While all of us keep scrolling through content which goes to show just how bad genetically modified organisms are, world known billionaire Bill Gates has a different perspective. And not only that, but he completely disapproves of people who see GMOs as negative.
Being an advocate of genetically modified organisms, he has claimed he is disappointed of all the negative content regarding them.
He has explained his views in a Ask Me Anything Reddit Thread, where he validates and credits their existence not only as completely healthy and perfectly edible but also regards them as a tool to combat one of the biggest issues humans are facing – world hunger.
He sees GMOs as a promising method which provides the means to feed more people in the world, and reducing all the negative impacts which come with the issue of world hunger.
Billionaire Gates claims they are perfectly healthy, and in addition, they help mitigate the severity of malnutrition and starvation which has captured countries across the world. He did add that they need to be reviewed appropriately before consumption and did not completely discredit non-GMO foods, but certainly expressed his disappointment that they are regarded and perceived as the better and healthier choice.
Bill Gates says GMO is a perfectly good way to grow food
Is Gates really wrong to have such views, given all the feedback and reviews GMOs have received in regards to its level of danger? Or is the Non-GMO organization a marketing scam to earn itself a better name and certainly a bigger bottom line?
The second also seems reasonable, as companies in the food industry have been turning in samples of their food to be tested for genetically modified organisms. The certification of Non-GMO comes after claimed careful testing, with over 43,000 products having been submitted to the organization in total.
Once people started hearing about Non-GMO certified products, in addition to all the negative press GMOs have received, the sales of the former have reached peaks in all supermarkets across states, and account for a gross $22 billion of sales per year.
Despite our shock when learning Bill Gates’ views on genetically modified organisms, his thinking is indeed reflective of scientists’ views after having conducted studies on the topic.
The studies have been carried out with the purpose of concluding on the safety of GMO products, and they have mainly all turned out danger free. In fact, there has been no direct correlation link between using crops that have been genetically modified and significant hazards.
The studies have been carried by renown organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, The National Academy of Sciences, and the European Comision, whose findings have also been made public.
The label of GMO seems to have caused the most panic in people, whereas their knowledge actually remains limited. To their awareness or not, the majority of the products consumed by the average person have been genetically engineered in one way or another.
Even our favorite fruits such as watermelon or corn, in addition to dozens of other crops, are now grown in farms after being carefully bred in selective ways over thousands of years. This selection process and modification have been used and applied to reach the traits of the crop which are desired, such as seed size, the amount of sugar it contains, the size of edible flesh etc..
In addition to generic foods, genetically modified organisms have come to save lives as they make possible the production of so many other products, such as medicine.
Sugar disease such as diabetes would have affected a lot more people in more severe ways had it not been for GMOs to make the production of insulin this much easier. The medication allows people to maintain a steady and healthy blood sugar level, without which the sugar would have caused severe organ damage.
The apparel industry largely benefits from GMOs as well, as they heavily rely on engineered cotton in order to make the clothes we wear.
The labeling of products as GMO does no benefit other than scare people off from products that they most likely need for survival. A professor of animal genomics at the University of California compared GMOs to DNA, as a genetically modified organism are a mere change in their DNA composition.
Her mocking comment revealed that DNA is in every living and non-living thing, which brings light to the injustice some products face. This breeding method is vaguely any different from other advances in agriculture, and like Bill Gates, people need to become more educated on what actually GMOs are before they’re so quick to make judgments.