About GMO Foods

What are Genetically Engineered Foods / GMOs?

Plants or animals that have had their genetic makeup altered to exhibit traits that are not naturally theirs.
-From the glossary on the Monsanto website.

Organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally.
-World Health Organization

“Genetically Engineered Foods”, “Genetically modified organisms,” or GMOs, are organisms that have been created through application of transgenic, gene-splicing techniques that are part of biotechnology. These transgenic methods for moving genes around are also called “genetic engineering,” or GE.

This relatively new science allows DNA (genetic material) from one species to be transferred into another species, creating transgenic organisms with combinations of genes from plants, animals, bacteria, and even viral gene pools. The mixing of genes from different species that have never shared genes in the past is what makes GMOs and GE crops so unique. It is impossible to create such transgenic organisms through traditional crossbreeding methods.