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GMO conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories related to the production and sale of genetically modified crops and genetically modified food (referred to as genetically modified organisms or "GMOs" by activists) that have been identified by commentators such as Michael Shermer. Generally, these conspiracy theories posit that GMOs are being knowingly and maliciously introduced into the food supply either as a means to unduly enrich agribusinesses or as a means to poison or pacify the population.

Conspiracy theories involving GMOs and their promoters have been invoked in a variety of contexts. A work seeking to explore risk perception over GMOs in Turkey identified a belief among the conservative political and religious figures who were opposed to GMOs that GMOs were "a conspiracy by Jewish Multinational Companies and Israel for world domination." Additionally, a Latvian study showed that a segment of the population believed that GMOs were part of a greater conspiracy theory to poison the population of the country.

Monsanto

Some conspiracy theories are based on the fear that large agribusinesses, especially Monsanto are working to undermine the health and safety of the general public by introducing and promoting GMOs in the food supply. Some anti-GMO activists claimed that Monsanto infiltrated both the American Food and Drug Administration and the American Association for the Advancement of Science which is why the two organizations have supported the scientific evidence for the safety of the genetically engineered food available for human consumption.

Belief that Monsanto is particularly problematic has inspired such actions as the March Against Monsanto and the singling out of Monsanto over other agribusinesses such as DuPont, Syngenta, Dow, BASF and Bayer, and has been identified as a salient feature of anti-GMO activism.

An example of Monsanto-based conspiracy theorizing were the claims by some anti-GMO activists that Monsanto banned GMOs from their cafeterias while promoting them for sale and consumption by the public.

Zika virus

In January 2016, concerns over a Zika virus outbreak were accompanied by claims first published on Reddit that the virus was being spread by a genetically modified mosquito. The fears were based in part because of a new mosquito abatement initiative led by Oxitec—male mosquitoes are genetically modified to be sterile, and released to mate with females, resulting in no offspring, thereby reducing the Aedes aegypti mosquito population that spreads tropical diseases such as Zika. The claims was identified as "unproven" by the debunking website snopes.com.

Ethical criticism

In Scholars & Rogues, an online progressive political journal, David Lambert, a development program officer for the United Nations, compared the conspiracy theories supported by some in the anti-GMO movement to those supported in the anti-vaccination movement,

Like preventable childhood diseases, malnutrition is another great moral failing of our time. GMOs such as golden rice—rice modified to contain high levels of beta carotene in order to compensate for the vitamin A deficiency which kills hundreds of thousands of children around the world and blinds many more every year—and drought resistant crops, which will become increasingly vital in the global south due to climate change, have vast potential to help those who don't shop at Whole Foods. But real progress has been stymied by the paranoid and misinformed, who clamor that GMOs, which are biologically no different than "natural" foods, are somehow poisonous. Behind it all is of course an evil corporation: Monsanto.

References

1. Shermer, Michael. "Why Do People Believe in Conspiracy Theories?" Scientific American 311.6 (2014): 94-94.
2. Veltri, Giuseppe A.; Suerdem, Ahmet K. (2013-02-01). "Worldviews and discursive construction of GMO-related risk perceptions in Turkey". Public Understanding of Science. 22 (2): 137–154. doi:10.1177/0963662511423334. ISSN 0963-6625. PMID 23833021.
3. "SHS Web of Conferences". www.shs-conferences.org. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
4. "The Misleading War on GMOs: The Food Is Safe. The Rhetoric Is Dangerous". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
5. Stephen D. Simpson, CFA. "Why Is Monsanto Evil, But DuPont Isn't?". Investopedia. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
6. Willy Blackmore. "Why We Shouldn't Waste Time on GMO Conspiracies". TakePart. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
7. ^ Lydia Ramsey. "A wacky conspiracy is circulating about Zika and GMOs — and it needs to stop". Business Insider. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
8. LaCapria, Kim. "MOSTLY FALSE: Zika Virus Caused by GMO Mosquitos". snopes. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
9. "Conspiracies against progress: why the rise of the modern conspiracy theory should concern us all". Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues. Retrieved 2016-02-02.

• Conspiracy theories
• Genetically modified organisms
• Monsanto