Be Aware: The Unknown Facts about GMOs and Other Emerging Technologies( Guest blog)
The word GMO is not new to most of us. However, only a small percentage of the world's populations understand the in-depth meaning of Genetically Modified Organisms aka GMOs. In developing worlds where there is lack of information, people fear to eat GMOs because they fear potential carcinogenicity or simply due to consumer perception. How are GMOs made? GMOs are plants, organisms or animals produced through genetic alterations to enhance or silence certain characteristics at a molecular level. This is done through gene amplification, recombinant DNA or gene silencing. Gene amplification refers to an increase in the gene copies of certain characters and this leads to overexpression of those traits, for example, overexpressing carotene genes in tomatoes to increase the antioxidant capacity of tomatoes in our bodies. Antioxidants are very important in our bodies in maintaining the redox balance in the body fluids to prevent diseases such as cancer (accumulated DNA m