
How Square Watermelons Get Their Shape and Other G.M.O. Misconceptions - mhb
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/07/12/science/gmo-misconceptions.html
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dragonwriter
> At the most basic level, a G.M.O. is a plant or animal whose DNA was altered
> in a laboratory, often by inserting genes from a distant species into its
> cells with the help of a bacterium or with other tools.

Actually, that's not true; as the term is used in these kinds of discussions,
existing private GMO-free labels, and GMO-labeling laws, lots of ways in which
genes are modified in a laboratory do not make the result "GMO".

~~~
bllguo
Further down they do say this:

"Misconception: Humans have been making G.M.O.s for millenniums. Actually:
While selective breeding is a form of genetic modification, G.M.O. refers to
foods made with specific forms of modern biotechnology."

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josh-wrale
If I don't want my oats to change, isn't a label to let me know what hasn't
changed exactly what I would want?

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dragonwriter
> I don't want my oats to change, isn't a label to let me know what hasn't
> changed exactly what I would want?

A "GMO free" label doesn't tell you what hasn't changed, it only tells you
(assuming that the standards are clear enough that it tells you anything at
all) one mechanism by which change was not introduced.

~~~
josh-wrale
Agreed. And that's the mechanism many consumers want to know isn't employed --
because consumer suspicion is centered on that mechanism -- and quiet use of
that mechanism is generally speaking advantageous for the producer.

Producers of food products may benefit in many ways and the consumer may
benefit from a lower price and sure in other ways, but the consumer may suffer
"because GMO" (not saying this is true, but this is the popular objection to
GMO). Hence, the non-GMO label makes sense because it informs the consumer of
something actionable that they want to know about, which otherwise they cannot
easily reason about.

A great example of this is: how many people really know that oats are never
today GMO? The label isn't useful because oats aren't typically GMO, but
rather because people don't readily know this -- and consumers want a direct
answer to their call to know if this mechanism is at work in their food.

And again, this is not because consumers know for a fact that GMO is harmful,
but rather because they perceive it as a poignant risk to their health.

Placebo effect has a negative twin in nocebo [1].

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocebo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocebo)

