GMO Coming to Your Cosmetics?
Submitted by Beauty Brains Blog
Mid Brain reports…
Scientists have recently developed a way to genetically modify certain flowers to produce higher levels of fragrant compounds. This research may even lead to the development of flower
What are GMOs?
GMOs are plants (or animals) that have been genetically manipulated to express some useful trait. In this
research, scientists took petunia plants and inserted a gene from another flowering plant to get the petunias to produce more fragrant compounds. It worked. These new plants make 10 times the odor molecules as natural petunias.
GMO controversy
While the benefits of genetically modifying plants and animals seem great to some people, others are appalled by this manipulation of nature. They worry scientists don’t know what will happen by tinkering with biology that has evolved over centuries. Maybe a killer plant or animal that wipes out our natural ecosystems might inadvertently be created. To supportive scientists this seems like a extremely low possibility.
GMO Cosmetics good and bad
To people with no problems with GMOs, this new research demonstrates a number of benefits.
- Reduce the amount of synthetic chemicals in your cosmetic.
- Reduce the amount of land required for plants to produce cosmetics
- Reduce the cost of natural compounds
On the other hand, these GMOs do run the risk of infecting the natural ecosystem and changing things in unforeseen ways. Is it worth the risk to the environment for more natural, less expensive cosmetics? That’s not a question that this
