“All the food we eat-every grain of rice and kernel of corn-has been genetically modified. None of it was here before mankind learned to cultivate crops. The question is not whether our food has been modified, but how”

This was a statement given by Michael Specter and I have a strong faith in his words. Imagine how we would have been able to survive without such new varieties of foods with improved taste, attractive appearances and prolonged storage period. If we have a look at previous days when humans were dependent only on natural resources without playing with their genes, we can observe clearly what a thrifty and plain life our ancestors were living. At that time, man used to focus only on his survival and not on comfort. Also, there were less requirements and necessities for living serenely, with plenty of resources and a limited number of Homo sapiens. Those people never heard of such terms like population boom. So, lets us ponder, is it possible for us today to live without modifying our resources? No sir, it’s indeed not. The need for GMOs in our life is more than merely increasing our living standards.

According to the 2007 data of US population division, about 200,000 more people are added to the world food demand each day and the world’s population which was estimated to be 6.7 billion in 2006 is expected to increase up to 9.2 billion in 2050. With this abrupt increase in world’s population, the rate of famine stricken and malnourished people is also increasing tremendously. FAO in 2015 reported that some 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. That's approximately about one in nine people on the planet. So what is the need of hour at the moment? It is certainly to increase our world food demand and get rid of food insecurity that is prevailing in the globe like an un-manageable menace. And here comes the utmost need for genetically modified organisms. Science and technology is doing its best to help the needy people of the world, so why should we try to find loopholes in something this is being done for our well-being. Because of the GMOs, worlds’ food and nourishment demands are being gradually handled in a wise and systematic manner. There has been a significant increase in the yield and pathogenic resistance of food crops through genetic variations. Moreover, the new varieties are being modified in such a way that enhances their nutritional content which is again helping the world in getting rid of malnourishment.

While keeping all of these facts in mind, one can certainly not blame genetically modified organisms since it is the need of hour to modify our natural assets to get the best out of them and live a satisfactory life. It is true that GMOs may have certain drawbacks and limitations but what we need to do is not to go against GMOs but to revise the ways and methods that are employed for their production and make them completely safe and sound for consumption since ‘the question is not whether our food has been modified, but how’ it has been modified.