October 16, 2015 ▸ Corporation, Science

Episode 35: GMO Frankenfood

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This week, our topic is a listener request in which we talk about Genetically Modified Organisms, also known as GMOs or Frankenfoods. A conservative estimate is that if you eat processed foods, somewhere around 70% of them have genetically modified, lab-created ingredients. Our conversation focuses on the positive side of GMOs as well as the negatives, and by the end we try to weigh in on whether we personally think they are a good thing or a bad thing.

The first half of the talk looks at the pros of GMOs such as higher crop yields, herbicide tolerance (such as the Roundup resistant soybean), insect resistance, and even oral vaccinations you could one day get from eating a piece of genetically recombined fruit. The cons include hyper food allergies, gene transfer, outcrossing of invasive crops, monocultures, and gene patents from corporate powerhouses like Monsanto.