(1) Herbicide tolerance  (HT) (85% of GMO crops worldwide)

Most GM crops have been altered to tolerate direct application of glyphosate

These GM crops are typically referred to as “Roundup Ready”

Glyphosate (marketed by many other trade names after its patent expired in 2000) is the most widely used herbicide in the world (Commonly known by the trade name “Roundup”, originally produced by Monsanto, now Bayer after $66 billion 2016 merger),  Contrary to the popular belief propagated by industry, by 2014, U.S. agricultural glyphosate had risen almost 15-fold after herbicide-tolerant GM crops were adopted in 1996 (112.6 million pounds in 1995 compared to 1645.9 million pounds in 2014). Benbrook CM. Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally, 2016    This is a serious problem for several reasons: http://grist.org/article/usda- downplays- own- scientists- research- on- danger- of- roundup

• Glyphosate ends up in your body when you eat sprayed parts of plants;
• Glyphosate may be killing the soil itself. This startling conclusion comes straight from one of the USDA’s own scientists, Dr. Kremer. However, his employer has opted to more or less ignore his findings, which, according to this article in Grist, include evidence that glyphosate causes:
• Damage to beneficial microbes in the soil.    Increasing the likelihood of infection of a crop by soil pathogens;
• Interference with nutrient uptake by the plant.  E.g. iron, manganese and zinc can be reduced by as much as 80- 90 % in GM plants. Any herbicide or pesticide is a metal chelator, it grabs onto and immobilizes micronutrients, and according to Dr. Huber, an expert on GM toxicity in foods, who has taught plant pathology, soil microbiology, and micro- ecological interactions as they relate to plant disease as a Professor on staff at Purdue University for 35 years:

“Glyphosate is very unique and was first patented as a chelator by Stauffer Chemical Co. in 1964, because it could bind with any positively charged ion. If you look at the essential minerals for plants, you see calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, iron, manganese, zinc, and all of those other critical transition elements . . . they all have an ion associated with them. It’s the micronutrient that is an ion – that is really critical for a particular enzyme function.   . . .You have to realize that this mode of action immobilizes a critical essential nutrient. Those nutrients aren’t just required by the weed, but they’re required by microorganisms. They’re required by us for our own physiologic functions. So if it’s immobilized, it may be present if we do a regular test, but it’s not necessarily physiologically available in the same efficiency that it would have been if it wasn’t chelated with glyphosate. . .”

• Reduced efficiency of symbiotic nitrogen fixation;
• Overall lower- than- expected plant productivity

Weeds ARE becoming “Super Weeds” 

Reports of glyphosate-resistant weeds, or “super weeds, “have been on the rise since GM crops started gaining momentum, and these weeds now total 15 species—up from 2 species in the 1990s. According to the British Institute of Science in Society, the US has fared the worst, now combatting 13 different glyphosate-resistant weed species in 73 different locations. E.g. Thousands of acres in the South have been abandoned to resistant strains of giant pigweed.  Nichol R, 2011

(2) Insect Resistance (Bt-toxin)  (40% of GMO crops worldwide)

Insect resistant GM Plants produce their own Bt-toxins to kill bugs.    GM corn and cotton are engineered to produce built-in pesticide Bt-toxin. This chemical is produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacteria in soil. When bugs bite the plant and consume the Bt- toxin, it kills them by splitting open their stomachs.

Pests have become more resistant.   In the U.S., GM crop production actually increased pesticide use by more than 4% between 1996 and 2004, despite early signs that GM use might be tied to an overall decline.

Engineered GM Bt-toxin, touted as safe by biotech companies, is not safe:  Designed to be more toxic. Has properties of an allergen.

• 1000’s of times more concentrated than spray on form.    Although used by organic farmers as a bacterial spray against insects, the Bt-toxin produced in GM plants is thousands of times more concentrated and can not be washed off the plant.
• Even the less toxic “natural” spray can be harmful.    According to studies, when dispersed by planes to kill gypsy moths in Washington and Vancouver, about 500 people reported allergy or flu-like symptoms. The same symptoms are now reported by farm workers from handling Bt cotton throughout India. Washington State Department of Health, 1993; Green M et al., 1985- 86; Ashish Gupta et. al., 2005.

   

(3) “Stacked” (currently the predominant usage)

A combination of both herbicide tolerance and insect resistance. Stacked gene varieties have risen from only 1% of US. maize (corn) acreage in 2000 to 81% in 2022. Likewise, U.S. cotton rose from 20% to 86%.

GMO Uses Under Experimentation

No current evidence shows any GMOs having increased yield, enhanced nutrition or climate-resistance

Increased Yield (under experimentation)

Increased yield GM plants are promoted by Monsanto (now Bayer) as part of the global solution to impending food shortage crisis, although there are currently no GM crops available to increase yields.

• GM modified plants supposed to increase yields but don’t –   2016 study shows that yield improvements have actually come as a result of improved farming practices and traditional plant breeding, not gene splicing, and concluding that modified crops won’t help solve poverty, hunger, or climate change. Despite those findings, millions of farmers continue to plant genetically modified seeds.
• Livestock producers and feed makers are pushing for this technology
• 2008 Report of 400 scientists approved by 50 countries casts serious doubt on GM crop role in addressing food security – and pointed to more effective alternatives.

Climate Resistant Plants (“Climate ready”) (still experimental)

• There is a significant investment into research to develop GM crops that may be able to adapt to changing climate conditions like drought and extreme temperatures.   E.g.one project called “Water Efficient Maize for Africa” to develop drought-tolerant corn. However, substantial technical obstacles are delaying this possibility.