What are genetically modified products (GMOs)?
A Genetically Modified Organism (or cross-genetic) has, within its genetic material, a gene or genes from another plant, animal, bacteria or virus. That is, in the genetic information of, say, a plant, a gene from another organism is incorporated, which provides that plant with a new and desirable trait. This in itself is nothing new. We learned in high school about the experiments of the Austrian monk, Gregor Mendel, who studied the hybridization of certain plants, “crossing them” so they would present with certain traits that he wanted. Mendel, however, worked with different varieties of the same species. The new technology allows genes to be taken from any living organism and introduced into another. This means that any characteristic of a plant – for example, resistance of a wild plant to a particular illness – can be introduced in the laboratory into wheat, maize or into any other crop where they want to develop resistance to that illness. Who has developed the research and techno
