Question
Are there any other ways to make organisms not have viruses and bacteria in them, not using GMOs?
Submitted by: Abigale Gilzow
Answer
Expert response from holmquist1x
Friday, 20/07/2018 11:11
Before the advent of genetically engineering plants for resistance to bacteria and viruses, farmers used chemicals - lots and lots of chemicals - to control pathogenic bacteria and the insects that transmit the plant viruses.
So the non-GMO method to control plant pathogens is bad on the environment and farmer’s health, and possibly unsafe for us consumers too.
Genetically modifying papaya to be resistant to a deadly virus saved the papaya industry and there really was no other way to save the papaya.
Strawberries accumulate viruses over time in the field and as they do, the size of the berries become smaller over the years. My understanding is that the only way to solve this problem is to burn the strawberry fields about every five years and start over with virus free strawberries. By the way, making virus-free strawberry plants is done using tissue culture.