Genetically Modified Organisms are unsafe for people and the environment.

Pro has claimed genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are unsafe for people and the environment, but sets up his entire argument against genetically modified food. I will show that genetic modification is a necessary tool in order to improve agriculture, cure diseases, and to prevent deaths of millions of people throughout the world and that current GMOs nor development of GMO technology should be banned. But in this first round, I will only be providing rebuttals. 1. UNTESTED: In order to prove that GMOs are unsafe, my opponent must show that a lack of testing has allowed unsafe food products to hit store shelves. But this is not the case. My opponent cites 60% - 70% of food products in the United States contain GMOs, but my opponent doesn't even show any research that says GMOs have caused more deaths or cancer as a result of more and more GMO food products being introduced into the food supply. My opponent's claims that GMOs are untested and that the gov't. relies on research from Monsanto is outlandish. GMOs undergo the same kinds of testing as other products under the same category are tested for, including toxicology testing for any poisonous chemicals that may end up in the food supply.[1. http://www.pewtrusts.org...] 2. CORRUPTION: I think we can all agree that Monsanto is an evil company. If you want to read up on all the nasty things Monsanto has done, I would recommend The World According to Monsanto by Marie-Monique Robin. But using the irresponsibility and corruption of one company to justify banning GMOs is illogical and wrong. Several good things have come out of genetically modified organisms. Until recently, millions of diabetics have had to rely on insulin from cows and pigs, but through genetic engineering processes, human insulin protein is being created and produced more effectively, providing a necessary nutrient to over 25.8 million people in the United States more efficiently than before. Other drugs made available by genetic engineering include "human growth hormones, follistim (for treating infertility), human albumin, monoclonal antibodies, antihemophilic factors, vaccines and many other drugs" [2. http://en.wikipedia.org...\][3. http://books.google.com...]. 3. RESEARCH/HIDDEN DANGERS What my opponent is referring to is the possibility of horizontal gene transfer from a GMO plant into the human body. However, the possibility is very low. In an independent study conducted by Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Not by Monsanto like my opponent insists), 56 piglets consumed genetically modified corn. The study found that none of the genes from the corn wound up in the flesh or the blood of the piglets [4. http://news.siu.edu...]. There is also other compelling evidence various sources that suggest that gene transfer from GMOs is extremely low. This is the reason why: The transfer of plant DNA into microbial or mammalian cells under normal circumstances of dietary exposure would require all of the following events to occur: - the relevant gene(s) in the plant DNA would have to be released, probably as linear fragments; - the gene(s) would have to survive nucleases in the plant and in the gastrointestinal tract; - the gene(s) would have to compete for uptake with dietary DNA; - the recipient bacteria or mammalian cells would have to be competent for transformation and the gene(s) would have to survive their restriction enzymes; and - the gene(s) would have to be inserted into the host DNA by rare repair or recombination events. [5. http://www.fao.org...] This evidence is also supported by many other sources. [5. http://www.who.int...][6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...][7. http://www.nature.com...][8. http://www2.ups.edu...] My opponent claims that mice fed a diet of GM soy" lost the ability to have babies. They suffered slower growth, and a high mortality rate among the pups." But my opponent only cites one poor little source that does not discuss the actual testing procedures used to come up to that conclusion. So the fact that GMOs caused the deaths of these mice is probably false. Since Monsanto produces GM-soy that is resistant to roundup, farmers have a tendency to increase the use of herbicides on their fields to kill off weeds since they know the soy won't die. But the herbicide has been found to remain on crops such as "Roundup Ready" corn and soy when they are sold to consumers in a variety of products [9. http://www.livestrong.com...][10. (Cited below)]. It is most likely that the GMO crop did not have anything to do with the killing of the mice, but it was the herbicides and pesticides remaining on the crop that caused the disabilities of the mice conducted in the study. 4. MASSIVE PESTICIDE POLLUTION My opponent claims that GMOs require the use of pesticide, herbicides, and fungicides. This is completely false. GMOs can produce a successful crop the same as regular crops without the assistance of these chemicals. It's just that some GM crops are used irresponsibly and harmful chemicals are used more widely. But the notion that eliminating GM crops would eliminate fungicide, pesticide, and herbicide use is completely false. The best way to sharply reduce harmful chemical usage is to implement crop rotation techniques so that pests and diseases will be able to die out due to lack of a host to live off of. Even GM crops such as GM banana varieties have reduced fungicide usage in other countries because they have been engineered to be resistant to diseases such as Panama disease, which has caused the near extinction of the Gros Michel banana nearly 50 years ago and is causing the downfall of the Cavendish banana today [11 (Cited below)]. Gros Michel was the kind of banana sold in grocery stores in the early 90's until plantations began dying off after diseases like Mosaic virus and Panama disease killed banana plants. The Cavendish banana replaced the Gros Michel as the grocery store banana, but today plantations growing this banana across the world are negatively affected by several kinds of banana diseases that are being fought with large amounts of fungicide use. With the invention of GM bananas, over 500 million people are able to benefit from bananas that are not only resistant to diseases, but are fungicide-free [11]. 5. CROSS-BREEDING GMO contamination happens and is unlikely to be stopped. But even so, the risks for being harmed by GM crops directly is small, and that other health concerns over GM crops can be mitigated by reducing chemical usage on food crops. Organic food can always exist in home gardens and for people who want organic food, but it will be harder to grow truly organic food because of field contamination. However, organic farming practices can still be implemented with GM food crops by using compost instead of artificial fertilizers and by using nature-friendly pesticides such as ladybugs. Sources: 10. Robin, Marie-Monique. The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World's Food Supply. New York: New, 2010. Print. 11. Koeppel, Dan. Banana; The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World. New York: Penguin Group, 2009. Print.