Question

1.) You can easily extract DNA from a strawberry. This is in part due to the fact that strawberries are octaploid so they have a lot of DNA in them, just this alludes to a disconnect between plant biologists/growers and the average consumer. When the general public were asked the following two questions there was a major disconnect between their understanding of basic biology.

Question 1.) Does a regular tomato contain DNA? Consumers were likely to answer “No.”

Question 2.) Does a transgenic tomato contain DNA? Consumers were likely to answer “Yes.”

Clearly, both a regular and transgenic tomato would contain DNA. Why would people think there is no DNA in anything else that they eat? This not only applies to fruits and vegetables but to meat as well.  What knowledge is the general public lacking that leads to this common misconception?

2.) Technology and science often get blurred with industry and the corporations that make and sell the technology. What do you think is the biggest issue that prevents the general public from understanding transgenic plants?

Answer 1

1.The reason that has led to this misconception that DNA is present only in the genetically modified organisms/genetically modified fruits and vegetables is the frequent approach to the Inappropriate knowledge in the field and they usually have a perception that either DNA is injected or transferred from other animals to these modified fruits and vegetables in laboratories to make fruits and vegetables grow faster and is just for the sake of earning profits. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the exact differences between a naturally occurring and genetically modified fruit/vegetable and the correct procedure of the production of the same.

2. General public in common is most accessible to the marketing strata selling the genetically modified products, no doubt they create an ease in public to buy these by listing the benefits but at the same time make it more ambiguous to understand that how the product is formed, most of the people don't know that transgenic plants are cultivated in fields as the naturally occurring one but rather think of them as being solely manufactured under chemical treatments and some pathogen resistant genes as mixing up of genes from animals in fruits and vegetables which are usually avoided by vegetarians. There is an urgent need to clear this blurr vision of the general public by awareness programmes, animations, and other means to which common people are approachable in order of their correct understanding and perception regarding the genetically modified products.