Interview with Dr. Peter
Goldsbrough, Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology at
Purdue University
The Many Uses of
GMOs
When farmers plant their crops they generally worry
about three things that could prevent a good yield:
insects, weeds and weather. Most of the GM crops grown
around the world today address problems caused by
insects or weeds (although some GMOs are currently being
tested for enhanced nutrition). When it comes to
insects, there are genetically modified plants that can
repel only the very particular type of insect that feeds
on it. With some crops, this has significantly lowered
the need to apply pesticides. Other GM plants have been
developed to be resistant to certain herbicides thus
making weed control more straightforward and less
expensive.
Today, those who directly see the most benefits from
GMOs are farmers and agricultural companies. As
consumers, we probably don’t perceive direct benefits to
ourselves just by picking the product up off the shelf
(this may change in the future if the nutritional
properties of plants are enhanced). However, with many
GM crops there are secondary benefits that shoppers are
unlikely to be aware of by glancing at items in the
aisle, such as: lower cost, less soil erosion (because
tillage isn’t as necessary for weed control), less
pesticide application and others.
However, plants aren’t the only type of GMO that we
use. GMOs are also used to produce many medicines and
vaccines that help treat or prevent diseases. Before
GMOs, many common medicines had to be extracted from
blood donors, animal parts, or even cadavers. These
medicines had a number of problems including the risk of
transmission of diseases, inconsistent quality and
unreliable supply. GMO medicines are more consistent and
don’t carry the same contamination risk.