A great deal of myths and misconceptions surround so-called “Genetically Modified Organisms.” From health influencers advising consumers to stay away from them to pictures of fruits stabbed with syringes, these misconceptions have led to very negative views about GMOs amongst the general population. As such, it is an ongoing project in science communication to clarify these misconceptions.

Before it is possible to understand both the benefits and flaws of GMOs, it is important to understand what GMOs are. In a sense, humanity has been genetically modifying its crops since the dawn of agriculture. Modern corn is derived from a grass called teosinte that grows only a small number of small green kernels. Compared to its wild counterparts, even corn listed as non-GMO has a horrifying level of genetic modification. 

Rather than a biological definition, GMOs have a legal distinction. The term mandated by the Food and Drug Administration is “bioengineered.” Bioengineered organisms are defined as organisms that contain DNA that they could not have received from conventional plant breeding. For example, crops such as BT corn are made through a process called transgenesis, the introduction of genes from other organisms into a desired host. Transgenesis is the only way by which any FDA approved GMOs have been made. Due to the specificity of this definition, other methods of genetic modification are often able to use non-GMO labels.

There are many such methods that are used. Selective breeding has been used for most of human history to produce and amplify crops with more beneficial traits. With enough patience and thoughtfulness, humanity has been able to achieve some truly incredible effects. Brassica oleracea is a plant that has been bred into many different cultivars, with broccoli and kale being just two of the dozens of cultivars listed by the North Carolina State University’s plant atlas. There are two large inefficiencies with this method. Due to its reliance on natural mutations in plants, certain plants are not able to be modified this way. It can also take a long time for the required mutations to appear.

In an attempt to speed up this process, humans have been using mutagens to induce mutation for the last century. This process, known as mutation breeding, allows for the large-scale introduction of new genetic material into a crop population. This increase in variance allows conventional breeding methods to push crops to have both higher productivity and higher tolerances to stress. Despite this being a very human endeavor to modify the genetics of a plant, all genes present in the final crop could have been obtained by conventional breeding techniques. As such, mutagenic crops do not have to disclose this fact to the consumer.

GMOs gain a great deal of precision over these conventional methods. Where mutation breeding uses random mutations, biological engineering inserts specific genes into a crop. There are three primary uses of GMOs: resistance to pests, resistance to herbicides and increased yield. When, in the 1990s, papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) nearly destroyed the Hawaiian papaya industry, a genetically engineered papaya known as the Rainbow papaya was engineered with resistance to PRSV. This additional resistance allowed the papaya industry to recover, and only minor differences in their nutritional values have been found. Roundup Ready (RR) sugar beets have added genes which give them increased resistance to glyphosate, a common herbicide. This herbicide resistance allows for farmers to plant crops closer together, reducing both land and herbicide usage. AquAdvantage salmon have been modified to include a growth hormone promoter from a faster growing fish called an ocean pout. The additional active growth hormone allows for AquAdvantage salmon to grow faster, requiring less total feed and land usage. 

These positives shouldn’t imply that GMOs are without their issues, though. Due to the risk of crossbreeding with both wild and conventionally grown crops, the FDA has put large restrictions on the growing of genetically modified crops. In addition, due to the technological nature of these crops, they are eligible for patents. This means that biotechnology companies such as Monsanto are able to require very specific practices from farmers growing their crops. Farmers who choose to grow RR sugar beets are required by contract to remove any beets that flower. This can both reduce yield and increase costs for the farmer. Despite these restrictions on farmers, many farmers choose time and time again to grow genetically modified crops rather than conventional crops.

While there are valid reasons to be concerned about the biotechnological industry, most of the concerns raised about GMOs lack a scientific basis. Humans have been changing the genetic content of the plants and animals they cultivate since the beginning of agriculture. Every study on the nutritive quality of GMOs has shown that their nutritive value is well within the normal differences between different lines of traditionally grown crops. Ultimately, GMOs are a powerful tool to prevent food shortages.

Kansas City is home to a handful of truly amazing plant shops. The two I visited this weekend were Virgil’s Plant shop on Cherry Street and Verdant which is in the Crossroads. Both shops offered gorgeous plants and surroundings.  

Virgil’s offers a wide variety of plants, as well as plant care tools and merchandise. They have just about any house plant you can imagine. These plants all seemed high quality and well taken after. Virgil’s Plant Shop caters to a wide audience. They have both cheap plants for the average plant parent as well as rare and expensive plants for the plant connoisseur. Notably, they had an Albino Monstera plant that caught my eye. While it was a beautiful plant, it was far out of my price range. I focused more on the large variety of cute and affordable succulents. Something else that makes Virgil’s unique is the potting station. For a small fee, the lovely employees at Virgil’s will pot your new plant for you. In the front right corner of the store, they also have a neon sign which is perfect for people to use for photos. Something that I believe gave Virgil’s a lot of charm was the polaroids they had up around the shop of past customers sitting in that space. Another thing I appreciated about the shop was its well-designed merchandise. Their tanks and t-shirts reading “Loosen your Roots” among other sayings are also available online at the store’s website. I really enjoyed visiting this shop for the first time and certainly plan on returning. 

Verdant also offers a large variety of plants and flowers. In addition, this plant shop also offers small home furnishings such as handmade ceramics and candles. Their candles are made by Convivial, another local business located in Kansas City. My favorite scent at Verdant was Lavender Seed. Something that I thought was really cool is that once you burn through your candle and bring it back to Verdant, they will give you 50% off your next candle purchase. Another thing that makes Verdant different is that they also offer flowers. The flower bouquets they had in the fridge within their shop were beautiful and well-balanced. The bouquets I enjoyed the most were the mini bouquets on the top shelf. I also appreciated the dried flowers they had for sale. This is a great alternative for someone who enjoys plants and flowers but has a hard time keeping them alive. Generally, the shop, its plants and its employees were very welcoming and I enjoyed my time there. They had a lot of small details throughout the shop that made the environment warm and inviting. Many of their ceramics and various other products are available on their website. 

October 1st was World Vegetarian Day, a great day to celebrate a meatless lifestyle and its benefits. The vegetarian diet and lifestyle are widely held worldwide with 8% of the world population identifying as vegetarian.

Historically, people have adopted vegetarianism for religious and cultural reasons. But today, many are embracing the lifestyle for health, environmental and ethical reasons. A vegetable-rich diet holds nutritional value as it’s high in fiber, magnesium, unsaturated fat.

Further, such a diet is more environmentally conscious due to the amount of fossil fuels it takes to produce meat. Many vegetarians who cite ethical reasons for going vegetarian dislike the inhumane practices of the meat industry.

Overall, vegetarianism has become more mainstream, with many restaurants and businesses developing meatless options for consumers. Recently, Burger King announced plans to phase in plant-based chicken nuggets, a successor to their popular impossible burger.

Mason Spiderman Wittmaier, a sophomore, is a vegetarian who adopted the lifestyle at the beginning of 2021. He cited ethical reasons for vegetarianism as he believes the industrial farming of animals is unethical and will be frowned upon in the future.

“I don’t need to eat animals to live,” Wittmaier said. “When I eat meat that is produced unethically I’m choosing personal taste over the quality of lives of animals and supporting unethical production.”

Mason’s favorite go-to vegetarian food may surprise some people: Taco Bell. He says that Taco Bell has many vegetarian options and his favorite is the spicy potato soft taco. He also substitutes black beans for meat as an alternate source of protein. Eating out at restaurants is not too challenging, he explains further, and he selects restaurants that have good veggie-based dishes such as many Asian restaurants. Mason also enjoys making vegetarian alternatives to traditionally meat-based dishes, such as chicken sandwiches with fake chicken patties. 

The hardest part of vegetarianism for Mason is time, money and finding good protein sources. As a Jewell student, Mason says that more vegetarian and plant-based options in the Cafe would be appreciated since sometimes his only option is pasta or salad. For anyone who wants to go vegetarian, Mason suggests starting with reducing meat intake overall and gradually going meatless by exploring protein alternatives.