For thousands of years GMOs were in the minds of mankind, they just did not know it then. They started off small by selecting the best animals and crops they had, then they used those specific organisms in mating. This ideology of choosing the best animals, or crops, to propagate was the forefront for genetic modifications. It allowed man to choose what genes were in their propagation. This method was the beginning of gene selection and the idea behind all GMOs today. While people thousands of years ago used crops, animals, and time, today science and technology genetically modify organisms. I would also like to clarify one thing too; gene selection is not a GMO. Gene selection is when you breed for a specific gene or trait. GMOs use science to take a gene and insert that gene into a different organism.
Now you can trace genetically modified organisms back to the discovery of genes. Gregory Mendel began the first recorded genetic test of any kind back in the 1860s. Mendel is known for his discovery of genetics with garden peas. He found that by crossing different kinds of garden peas he was able to see different colors of flowers from the peas. Following Mendel were some other important times, and figures, in genetics.
- 1868 Friedrich Meisher discovered DNA, or deoxyribose nucleic acid.
- 1944 Oswald Avery identified DNA as the carrier of molecular information.
- 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discovered DNA to be in a double helix.
- 1972 Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer developed ways to splice DNA in specific sequences.
- 1976 University of Washington discovered that plasmids could insert themselves into the nucleus of plant cells.
- 1983 scientists took out harmful genes from plasmids and introduced desired genes into the nucleus.
- 1994 the first genetically modified organism, safe to eat, was available for the public.
- 2008 By 2008, 92% of soybeans in the US was GMO varieties and 80% of corn was GMO corn.
Today we can see 90% of the soy, cotton, canola, corn, and sugar beets produced in the US are genetically modified. Some of those modifications are to the improvement of the nutrients in the crops and some of the genetic modifications are their resistance to certain pesticides. They are also in the process of genetically modifying apples to brown slower, to almost not browning at all. They are working with pigs, tomatoes, and potatoes. In my next blog, I will discuss the science behind how they create GMOs.
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