Nathaniel Graham
Post Doctoral Associate, Biological Sciences
Expert Bio
Nat Graham is a post-doctoral associate at the University of Minnesota-St. Paul. His research focuses on utilizing genomic engineering techniques to examine biological questions in crop species. During his graduate studies, he founded a local program called “Science on Tap”, designed to give graduate students the opportunity to present their research to the community.
Studies, Articles and Answers
Showing 2 out of 2 results
Question
Q: How hurt would society be if we took away GMOs?
A: Genetic engineering has become an integrated component of modern agriculture, especially in the United States. Soybeans, for instance, are over 90 percent genetically engineered (GE) in U.S. fields. It’s important to acknowledge that this adoption rate is a result of farmers choosing to plant these types of crops themselves. Part of the reason that they choose to do so is because it makes their jobs easier. The most common types of GE crops make the plants resistant to insects or certain herbicides, things that farmers are constantly concerned with. By not needing to spray insecticides, or hav [...]
GMO BasicsQuestion
Q: What positives are there for not using GMOs?
A: The obvious answer to whether there are positives in not using genetic engineering is the reduced regulatory process. It can take tens of millions of dollars to bring a genetically engineered product to market, something that is not feasible for academics or small businesses. The result is a product needs to be able to make quite a bit of money to be worth the years of effort for approval. This generally means that only the crops with millions of acres are worthwhile. Additionally, traits like increased nutrient levels don’t have an immediate benefit to the grower and are hard to justi [...]
GMO Basics