Is genetically modified food safe? Expert responds: the key is what has been modified

"Although we have made quite a lot of progress in GM technology, we are still far from the requirement of 'occupying the commanding heights of GM technology,'" said Ke Bingsheng, president of China Agricultural University, during an interview with People's Daily Online on the 30th.

In recent years, controversy over genetically modified organisms has continued unabated. As president of an agricultural university, when asked about GM issues, he usually always makes 5 points: First, GM technology is extremely important and has enormous potential; second, whether "GM products" are safe cannot be generalized, and it depends on what gene has been modified. This is a bit like mushrooms: some can be eaten, and some cannot. Therefore, the government must carry out regulatory review; third, "GM foods" are those that have undergone scientific testing and been approved by the government for production and market release, equivalent to the mushrooms in a supermarket, and they are safe; fourth, the United States is the country that has consumed GM foods the earliest and the most, and no safety problem has ever occurred there, nor in other countries; fifth, all authoritative bodies in the world related to food safety, including the World Health Organization, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the food safety regulatory departments of the US, Europe and Japan, and national scientific societies and organizations, have no dispute over the safety of GM foods already on the market.

Ke Bingsheng said that in the modern agricultural technology system, biotechnology occupies a very important position and has huge potential in increasing yield, improving quality, reducing inputs, and raising efficiency. For a new technology like genetic modification, it is very normal for ordinary people to have all kinds of doubts. Ke Bingsheng said that in recent years, there has been quite a lot of progress in science popularization about GM, and more and more people have developed a rational understanding of the GM issue. It is important to continue strengthening science popularization work. However, what may be even more important than science popularization is scientific research.

Ke Bingsheng said that on the current market in our country, foods related to genetic modification are just papaya and some soybean oil and rapeseed oil. For agricultural universities, including China Agricultural University, the most important task is to strive for independent innovation, make breakthroughs in biotechnology, obtain safe new GM varieties with excellent characteristics, and, after strict safety testing and approval, apply them in production.