02/07/2026
5 FACTS ABOUT GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS
Here are the facts about genetically modified food (GMOs):
1.Humans have been genetically modifying food for thousands of years
The corn we eat today looks nothing like its wild ancestor (a tiny grass called teosinte with a few rock-hard kernels). Ancient farmers in Mexico were already selectively breeding plants ~9,000 years ago. Modern GMOs are just a faster, more precise version of something we've done forever.
Most soybeans, corn, and cotton grown in the US are GM
About 92–96% of the soybean crop, ~90% of the corn, and most cotton in the United States are genetically modified varieties. You’ve almost certainly eaten food that contains ingredients from GM crops (even if it wasn’t labeled as such).
2.The two most common GMO traits are actually pretty boring
Most GM crops today have only two main changes:
They can survive being sprayed with certain w**d killers (herbicide tolerance)
They make their own natural insecticide (Bt crops)
That’s it for the vast majority of what’s currently on the market.
Golden Rice is real — and it’s still trying to help people
Scientists created a variety of rice that makes beta-carotene (which the body turns into vitamin A) to help prevent blindness and death in places where kids don’t get enough vitamin A from their diet. It’s been approved in several countries now, but it took over 20 years of debate, regulations, and opposition to reach fields.
3.There’s no solid scientific evidence that eating approved GM foods harms human health
After 25+ years and hundreds of studies (including very long-term animal feeding studies), major scientific organizations (National Academies of Sciences, WHO, European Food Safety Authority, American Medical Association, etc.) have consistently reached the same conclusion: approved GM foods currently on the market are as safe to eat as their non-GM counterparts.
