Not only was Mark Lynas’s lecture about GMOs a very eye-opening, educational video, it also showed how one person who served so much time and energy being against GMO’s was so able to switch his views and be so promotional  due to his new knowledge on the topic.  He was a very passionate environmentalist who was originally against GMO’s. Now, he realized that even though the name genetically modified organisms turns people away because it doesn’t sound “natural” or “healthy”, the science speaks for itself.

The benefits of GMO’s include the ability to not use as much pesticides on the crops, have the plants able to withstand more drought like environments, and increase the yields of the plant. There is still no knowledge of these products being harmful to humans from consumption. If someone can be very open about there complete switch in thoughts about this topic, it is important that people are able to draw their own conclusions but only after receiving all the knowledge that we have accessible. I think with more time and information on this topic, as a country we will be able to get to a point where GMO beliefs are universal and not just misconceptions. Personally, I admit that I looked at GMO’s negatively simply because of the name and how unnatural it seemed so why would I want to put that into my body. However, through this course, this video, and some researching I have done on my own, I now am for GMO and think it will be a good way to provide food for everyone in our country. I feel like products that advertise that they are “nonGMO” is similar to the poultry companies that advertise that they are “hormone and steroid free”. They advertise this and consumers think it is a valid and prominent piece of information, when in fact if they just had more knowledge on the situation they would be able to look past the marketing strategies.

Overall I think hearing this video was beneficial and personally swayed some of my thoughts and grew my knowledge on this topic that I will continue to share with those close to me. With more education I believe the unknown will come to light and peoples views will shift on this topic, as Mark Lynas’ did.