What positives are there for not using GMOs?

Expert response from Nathaniel Graham

Post Doctoral Associate, Biological Sciences

Friday, 23/03/2018 17:38

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 justify on a purely financial basis. This also means that it is hard to distribute genetically engineered products to the lesser developed countries for humanitarian reasons. There are many products that have been engineered specifically for nutrient deficiencies and humanitarian reasons that are not able to be released as a result of the regulatory pressure.