1. Harm to the human body

Opposition to genetically modified (GM) food involves a wider range of interest groups, from Greenpeace to the Farmers Association to the Christian Church and so on, and their objections are focused on three aspects:

GMO violates nature, and is therefore harmful. Supporters counter that today's crops of all kinds are long past the original varieties, or else people should be eating the same vegetables that animals eat as grass.

Whether the food provided by plants with genes that make them resistant to herbicides or pests is safe for humans, the supporters emphasize that no qualified research institution has found evidence that genetically engineered food is harmful to human health, but they can only draw inferences about the long-term effects, and it would be difficult to obtain comprehensive evidence to convince people.

The promotion of herbicide-resistant genetically modified crops could encourage farmers to overuse herbicides, which could harm or even wipe out some non-staple crops. Farmers in many developing countries have been using such non-staple crops as supplemental food or as feed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has identified 74 plant species that are endangered by the effects of herbicides.

2. Pollution of the environment

Genetically modified technology has the potential to cause biological pollution. In order to protect their intellectual property rights, some biotechnology companies have "sterilized" the genetically modified seeds they sell to farmers. Research by Martha Crouch, an associate professor of biology at Indiana University, suggests that such sterilizing genes may inadvertently render other crops sterile.

3. Harm to other plant species

Genes with special functions "stray" into similar wild plant strains, making them resistant to herbicides and difficult to control; or make pests produce antibodies against pesticides. In addition, some small organisms may become extinct if they eat the insecticidal GM plants.

The proponents point out that agricultural production itself is an environmentally damaging activity, and that GM crops do no more damage to the environment than conventional agriculture. The plants themselves are resistant to pests, and farmers can spray fewer insecticides, which is good for the environment and biological conservation.

Expanded Information

Advantages

Transgenic food has more advantages: it can increase crop yields, reduce production costs, enhance crop resistance to pests and viruses, etc., and improve the storage resistance of agricultural products, shorten the time of crop development, get rid of the four seasons of supply, and break down the boundaries of the species, constantly cultivate new species, and produce food that is beneficial to human health. The production of food that is favorable to human health.

Disadvantages

There are also disadvantages to genetically modified foods: the so-called increase in yield is derived without environmental influences, and there is also the possibility of even greater reductions in yield in the event of natural disasters such as rain or snow. Meanwhile, during cultivation, GM crops may evolve into farmland weeds; they may affect other species through genetic drift; and GM foods may cause allergies.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Genetically Modified Foods