Genetics are an important part of everyday life. They affect everything from our hair, to our height and even our food. In supermarkets everywhere, there are tags that say GMO, which means genetically modified organism. 

  Genetically modifying is, “just selecting a gene that is from one particular organism that makes one particular protein and putting it into another organism to create a genetically modified organism, those have to be really rigorously tested. They go through decades worth of trials before they ever get on the market, ” says Dana Morton, NRAS magnet teacher. 

      Not every plant is genetically modified.  “I forget the specific number that there’s only a couple dozen genetically modified plant species. There are no genetically modified animal species on the market,”  Morton explains.

      The process that starts genetic modifying is for the scientists to, “Follow a lot of mechanisms they use in order to do everyday things like converting energy.” Morton said. 

     Not every plant species is selected to become genetically modified. The plants that get selected have to have significant problems that prevent it from producing enough food, “It’s usually a crop species that is having some major problems and we’re not able to produce enough,” Morton says.

     One of the crops that has significant problems is corn. “Corn gets attacked by all sorts of caterpillars and other pests that will really decimate the crop. It’s very, very difficult to grow organic corn. So they have lots of genetically modified species,” said Morton. 

   Some genetically modified plants aren’t modified due to pests devouring the crop. Certain plants, like soybeans, are modified because of weeds. With things like soybeans at times they put a Roundup ready gene in it so that soybeans are resistant to the herbicides used,” Morton explains.