Friday, June 10, 2016

Let's get this straight: A hybrid is a NOT a GMO

There is this utterly ridiculous meme floating around right now that has me fuming. Actually, I get upset every time a meme flaunts inaccurate information or downright lies. Usually, that happens with the political memes. But this one, created by /u/fleabargain and shared on the site I f***ing love science, paints non-GMO proponents as idiots. And I, for one, take offense at that. Especially since it's untrue.


Photo courtesy of Darren Lewis

The meme states: "Somewhere in the world right now, someone is complaining that GMOs are "unnatural" while eating seedless grapes." How stupid can the writer of this meme be?? GMOs are unnatural -- they're created by combining DNA molecules from different sources, which alters the genes of an organism. This is through bio-engineering. Does that sound natural to you? In most cases, the DNA is not from anything resembling the original organism. This cannot occur naturally.

So how do seedless grapes (and other seedless varieties of fruits) come to be if they're not genetically modified. They are hybrids. A hybrid comes from the cross breeding of similar species and this process has been used for more than 150 years and it happens through cross-pollination.

In the case of seedless fruits, they come from plants that are haven't been fertilized by pollination or have been pollinated, but don't produce mature seeds. It's as simple, and natural, as that.

Hopefully, I've clarified some things for you so you can battle the ignorance of the pro-GMO propaganda, too. 

Rant's over. Have a good day!



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