The term genetically modified was coined by the biotechnology companies. The true term is genetically engineered. To engineer a crop biotechnicians blast the information of another plant or animal into the genetic make-up of the host plant. To identify if the gene has been successfully transferred to the host plant, a marker is used. That marker is bacteria, but not just any bacteria, antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Bacteria are in our gut, in soil, plants and carried in the air.
Their ability to mutate and multiply is why we are facing the very real threat of the present armoury of antibiotics that we use being rendered useless. Genetic engineering has the propensity to change the whole biodiversity of nature, to increase the incidence of cancer and create antibiotic resistance. Cancer takes decades to appear. It will be our children who will be the canaries in the coalmine. C.M. Woodley, Bondi.