accumulation of u do get to know of it.

  4. divyajeychandren 1 year ago #

    Facts and misconceptions about GM crops


    http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/11/26/facts-and-misconceptions-about-gm-crops.html



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