The Invasion of Mutant Crops!Is it possible to grow genetically modified (GMO) crops in a way that prevents gene transfer from GMOs to conventional crops? In 1994, the first FDA-approved GM (genetically modified) food arrived in U.S. grocery stores; the Flavr Savr tomato had modified genes that would allow it to stay fresh longer on shelves (Woolsey). This was the beginning of what has become a major agricultural method in the United States. GMO crops can be engineered to resist herbicides like Round Up, so that crops can be sprayed indiscriminately and only weeds are destroyed. Some crops, such as GMO cotton, are designed to be toxic to common insect pests. Sometimes the modifications simply remove unfavorable characteristics or increase yields in undesirable growing locations, allowing us to fill supermarket shelves with produce all year round. There is now growing concern that GMO crops are causing irreversible changes to our conventional (non-GMO) crops. crops and some wild relatives. The concern is that GMO plants are transferring their genetics, and sometimes full GMO traits, to conventional crops. Many now fear that underregulated GMO crops could unintentionally alter an important food source in a way that makes it incompatible with human consumption. Pharming is the process of inserting genes that code for drugs into common crops, such as carrots (kraemer). If these genes were to escape the laboratory environment and enter our conventional carrot crops, carrots could become toxic and inedible. The first vector in which GMO crops can transfer their genes to conventional crops is through cross-pollination, where pollen from GMO plants is transferred, via wind or bee pollination, to conventional cro..... . center of paper ......ethically engineered microorganisms." Department of Biology, University of Louisville., 19 July 1988. Web. 07 May 2014 .Dlugosch, Katrina M. and Jeannette Whitton. "We can stop transgenes from take a walk on the wild side?' 2007): 483-". 90. Print.Mellon, Margaret and Jane Rissler Gone to Seed: Transgenic Contaminants in Traditional Seed Publishing. Cambridge: UCS Publications, 2004. Web. May 7, 2014Woolsey, G.L. "GMO Timeline: A history of genetically modified foods." Rosebud Magazine Hydroponics Lifestyle Growing and Entertainment! Rosebud Magazine, December 3, 2013. Web. May 7 2014.