The Rise of GMOs in Tomorrow's World

My first thought when reading “The Wind Up Girl” was about our class discussion and my personal knowledge on the rise of GMOs in today’s society. In the novel, essentially all foods and even living things such as animals and people are genetically manipulated. The novel arguably is the manifestation of most or all of the social fears surrounding the increase of genetically modified products within the food system.

            One major issue is obviously health complications. In the book their genetically modified organisms created massive effects with cibiscosis that most characters seemed to fear constantly and blister rust. This not only created personal health implications but also social fear and distrust as individuals were afraid to catch the disease and it would create conflict within society.

My main argument is a lack of information on the health effects from GMOs. I recently read that the ratio of children born with autism has risen from 1 in 88 births to 1 in 68 in the United States from 2012, just two years ago. I’m not going to be so bold to say there is a direct correlation between the rise in autism and the use of GMOs, but I think it is a feasible idea that the health effects of GMOs have not be sufficiently studied and could be involved in the extreme rise of many new health problems we’re seeing today. 

GMO diets have been linked to infertility issues, damaged organs, gastrointestinal and immune system failure, and other problems. This has been extremely under researched and is not common knowledge in society. Additionally, many are unaware of just how frequently we consume GMO products every day. Since more than 90 percent of our corn and soy products are created with GM seeds and these products are in virtually all processed foods, GM products are in a great percentage of food availability in one’s local food market and all go unlabeled.

As is seen in the novel, the introduction of genetic modification and chemicals into the food production system has had a huge effect on the genetic makeup of agriculture. The newest phenomenon has been Colony Collapse Disorder, where entire bee colonies are disappearing because of the use of pesticides. If the number of bees continues to dwindle, many common fruits and vegetables will no longer be pollinated and therefore will disappear just like the ngaw from “The Wind Up Girl”.

Another correlation between the novel and today’s fears is the unknown side effects of manipulated genes and its effect on the natural environment.  In the novel, the megadonts or genetically modified elephants caused many issues, for example the attack in the factory. Emiko was a genetically modified human who was created with a genetic malfunction of becoming too hot in warmer climates. The unpredictable nature of manipulating genetic material can lead to more future problems with causing unforeseen health effects or cause animals or plants to go extinct.

Reading this novel make me thinking about what is to come for our future world. As we talked about in class, the idea of “If we can do it, we should” directs a lot of our endeavors in society, including the rise of GMOs. Despite the arguments for creating enough food for the many more mouths there are to feed, I worry about what our meddling with the natural food system could eventually do to our health and the environment. I say we need to refocus our endeavors to keep the long term effects in mind and make sure we’re keeping ourselves and the ones after us safe.