Column #41

I’m a “science buff.” Not only in school, but for 45 years I relied on science to survive. In fact it was because of nutritional science that I got into the grass-fed and Omega-3 meat business.

In 1974 I bought some registered Polled Herefords to start a breeding program along with raising commercial cattle. Since being a good breeder requires a basic understanding of genetics, I studied the 10,000-year-old selection techniques.

Then in the 1980s cattle geneticists started talking about new discoveries and why mapping the bovine genome would allow them to leap beyond the old selection methods. The effort to sequence a Hereford cow genome ended up taking six years and over 300 scientists in 25 countries.

In April 24, 2009 the Journal of Science reported that the bovine genome was one of the largest genomes ever sequenced. It consists of three billion base pairs and approximately 22,000 genes of which 14,000 are common to all mammalian species. Bovines share 80% of their genes with humans; bovines also have about 1,000 genes shared with dogs and rodents but not identified in humans.

Unless you’re a sophisticated cattleman, you’re probably not familiar with all the various traits the industry pursues and the impact traits have on economics, sustainability, health, meat quality, consumer acceptance, etc. But just like with breeding plants, old cattle breeding methods were shots in the dark. Dominant or recessive traits, opposing traits, selecting for outliers, and different breeding methods skewed the outcomes.

In the early 1970s, the initial advancements in genetically modified organisms (GMO) were beyond our comprehension. It wasn’t until the mid 1980s that we started hearing about the possibilities that GMOs offered. Then in the mid-1990s a few major GMO crops became realities. Now after 45 years of development, trillions of animals have eaten GMO feeds and billions of people have eaten GMO corn and soybeans and animals that ate those GMO feeds. A search of CDC records shows there have been no health issues associated with GMOs.

Yet in the past 15 years scare mongers have convinced 63% of the consuming public that GMOs are evil and dangerous. To get to the truth of GMOs, the National Academy of Sciences selected a committee of experts to review all GMO evidence. Their recently published 407-page report gives GMO a clean bill of health.

So, GMO is not dangerous nor evil but it still remains exceedingly treacherous in this age of strident beliefs for any business to say that. Yet for the sake of mankind we sure hope people change their belief systems by examining realities rather than sticking with myths spread by marketers with agendas. There are too many lifesaving benefits in GMO to trash it. In fact, someday GMO foods may be preferred over all others by those of us seeking the healthiest foods to eat. Just wait and see.

Amazingly people are terrified of GMO while ignoring the CDC’s reports of the hundreds of millions of chronic diseases that nutritional scientists say are caused by eating grain, grain-based foods, sugars, and foods high in Omega-6 fatty acids versus Omega-3 fatty acids.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects
A full review of GMO by the National Academy of Sciences

Genetic Engineering

A Review of NAS’s Report on GMOs by Science Based Medicine

GMO Livestock Feeds Analysis J ANIM SCI-2014-Van Eenennaam-4255-78

Genetically Modified Organism from Wikipedia

Bovine Genome from Wikipedia

GM Foods: The Wild Theories of Jeffrey Smith