GMO Dangers with Jeffrey M Smith

Author and filmmaker Jeffrey M. Smith shared an update on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO). India recently said no to using GM eggplant over safety concerns, he noted, but farmers forced to use GM cotton there have been committing suicide because of poor crop yields (related report). Here in the U.S., the FDA was hijacked into fast tracking GMO, while Monsanto rigged its research, Smith asserted. For those looking to avoid GMO foods, he recommended visiting the Non-GMO Shopping Guide.

Wikipedia
A genetically modified organism (GMO) or engineered organism (GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. Transgenic organisms, a subset of GMOs, are organisms that have inserted DNA from a different species. GMOs are the constituents of genetically modified foods.

Critics have objected to GMOs on several grounds, including tampering with nature, ecological concerns, economic concerns raised by the fact these organisms are often subject to intellectual property law, whether food produced from GMOs should be banned or labelled, whether such food is safe, and whether GM crops are useful to address the world's food needs. See the genetically modified food controversies article for discussion of these issues.

The article focuses on what organisms have been genetically engineered, and for what purposes. The article on genetic engineering focuses on the history and methods of genetic engineering, and on applications of genetic engineering and of GMOs. The two articles cover much of the same ground but with different organizations (sorted by organism in this article; sorted by application in the other). There are separate articles on genetically modified crops, genetically modified food, regulation of the release of genetic modified organisms, and controversies