GMO FAQs

GMO FAQs

Fundamentals

Food & Farming

Health & Safety

Sustainability

Labeling

Regulation

Agricultural biotechnology frequently asked questions

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  What are GMOs?
  
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  Which genetically engineered crops and animals are approved in the US?
  
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  Where are GMO crops and animals approved and banned?
  
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  Why is there controversy over GMO foods but not GMO drugs?
  
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  How does genetic engineering differ from conventional breeding?
  
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  What are CRISPR and other New Breeding Techniques (NBTs)?
  

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  Can genetic engineering improve crop yields?
  
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  Are GMOs necessary to feed the world?
  
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  What are “superweeds”?
  
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  Do GMOs cause “superweeds”?
  
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  What is nutritionally enhanced Golden Rice and why is it controversial?
  
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  Are GMOs to blame for the mass suicides of Indian farmers?
  
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  What’s the controversy over ‘terminator’ seeds?
  

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  Are GMOs safe?
  
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  Is glyphosate (Roundup) dangerous?
  
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  What are we to make of the ‘Séralini studies’ claiming GMOs and glyphosate are dangerous?
  
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  Are most GMO safety studies funded by industry?
  
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  Why are there no long-term GMO safety studies or studies on humans?
  
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  Are organic foods healthier than conventional foods?
  

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  Organic vs. conventional using GMOs: Which is the more sustainable farming?
  
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  Can GMOs rescue threatened plants and crops?
  
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  Do GMOs encourage monoculture cropping and reduce biodiversity?
  
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  Are GMOs and pesticides threatening bees?
  
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  Do GMO Bt (insect-resistant) crops pose a threat to human health or the environment?
  
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  Do GMO farmers ‘douse’ their fields in glyphosate and other agrochemicals?
  
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  Is the Monarch butterfly threatened with extinction by herbicide resistant GMOs?
  
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  What is plant-based, genetically engineered “fake meat” and why is it being developed?
  

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  How are GMOs labeled around the world?
  
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  What are mutagenized crops and why they are not labeled and regulated?
  
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  Why are many cheeses, wines, beers, vitamins and oils—made with GMO ingredients—labeled or banned in some jurisdictions and not others?
  

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  What does it take to bring a new GM product to market?
  
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  Does Big Ag dominate crop research and the global seed supply, controlling the world food market?
  
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  How are governments regulating CRISPR and New Breeding Technologies (NBTs)?
  
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  Does Monsanto sue farmers who save patented seeds or mistakenly grow GMOs?
  
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  Should genetically engineered seeds be patented?
  
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  Are GMO foods ‘substantially equivalent’ to non GMO foods, as the FDA maintains?