Investigation: Genetically Modified Organisms

The purpose of this blog is to take the products of science, especially those which we encounter in everyday life, and explain the actual facts of them in plain English.  To that end, I can't think of a more appropriate, or more timely, topic to discuss than genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Public domain image, courtesy of USDA ARS.

When I started this blog, I had an eye on doing a series on GMOs.  Recently, I've joined an effort by a
national non-profit organization to help its members understand agricultural issues, and GMO crop plants are part of that.  So it's time to explain them, in all their complexity: what they actually are, how they're created, what plants we're looking at, testing, regulation, health and environmental concerns, the whole shebang.

There's so much emotional investment in this topic -- nothing hits closer to home than food, water, or shelter -- that it's particularly important to drill down to real facts, on all sides, and answer as many of the nagging questions as possible.  These articles will be, to the best of my ability, impartial.  All that this series assumes is that major governments are not out to poison their people, the scientific process and community are (on the whole) to be trusted, and that there really are hard, solid facts to build conclusions from.  If you're willing to grant those points, let's go ahead with a rational investigation.

The Series
As each piece is completed, I will post a link to it here; bookmark this post to serve as an index.  More will be added as I complete the initial research and figure out how to group upcoming topics.

Definitions
Methods (and a peek into genetics)
Plants and other organisms
Genes
Testing and regulation
Market share, availability, and restrictions
Concerns
Potential benefits and drawbacks
Afterword

I have a full segment planned on specific questions and concerns, especially about health and environmental risks, where I will address them in Q&A format.  If you have a specific concern that you'd like me to address, please tell me, and I'll add it to the list if it isn't already there.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.