The Unfortunate Truth About GMOs | Genetically Modified Foods

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Executive Producer: Doctor Mike
Production Director and Editor: Dan Owens
Managing Editor and Producer: Sam Bowers
Editor and Designer: Caroline Weigum
Editor: Juan Carlos Zuniga
Written by Doctor Mike and Theresa Fisher

* Select photos/videos provided by Getty Images *

** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional **

[anadrawslife]

I love that saying. My chemistry teacher in college always said “just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s safe and healthy. Cyanide is natural occurring yet it’ll kill you.”

[cadenkolesar]

People won’t eat gmo foods but will eat fast food, that’s crazy

[claireful]

I love how people who pimp crappy unregulated supplements are horrified by GMOs. Thanks for this video. I’ll be sending it around a lot.

[jakedavidheilemann]

me to one of my friends: "you'd rather eat cake icing made in an industrial food factory rather than a slightly bigger carrot?"
them: "YES"

[necrophobya]

I did my PhD on CRISPR Cas9. Not the application, but figuring out how the protein works on a molecular level. The number of people telling me it was evil, when it's so much more precise than older ways to edit the genome or cross breeding.. thanks for using your platform to educate people about this

[bobowon]

not every GMO is made equally but a lot of people assume gmo means that its some sort of toxic mutant food like you'd see in a fallout video game. In reality a lot of times GMO are food that have more nutrition, more resistant to bugs, because they're more resistant to bugs they can be healthier to eat.

[kaiserhhaie]

I'm from Germany and a common topic in high grade english classes was GMO's and I can remember some very weird arguments about naturality being made, where those of us that were in AP Biology just rolled out eyes because we had actually discuseed GMO's and the science behind it in detail. It's great to get some more clarity and specifics about this topic again, very informative! Thanks Mike!

[shakira_]

Finally we have a doctor who really talks about it. As a student of biotechnology, we have been studying about it in almost every course, like agriculture biotechnology. I always saw people talking about ethical issues, not even realising the benefit it brought in our lives. Thank u Mike 😊

[longforgotten]

We’ve been genetically modifying agricultural crops since the Mesolithic.

[ShogunLazo]

As a Pharmacist I always have headaches when I have to explain to people that Synthetic and Semi-Synthetic drugs are faaar safer then naturally extracted ones, and the more we're able to isolate certain compounds the safer and more predictable they become.

[wandateree]

I have a deep problem with people saying things like "all these chemicals"... Everything is a chemical!!

[emo__runner]

I used to work with a girl who said baby carrots were dangerous because they were genetically modified carrots. She also was in an MLM, so I suppose that makes sense

[philippak]

I'm a layperson who has never minded GMOs except in ONE context, and that is when a company engineers seeds and patents them. I'm looking at YOU Monsanto. The one who sued people when their crops got cross-pollinated by their plants and were successful, despite the farmers having no reasonable way to stop the bees pollinating both.
They also engineer them so they aren't fertile or don't self-seed, so they can keep people reliant on them as a seed distributor.
THAT is the only issue I have with GMOs

[scribbler]

Anytime you see Gwynneth Paltrow or Vani Hari "Foodbabe" take a stand on something, you can safely write it off as nonsense.

[kat_thefruitbat]

Very well explained, and such an important topic to debunk. I had to take a communications course during undergrad, and one of our independent assignments was creating an educational powerpoint that we would each present to rest of the class and answer any questions they had at the end. I majored in environmental science, so I did a presentation on GMO crops and mainly focused on why they are safe to eat. The topic was all over the media at the time, so I figured it would be a good one to cover. I had so many questions at the end. Even my professor seemed to learn something from the presentation based on a few comments she had. Most students were almost entirely unaware of the information but were very receptive and brought up myths that I was able to debunk, while a few students challenged the information (with myths) and basically labeled my presentation as propaganda. Luckily, I did print out copies of my references for everyone to have, so hopefully that helped some of the skeptics. Most references, if not all, were peer reviewed scientific journal articles (with summary articles when available), which were all unbiased.

[askmiller]

The problem is scary news travels more efficiently. If you tell someone that microwaves irradiate food and it causes cancer, that'll spread way more efficiently than the follow up that the means by which you heat it up is the least dangerous aspect of a hot pocket.

[lovedragons]

As a retired farmer, I love that you addressed this topic. Not many people really know what GMO really is, many foods are GMOs in one way or an other. I have tried to explain when I hear people talk bad about GMOs because I was a farmer and proud of being one.

[wulfsbane]

As a farmer's son, I've been saying this stuff for years! Thank you, Mike.

[mkaltreider]

Totally agree but a couple points I found (with credible research !) 
- GMO crops can cross pollinate with similar plants in the area, changing indigenous species or other farmers crops in undesirable or potentially harmful ways. Although pests can damage crops, the ecosystem of insects in the area is important for a healthy environment and in a delicate balance that can be altered negatively.
- Many GMO strains are patented to limit use and increase profits by big corporations like Monsanto. This is an additional cost to farmers who are often struggling to stay afloat or squeeze them out of their business because they are surrounded by other GMO crops that are more profitable / in demand.

I don't condemn GMO foods but I think there is an additional environmental responsibility in how they are grown and corporate greed tactics on how they negatively affect farmers that should be addressed. Thanks Dr Mike for the great content!

[CGI_Andy]

My favorite one is seeing "Non-GMO Corn" when corn itself is a GMO. 🤦‍♂