With a growing world population one of the most pressing issue is that of feeding such large number of people. Some people think that GM food a viable solution. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

There are more than 7 billion people on the planet and concerns on how to feed everyone as long as how to maintain World sustainability remains an open question. Experts and some agribusiness representatives picture genetically modified food as the most viable alternative to solve this issue. In my view, the advance of genetic techniques brought to light a myriad of possibilities with the potential to eliminate problems, but the real effect on human health and nature still requires further investigation. The inequality on Earth along with the growing population has alarmed researchers worldwide to the increase of poverty, starvation, migratory waves, and violence. In order to minimize this issue, some nations, international organizations and authorities have to incentivize the production of GM food, which seems to be more advantageous because of its resistance to multiple insects and other types of pests. Brazil, for example, is one of the leading countries in the production of commodities, such as soybeans, orange, coffee. Much of this undoubted success is because of some genetic modifications, which allowed them to increase production as well as its exportation. Conversely, scientists and society representatives have shown concerns regarding the effects this GM food might cause on humans and the impacts large monocultures bring to the environment. They stress the risks of large GM food consumption and the lack of long-term studies evaluating its impacts. Some researchers from Oxford University in 2016 published and a remarkable study questioning GM food as our next saviour and highlighted that the problem is not the amount of food the world population supposedly need, but how much of what we produce end up wasted. According to these experts, if we used the food properly, it would neither be necessary to gamble our health with genetically modified ingredients nor more areas for monocultures. In short, I do believe that genetics may beneficially work to solve some issues, but the lack of studies on humans need to be considered. In the meantime, our best and the most prudent alternative is to be conscious and avoid wasting what we already have.