What is a GMO?

A conversation with food scientist Jenna Fryer

Hello! I have been a bit M.I.A. because I started my new job as a lab tech at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I will try to post more regularly from now on now that I’m used to working full-time again!

One of my goals for this blog was to highlight the work being done by other young scientists. My first guest is Jenna Fryer, one of my friends from Ohio State University and former roommate. Jenna was a food science major at Ohio State and is beginning a master’s program at Oregon State University (the other OSU) in Food Science and Technology. She has already had a lot of work and research experience in this field, with internships at Smucker’s and Pepsi, as well as undergraduate research experience through Ohio State.

Jenna’s interest in food science stemmed from her mother working in the industry, but it was ultimately the combination of her interests in scientific research, cooking and baking that led Jenna to food science. During her undergraduate years, Jenna became interested in how human senses influence food preferences, and how that could be measured and explored through research. Her project at Ohio State University specifically looked at how smell influenced engagement when participants of the study were given a sample to rate. In graduate school Jenna will be studying impact of forest fires and other natural disasters on grape harvests, and how it impacts consumers’ experiences with wine. The impact of forest fires on grape harvests will be studied using carbon tracing of carbon-13 in grapes to see how fires could affect grapes that will be used in wine making.

Like me, Jenna is also interested in science communication because she believes it is important for scientists to understand how to communicate with a general audience. Science communication in food science is a two-way street that helps both the consumer and scientist’s understanding, or as Jenna phrased it, “understanding food better through people and understanding people better through food.” She was the president of a student organization at Ohio State called Citation Needed, whose goal was to train young food and agricultural science students to be better communicators in order to bridge the gap between scientists and agricultural workers, and make everyone feel more connected to the food they eat.

Jenna is an expert food science communicator— everything I know about food I learned from her! Something that we have talked a lot about over the last few years is the lack of knowledge there is of food science among the general public, and how that can lead to mistrust. One example of this is GMO food. There is a lot of fear that GMO’s are unhealthy “Frankenfoods”, or made with harmful chemicals. Below is a conversation I had with Jenna last week to learn more about what a GMO is.

Me: What is a GMO?

Jenna: GMO stands for genetically modified organism, and broadly it is any organism that’s undergone genetic modification, including naturally occurring processes such as crossbreeding. GMO technology allows us to make food that is more desirable for consumers, and the biggest misconception is the idea that it is a “Frankenfood” when the reality is we’re seeing how one crop’s good traits can be transferred to another crop through a specific method such as crossbreeding. GMO’s just allow us to get the desired result much faster than through crossbreeding.

There are three main categories of GMO’s, one is to make GMO’s more resistant to pests. Another common misconception is that GMO’s contain pesticides, but it’s really natural traits that are harmful to pests. Pest resistant GMO’s are better for the environment because they make it so less herbicide is required to grow crops, so there is less run-off. GMO’s can also contain fortified nutrients, such as golden rice, which is fortified with beta carotene that can be converted to vitamin A in the body. Fortified GMO’s can be given to help communities that experience nutritional deficiencies and food insecurity. The third type of GMO is to modify a crop so that it grows in environments the crop doesn’t typically grow in, such as growing pineapples in upstate New York or in deserts to utilize land that would have otherwise been unusable.

Me: GMO’s can be really important to increase food production and security. Why is there still this fear of GMO’s among the general public?

Jenna: A lot of it is the media perpetuating the idea of GMO’s being “bad” when they can be the answer to increasing our food supply. Many people are food secure enough to make the choice to eat organic and “natural” foods, but healthy eating is a luxury. GMO’s can increase people’s access to healthy, nutritious foods. And a word on diets, there is no right or wrong diet. You just need to eat what feels good to you. There is no right answer beyond eating fruits and vegetables and other nutritious food, so there is no reason to shame people for what they eat and if it is organic or not. I recommend everyone watch Food Evolution to learn more about this topic.

Me: What impact do you hope your work has on food science as a field or society?

Jenna: I want to be able to understand consumers better and how to use food to understand their thought processes. Understanding food better through people and understanding people better through food.

Food Fun Facts from Jenna

1. You cannot put fresh pineapple in jell-o because of its acidity.
2. The only food that bounces like a rubber ball when ripe is a cranberry.
3. The state vegetable of Oklahoma is a watermelon, which is not a vegetable.