Organic Soybeans

Can genetically modified organisms be defined? Biologists classify all living beings into four basic categories (Plantae, Animalia, protists and fungi). However, genetically modified organisms could fall under several of these categories and are therefore in a category of their own.

Since genetically modified organisms often contain genes from different kingdoms, they do not fall into any of these categories and can not technically be considered an animal, plant, protist or fungus. They simply can an animal, vegetable or mineral. They are not even natural (such as nature never combined the DNA of two different kingdoms in the history of the planet).

Even when GMOs are composed of two species of vegetable or animal kingdom, they are technically a new plant or animal. So really, what they are?

The lack of definition of GMOs appears to be a huge boon to biotech companies and a huge curse for consumers. The fact is that the FDA, EPA and USDA are not even able able to define these GMOs well enough to test and label them correctly.

For example, baccilus thuringiensis (BT) is a bacterium often used as a pesticide. The genes of this bacterium (from the Monera Kingdom) are being introduced into food crops (from the Kingdom Plantae) used to create genetically altered so that the pesticide is no longer outside the plant, but did part of the DNA of this new GMOs.

However, because BT is still considered a pesticide, as well as our plates are not required to be labeled with information on pesticides, the new GM food is not necessary to be labeled to contain genes of a pesticide in it. This creates a huge safety concern for consumers, because the genetic code can not be cleaned or washed, as other pesticides.

Likewise, many plants we consider food crops are genetically engineered with glyphosate to create resistance to pesticides. This means that our crops are very good and can be sprayed even heavier heavier with pesticides. Who, again, are not required to be labeled.

Questions for consumers, even when the surface of GM crops are created from species belonging to the same kingdom.
For example, when soybeans were combined with genes from a Brazil nut, the crop was still allowed to be
referred to as soybeans, which creates a problem for consumers with nut allergies because the Brazil nut gene did not have to be legally mentioned on the label.

Biotechnology companies who bear no responsibility, even if a consumer entered into anaphylactic shock (a type of allergic reaction that can cause death), because legally they are not required to make these distinctions, due to lack definition.

So this brings me to the question, once again ... What are GMOs? Perhaps the question to ask is - what are they?

Many biotech companies would answer this question by saying that GM will feed the world one day and end world hunger by producing "new and improved" genetically modified crops. However, it could be further from the truth. In fact, hunger is not about food, but a political and social issue. The problem of hunger in the world is not dealing with the creation of food, but the delivery systems of food.

And, in fact, biotech companies are less accessible food supply in the world by claiming their food crop seeds as an invention "novel" that is then patented. This means that if you spread their seeds, you can actually be prosecuted.

Farmers around the world are in fact not be pursued by huge biotech companies to plant the patented seed. Even if your culture is simply their contaminated crops and seeds propagated by accident, you can be held responsible for not only by the b.