Talking FACS
Host: Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, University of Kentucky
Guest: Dr. Paul Vincelli, Extension Professor for Plant Pathology
Episode 9
0:00 Welcome to Talking FACS; what you need to know about family, food, finance and fitness. Hosted by the University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program, our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families and communities to improve quality of life.
0:20 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Hello and welcome back to Talking FACS. This is your host, Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky. Today, I'm pleased to be joined by Dr. Paul Vincelli, Extension Professor for Plant Pathology at the University of Kentucky.
Paul is joining us today to talk about a very interesting topic; GMO Foods and Genetic Engineering. Thanks for joining us, Paul.
0:42 Dr. Paul Vincelli: Well, it's a pleasure. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
0:44 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, Paul, we were talking just a little bit, before we started recording the podcast, about just common consumer questions focused on GMO. So, let's start with the very basic: what is a genetically modified organism or a GMO?
1:02 Dr. Paul Vincelli: Right. Okay, good. So, GMO or Genetically Modified Organisms is something people have heard about with respect to food and maybe other topics. Actually, genetically modified organism is a term that's kind of used by the public and it refers to, generally in the public's mind, genetic engineering.
But what is genetic engineering? Well, that is a process, in the laboratory, where we manipulate the genetics of an organism directly instead of indirectly. People have been modifying genomes, genetics of our crops for thousands of years, but we've been doing it indirectly.
Genetic engineering is when we actually directly modify the genetics of an organism. And in doing so, we're doing it with more knowledge and more awareness of what we're doing and really less impact on the organism.
1:54 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, when you say that we've been modifying them indirectly for thousands of years, is that just in the field, maybe crossing one plant with another, planting them close to each other so that it produces a desirable end product?
2:07 Dr. Paul Vincelli: Absolutely. So, if you think about what farmers thousands of years ago did, they allowed plants to hybridize naturally or cross naturally and selected seeds that turned out to be more vigorous and would provide higher yield.
But all of that results in genetic modification.
2:29 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Right.
2:30 Dr. Paul Vincelli: They didn't know that. They didn't understand that. But genetic modification has occurred for as long as there have been humans cultivating plants. We've gotten more sophisticated at doing plant breeding; which is sort of the conventional way of using our sciences to advance plant development.
But also, genetic engineering introduces this new level of ability to modify plants genetically and produce plants that at least we hope are more useful, more nutritious, etc., beneficial to humans basically.
3:05 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, when you're talking about scientists today that in a laboratory may extract a gene from one plant and put it to another plant to create a new variety. So, as a consumer, what does that really mean to them? Does that change the plant to them anyway, does it change the food product that they're eating at the end?
3:27 Dr. Paul Vincelli: Yeah. So, the whole reason for genetic engineering or even for conventional breeding, you know, both classes of technologies are useful, but then always, the reason is to create a plant that is useful in some way. So, it might be more useful to the farmer, maybe its variety now that's been engineered so that it resists certain insect pests and therefore the farmer doesn't have to spray as much insecticide. Or maybe the genetic change that we're trying to achieve increases the nutrition value or causes the apple to not develop the browning when you cut it open and leave it on the counter. Those are traits that are beneficial to the consumer and not necessarily the farmer.
So, there can be any and all types of changes that are intended for the benefit of the farmer and so that's ultimately beneficial for us as consumers. But the changes may also be directly beneficial to the consumer.
4:27 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: So, why do you think at times that consumers may be scared of GMO or are concerned about GMO?
4:33 Dr. Paul Vincelli: That's a really good question. And, you know, I've spent a lot of time thinking about it and trying to read about it and understand about it. The fundamental fact is that consumers today, not only the United States, but other parts of the world, there are consumers that are concerned about genetic engineering. They may have acquired the idea that there's something unsafe about it and, you know, we have to respect their fears and their concerns and make sure we start the conversation by acknowledging their concerns and no matter how they derived it.
But how it comes about, I think there's a lot of complex factors. Genetic engineering maybe seems a little bit creepy, you know, to people.
5:13 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Right.
5:14 Dr. Paul Vincelli: So, there's that element.
5:17 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: The terminology itself is a little scary, I guess, if nothing else.
5:22 Dr. Paul Vincelli: Yeah, it is. And some people have encouraged me say, “Don't say genetic engineering. That sounds scary”. But I've always resisted that, because I think that I want consumers to hear the full facts and be as transparent as we can.
I think that engineered food actually can be quite useful. In fact, it's not always been used in the best way. I mean, in terms of something that the consumer says, “Oh, yeah. This is great”. You know, so consumers often have not been the beneficiaries of genetic engineering. Usually, it's more directed at farmers.
But honestly, it is, I must say, to me, it's very useful technology. And to wave our hands and say, “No, never”– I mean, that's certainly people's right. And if it's based on a good understanding of the scientific aspects, I say, “Hey, that's your opinion. You're welcome to that. I support you and your choice”.
As a scientist, I see all the opportunities that we would miss if we said no to all GMO foods forevermore, no to genetic engineering forevermore.
Let’s take the example of diseases. Okay, so I'm a plant pathologist; I studied plant diseases. Well, a lot of times, growers use pesticides to control fungal diseases and bacterial diseases. We can reduce that with genetics. And genetic engineering is part of the package that we could use to reduce the use of pesticides and so on.
So, for that reason, I'm actually, if anything, I tend to see benefit to the technology instead of risk.
7:00 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: That was actually going to be my very next question that if a crop was a GMO crop, did that mean that farmers were using more pesticides and herbicides on the crop?
7:11 Dr. Paul Vincelli: Actually, there's a complex answer to that. On the one hand, certain GMO’s have been very clearly associated with reducing pesticide use. So, the insect-resistant varieties of crops throughout the world, the insect resist varieties, have reduced insecticide use, sometimes by a lot. I mean, it's very impressive what's been done.
So, this has been beneficial, not only to the farmer, but the consumer. There's less insecticide residue on the crop. It's been very beneficial to smallholder farmers in developing countries and they get less pesticide poisoning, because they're not handling as much pesticide.
So, the insect-resistant varieties of genetically engineered crops have really been largely a success.
The crops that are engineered for resistance to weed killers– it's been more mixed. There have been benefits and you just have to go to a farmer in Western Kentucky who uses the GMO technologies and say, “Why do you do that?” and hear what they have to say. There are benefits to these weed-killing resistant varieties that have been engineered.
But there also are, you know, ultimately we've ended up with weeds that are resistant to these herbicides, as an example.
8:28 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Right.
8:29 Dr. Paul Vincelli: And so, it's not been the most sustainable weed control system. But I don't have a better answer either. I must say it's these are complex issues. But I want the consumer to know, really, a lot of this topic is, you know, there's there isn't a black or white answer sometimes. Really, there are different perspectives and different aspects and there are different risks and different benefits that we may want to consider and not just look at the benefits or not just look at the risks.
8:59 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: This is great information. And I think one of the key points that you made earlier is that the more consumers can become educated that it's important to understand the terminology, because it allows people to make their own educated decisions.
9:11 Dr. Paul Vincelli: Yes.
9:12 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Is very key. So, I thank you for joining us today and I'm also pleased that you're willing to come back and visit with us again, so that we can learn more about this topic.
9:22 Dr. Paul Vincelli: I'm looking forward to it. Thanks Jennifer.
9:24 Dr. Jennifer Hunter: Thanks Paul.
9:26 Thank you for listening to Talking FACS. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition, health, resource management, family development and civic engagement. If you enjoy today's podcast, have a question or a show topic idea, leave a ‘Like’ and comment on Facebook @UKFCSEXT. Visit us online at fcs.uky.edu or contact your local extension agent for Family and Consumer Sciences. We build strong families. It starts with us.
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