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By Peter Awele Pieray Odor
The story that was published by The Sun newspaper on Sunday, November 13, 2022, page 27, titled “GMO Food Security” included superlative commendation that was given to the federal government and the Director of the National Biotechnology Management Agency (NBMA) by a representative of the World Health Organisation concerning the use of GMOs for farming in Nigeria. I present in this piece a brief argument to show that the commendation is not consistent with research findings about the use of GMOs for farming by revealing its effects when it is farmed with. I will also present the effects of consuming the raw and processed foods which they produce, known as GM foods, both in solid and liquid forms. I will make a generalised statement about GM foods and challenge the WHO representative and the Director of NBMA about it. Conclusions and recommendation are made.
Understanding the use of language is absolutely necessary and important in order not to err, or be deceived into accepting anything that one reads or is told, and suffer disadvantage, harm or death later. Not to understand the language used is like taking a sealed letter in which is written “This is the man” to someone who intends to murder you and paid the man who gave you the letter in order to find you. Therefore, I explain first GMOs and GM foods. “GMOs” stands for “genetically modified organisms”. “Organism” means whatever has life and expresses life. These are living people, animals, plants — including plant seeds — and microbes. Concerning “Modified”, the general understanding of its meaning is “functions better” or “improved” vis-à-vis what was. This may mean that the new thing functions better or produces a better result. “Functions better” means saves cost or time. “Produces a better result” means result that is less harmful or safe. In order to test these meanings of “modified” in “genetically modified organisms”, we note that “genetically” comes from “gene”. Genes were not made by any man. They are very complex engineering by God in all living people, animals and plants. They provide specific and different forms of life, characteristics and functions in all living people, animals and plants. As the first aid for understanding whether GMOs should be used for farming or not, I ask: Can any human being re-engineer a gene such that it functions better or produces better results than the gene engineered by God does? The honest answer is “No”. Therefore, the commendation is wrong.
Another way to settle the matter is to consider how a GMO is made. To make a GMO one first decides which organism one intends to “modify”. Let us use cassava. The next step is to find a gene that will express the characteristics that one wants in cassava when it is “genetically modified”. The gene is extracted from any other organism and inserted into a virus using any appropriate technology. At least four other genes are also inserted into the virus. These will carry out different functions in the genome of the cassava. They are viral promoter gene, antibiotic resistant marker gene, transcription terminator gene and transporter gene.
The final step is that you use an appropriate technology to transport the virus loaded with this minimum of five genes into a natural cassava. Doing this is what is meant by “modify”. Without explaining what researchers have found out happens, what does commonsense tell you will happen when the natural cassava has this foreign genes forced into its cell or genome using a virus? Will it make the cassava produce safe or unsafe cassava? Researchers have shown that GMOs actually function worse than the organisms made by God. Specifically, they reduce the fertility of the soil. This is why fertilisers are always recommended. The fertilisers used are synthetic chemicals. Another fact is that farming with GMOs facilitates the unnatural growth of weeds. Sometimes large and tough weeds, known as “superweeds”, are produced. Killing these weeds is done with synthetic chemicals known as herbicides.
The third fact concerning the use of GMOs for farming is that the crops that they produce lack protective genetic expressions against the pests that the natural form of the same crop has as its immune system which protects it by killing pests when they feed on it. Therefore in order to protect the GM crop against the pests, synthetic chemicals called pesticides are sprayed on them. These make excessive use of synthetic chemicals unavoidable and all go into the cells of the crops produced when GMOs are used for farming. Because these chemicals cause deadly diseases, the human beings who consume the GM foods that the GM crops produce in any form — raw, processed, liquid, or solid — suffer deadly diseases, usually on long-term basis.
Allergic effects are suffered also. These are due to their effects in human cells, tissues, organs and immune system. The fifth effect of farming with GMOs is that they enter the waters and harm or kill aquatic life. The sixth effect is that they kill birds and other pollinators, including bees, which pick them up along with the pollens or crops that they consume. The seventh is that they convert natural crops to GM crops through vertical and horizontal gene construct transfers.
The next issue concerns the consumption of the farm produce of GMOs, known as genetically modified foods (GM Foods). Concerning this, researchers have shown that GM foods contain toxins, less nutrients, harm immune system, cause cancers, vital organ diseases, diabetes, etc, which lead to death in the long-term. Three fundamental and classic safety studies which revealed this are: The safety study of the GM tomato produced by Calgene (1994). The three months safety feeding study of GM potato using rats carried out by Dr. Arpad Pusztai and Dr. Stanley Ewen (1999). The two years safety feeding study of Monsanto GM corn (NK603) using rats by Gilles-Eric Seralini et al (2014).
Conclusions: NO GM food has been shown to be safe anywhere in the world by independent researchers or a joint team of independent and company researchers. GMOs provide death NOT food security. Terminator effect makes reuse of natural seeds, tubers and stems impossible; Hence, makes food security impossible. Current wild and aggressive use of GMOs is causing disappearance of many native and natural foods; hence, making food security impossible. Aggressive export of foods is making food security impossible.
I change the WHO representative and NBMA director to provide any safe GM food. Obviously, STOP farming with GMOs in order to reduce the rates of the diseases and deaths due to GM foods and synthetic chemicals in Nigeria and achieve food security.
Odor, an Independent Researcher and Public Good Promoter writes from Akoka, Lagos via [email protected]
