GENETICS/ Are we really sure that GMO means unnatural?

On the basis of a recent study by Coldiretti-Swg, three out of four Italians would be against GMOs because they believe that these products are less healthy than traditional ones. It is a shame, however, because most of those three-quarters do not know what you, readers, will discover in the next few minutes.

The acronym GMO says a lot, but not enough. As many people know by now, GMO stands for “Genetically Modified Organism” and refers to those plants and animals that are genetically modified using modern biotechnology (those that use recombinant DNA techniques). Practically, the GMOs are created by inserting one or more genes from other organisms, and this is why they are also called “transgenic organisms”.

Put like this, the thing arouses a bit of fear, especially in those who do not know what DNA or genetics is. The definition suggests, in fact, that all other organisms that have been manipulated by humans lately are not manipulated in their DNA and thus do not have changes in their genes (DNA is the molecule that makes up genes). This unfortunately, is false and I will attempt to explain the reasons using some examples.

The first example is from some plants and animals that, in the course of their evolution, received DNA from other organisms and now have that DNA in their genetic patrimony. The most obvious examples are some species of plant (for example, one similar to tobacco) that possess bacteria genes inserted inside them. The DNA of these bacteria is inserted into the germline and now is indistinguishable from the DNA of the plant (we are able to tell the difference with our intelligence) and thus is transmitted from generation to generation.

Similar examples of gene transfer have been found in other species (for example, insects and bacteria). More often it happens that we find plants, like the leaf of the oleander in the photo, with disorganized outgrowth, which is defined as a tumor, even though they only share a few characteristics with human tumors.

These tumors, like the tobacco plants mentioned above, are, in effect, transgenic even though natural. They have the genes of very distant species inserted in their DNA. This evidence alone should make those that claim that GMOs are unnatural reflect a little (obviously this fascinating debate, and philosophical one, should first clear up what natural is and, so doing, risk defining nature).