GMO's in The Windup Girl

            The novel The Windup Girl depicts a very dystopian future, where humans are struggling to survive, and the world is a very harsh place. In this world the main source of energy is wound up springs, and the primary source of food is provided by bioengineering firms that use genetically modified organisms (GMO’s). Throughout the book GMO’s are portrayed in a negative light, there are many plagues and diseases that are blamed on GMO’s and the rise of mutant insects the plague the world are also blamed on GMO’s. This negative depiction of GMO’s is not representative of the beneficial potential that GMO’s actually contain. GMO’s are the direction that the earth’s food sources have been moving for hundreds of years, from the selective breeding process that led to modern day corn, from its wheat like ancestor, to the newly developed fish that are able to breed and grow at accelerated rates.

            Imagine the potato famine that struck Ireland and the widespread pain and hardship that that caused. The reason for the crop failing was in a large part due to a blight that struck the potato crop causing them to wither and die. Now imagine a different scenario where the Irish potatoes are modified with a gene that causes them to be immune to the potato blight. This could have potentially saved tens of thousands of lives and mitigated one of the worst disasters of the modern era.

            Another example of GMO’s having a positive impact on world health, is the widely distributed yellow rice. The rice is yellow because of the added beta-carotene that is induced to grow in the plant through gene therapy. The reason that this is done is because beta-carotene is essential to eye health and in many countries the local diet lacks it, and suffers from eye problems. This addition to food is one of many that is important to most developing countries that do not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, many of which are very hard to ship fresh. So GMO’s are vital to the health and wellbeing of millions of people, and to deny them the food they need is deplorable.

            These are just two of the applications where GMO’s can be put to great use, however there are many situations where they can be used as well. Disease kills a large portion of the world’s crops, as does drought, and other extreme weather acts. There is a GMO that is already developed in in development that can solve most of these issues. Climate change is only exacerbating this issue, areas that were wet are only getting wetter, and those that are dry are only getting drier, and there are still more areas that are experiencing record droughts and rainfall in back to back years. This makes it very hard for native species to adapt because the climate is changing rapidly due to human action, it only makes sense that humans can help the plants to adapt to the changing climate.

            The main objections to GMO are that we cannot possibly know the health risk associated with inserting foreign DNA into these crops. Though more than 15 years of experience with GMO’s have revealed no health dangers, and neither have a series of scientific studies. Most people seem to object to the idea that GMO’s exist. More than having any objections based on actual science. The resistance to GMO’s will be overcome as the need for them rises, the need for them will undoubtedly overcome the fear of them.