GMOs identified as the future for agric

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been described as the future for the production of food to meet the demands of the bloating global population.

“Look, the future is in GMO,” Mr Yair Shamir, the Minister of Agriculture of Israel, told the Graphic Business in an exclusive interview during his visit to Ghana a couple of weeks ago”. 

His endorsement of the highly controversial topic comes at a time when the debate on the use of GMOs is raging, with those opposed to the new method of agriculture production slightly having an edge over the proponents of the idea because of their loud voice across the world.

In Ghana, for instance, many civil society groups have emerged specifically to prevent the government from succumbing to the idea of passing any laws that would make the use of GMOs in crop and animal production possible.

Similar pressures are also mounting in many parts of the world, forcing governments to gauge their commentary on the matter, although they are optimistic about the potential of GMOs to transform the agriculture in the world.

He admitted that some groups among the general public are against GMOs in food production, saying that “these days; the general public’s opinion is against it; the Europeans are not accepting it, whether legally or otherwise.” But Mr Shamir was quick to add that for “everything that we are doing in Israel for export and import, we do not do anything that has to do with GMO”.

He noted that “we are doing something in the laboratories, in order to prepare ourselves for the future, we examine the possibility of what can be done because when the time comes and people decide that it is time to go for the new way of doing things, we will have been ready for it.”

He held the believe that the necessity for more food to meet the growing demand would create the appetite for GM foods.

“There are other countries like the United States of America (USA) and others elsewhere doing GMOs but we (Israel) are not,” he reiterated; adding that “we are just doing it for research purposes and its only restricted to the labs and it is very confidential”.

Describing what GMOs would do for foods, he said “The GMO will rather accelerate the process because instead of taking a long time to get a variety, you can do it in just a step”. 

“It is for a certain period of time, since a virus could affect the organism and the fertiliser would not work and you might need to support production for the next year, and you will later realize that only GMO will give you the antidote,” he added.

Plant evolution

According to Scitable, a collaborative learning space for science  has been altering the genomes of plants and animals for many years through traditional breeding techniques. 

Artificial selection for specific desired traits has resulted in a variety of different organisms, ranging from sweet corn to hairless cats. But this artificial selection in which organisms that exhibit specific traits are chosen to breed subsequent generations has been limited to naturally occurring variations. 

In recent decades, however, advances in the field of genetic engineering have allowed for precise control over the genetic changes introduced into an organism. Today, it is possible to incorporate new genes from one species into a completely unrelated species through genetic engineering, optimising agricultural performance or facilitating the production of valuable pharmaceutical substances. 

Crop plants, farm animals and soil bacteria are some of the more prominent examples of organisms that have been subject to genetic engineering.

Way forward

Some scientists are also of the view that in order to end the long debate, there is the need to combine the conventional ways of producing food with the non-conventional means to ensure that the world does not lack because of a raging argument about whether GMOs are to be accepted or not.

The debate is necessary to bring out the best for the world because the population is bloating out of proportion and food production must match the growing demand.

The assertion by the Israeli minister that although Israel is not commercially cultivating GM foods, neither are they importing, is necessary to prepare the grounds for any eventuality, and Israel is highly on its guard to ensure that it is not overtaken by events when the time comes for GM foods to be officially commercialised. 

Biology Fortified is also of the view that “Scientific arguments are not settled by counting the number of people supporting an opinion. They start with a careful search for scientifically valid evidence and they carry this forward with open-mindedness and careful logical reasoning and they eliminate false conclusions from the discussion. 

Good scientific reasoning also takes notice of the whole body of evidence on a topic and updates the verdict as new evidence becomes available.