My grandchildren have made me realise, all over again, that we need to be wiser about how we use and abuse our world. GM food and crops scare the grandmother in me. GM in this case stands for ‘genetically-modified’ where recombinant-DNA technology is used to insert genes from one species into the genetic material of a totally unrelated species. In this way, a bacterium gene is inserted into a maize (corn) plant.
GM food is a step too far beyond our understanding of how the earth works. GM crops growing in fields produce pollen and seeds that blow about, or are carried about by pollinator insects, and so GM crops in the open-air are uncontrollable. We just don’t know enough about the effects of GM crops and food on soil, on other plants, on soil-related microbes, on insects, on other animals, or on humans (including all our grandchildren). But we know that once introduced, GM crops cannot be recalled. We should not allow GM crops or food to be grown in Ireland until we (and the scientists) know enough to make good decisions about GM food technology.
