Scientists Find that GMO Corn is Good for You

[Techno-Druid]

(Source)

There is a great deal of misinformation out there regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). From monikers like “Frankenfoods” to general skepticism, there has been a variety of biased reactions to these organisms, even though we as a species have been genetically modifying our foods in one way or another for approximately 10,000 years. Perhaps some of this distrust will be put to rest with the emergence of a new meta-analysis that shows GM corn increases crop yields and provides significant health benefits.

The analysis, which was not limited to studies conducted in the U.S. and Canada, showed that GMO corn varieties have increased crop yields worldwide 5.6 to 24.5 percent when compared to non-GMO varieties. They also found that GM corn crops had significantly fewer (up to 36.5 percent less, depending on the species) mycotoxins — toxic chemical byproducts of crop colonization.

Some have argued that GMOs in the U.S. and Canada haven’t increased crop yields and could threaten human health; this sweeping analysis proved just the opposite.

For this study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, a group of Italian researchers took over 6,000 peer-reviewed studies from the past 21 years and performed what is known as a “meta-analysis,” a cumulative analysis that draws from hundreds or thousands of credible studies. This type of study allows researchers to draw conclusions that are more expansive and more robust than what could be taken from a single study.

There have been, for a variety of unscientific reasons, serious concern surrounding the effects of GMOs on human health. This analysis confirms that not only do GMOs pose no risk to human health, but also that they actually could have a substantive positive impact on it.

Love or hate it, genetically modified crops are our future. There are now 7.6 billion human beings on this planet with the UN estimating the human population to increase to 11.8 billion in 2100. GMOs are more efficient, yield more and are ultimately less environmentally invasive than pesticides.

[Doctor Amadeus]

LOL good luck on this one, you are about to stir the proverbial hornets nest on this. R.I.P @Atethecat

[NED funded]

LOL good luck on this one, you are about to stir the proverbial hornets nest on this. R.I.P @Atethecat

Only that of Europeans. The rest of the world has long accepted GMOs.

[Freighter]

They're bad because of companies like Monsanto and their retarded ideas. If you have crops from Monsanto, they say you don't own the seeds, they do. You can only use them once for growing crops, not replant the new seeds. That's about the only problem with GMO, companies pulling that kind of shit.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Only that of Europeans. The rest of the world has long accepted GMOs.

No, I work with some pretty rabid GMO's advocates.

[Calfredd]

Kind of surprised Swineflu hadn't bust in with his links to shoddy "research" yet.

[Darsithis]

Good. GMO is the way to create crops that are plentiful, use less land, require less nutrients/water, produce less waste, and are more resistant to both predation and viruses/bacteria.

[NihilSustinet]

Corn has been a GMO for thousands of years anyway. Look up what actual natural corn looks like.

[Laerrus]

Corn isn't actually the healthiest grain though. We use it to quickly fatten up livestock.

Outside of Monsanto, GMO has never really been a problem.

The real reason why people are getting sick is from all the heavily processed foods that we eat. We are just not meant to consume that much sugar and salt.

[SirBeef]

I really hate to shit on peoples cornflakes but pretty much all of our food is GMO food. Just not how we think. Corn used to be this rather thin stalk or kernels not this plump cob that it is today. Genetic modifying through breeding gave us what we have today? Same goes for most fruits and vegetables, and well as most animals we eat. We just bred until we got the desired outcome. Now scientists can do the same thing much more quickly through gene editing. It's really not anything different than before.

[Pawstruck]

Avoiding the obvious "THIS study PROVES it once and for all!!" fallacy...

I think this is good, and I think most of us suspected this anyway. And besides, GMO crop yield both reduces and then stabilizes food prices due to a heightened ability to withstand unfavorable environmental conditions. To people in third world countries, eating GMO-corn would be better than eating nothing even if it did cause long-term ill effects.

Anyway, I think GMO's have a long way to go as far as taste goes. Maybe it's not the GMO - maybe something else - but a Wal-Mart apple has barely any flavor at all. I dunno. Whatever. Long live mutants-on-purpose?

[Ozyorkbourne]

Only that of Europeans. The rest of the world has long accepted GMOs.

You say that, but here in the EU i've never met anyone particularly anti-GMO and believe it's the USA that's anti-GMO. Maybe there isn't that much anti-GMO movement, maybe it's just a very loud, rabid minority.

[Aoyi]

As someone who used to work in the produce industry, I’ve known this for a long time. The anti-GMO crowd is primarily anti because of a lack of information. Anyone who actually was informed about GMO wasn’t anti-GMO. This study won’t really changed that crowds’ minds though.

[Growel]

Only that of Europeans. The rest of the world has long accepted GMOs.

There's a lot of people in the USA who are anti-GMO. Or at least, it sure seems that way to me.

My mother is basically anti-GMO, as well as at least one of my aunts. My bosses boss seems to be as well (though it's a bit hard to tell).

[NED funded]

You say that, but here in the EU I've never met anyone particularly anti-GMO and believe it's the USA that's anti-GMO. Maybe there isn't that much anti-GMO movement, maybe it's just a very loud, rabid minority.

If that is the case, then that very loud and rabid minority wields a lot of power, because many European countries passed legislation banning its cultivation, prohibiting products for human consumption that contain GMO or downright banned its importation and cultivation in all forms.

[JohnBrown1917]

You say that, but here in the EU i've never met anyone particularly anti-GMO and believe it's the USA that's anti-GMO. Maybe there isn't that much anti-GMO movement, maybe it's just a very loud, rabid minority.

They confuse how many hate Monsanto here with being anti-GMO.. even though we have been doing for thousands of years and blabla

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If that is the case, then that very loud and rabid minority wields a lot of power, because many European countries passed legislation banning its cultivation, prohibiting products for human consumption that contain GMO or downright banned its importation and cultivation in all forms.

lol we use GMO likes the rest of the world.
Unless you mean Monsanto's tactics, ye.. those are not that popular.

[Foosha]

Unless you mean Monsanto's tactics, ye.. those are not that popular.

Read up on that Monsanto ruling. Sure they are a big corporation, and they can be scummy, but there's a lot of misinformation regarding "that" case with Monsanto, and the farmer was like 90% in the wrong.

Anyways. Corn blows, even with GMO's it's yield cant be that great compared to other crops GMO or non GMO

[NED funded]

lol we use GMO likes the rest of the world.
Unless you mean Monsanto's tactics, ye.. those are not that popular.

No you don't. Heck in various European countries it's illegal to cultivate it or use it for anything but feeding livestock.

Mad props to Spain tho, probably one of the few European countries that actually cares about what the science says on the topic.

[Draco-Onis]

Only that of Europeans. The rest of the world has long accepted GMOs.

GMOs are too broad of a term in my opinion it means everything from cross breeding to genetic modifications some of which have no sufficient studies on. So to say GMOs are safe and accepted is very misleading to say the least.

[Eggroll]

Dear OP, we could already feed 11 billion peeps on this planet RIGHT now with the current food production.

Unfortunately western societies throw 40% of all produced food into the trash instead of eating it. Adding to that is the waste of ressources by crops used to make something as useless as high fructose corn syrup which feeds exactly nobody except the accounts of Monsanto shareholders.

Also, western society sucks at food processing. Past generations processed foods to make them more nutritious, extract toxins and make them durable.
Today all we do the foods is make them sweet and pretty. Very useless.

Yeah, and that scientist was probably paid by Monsanto or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.