Q.What are the possible risks of GMOs ?

GMOs carry ecological, health and socio-economic risks -- including harm to non-target species, gene flow to wild relatives, resistance evolution, food-safety concerns, and reduced biodiversity.

While genetically modified organisms (GMOs) offer benefits such as pest resistance and improved yield, several risks are associated with their use. Ecologically, an introduced toxin (e.g., the Bt toxin in Bt cotton) may unintentionally harm non-target, beneficial organisms such as pollinators or natural predators of pests. The transgene can also 'escape' via cross-pollination into wild or weedy relatives of the crop (gene flow), potentially creating herbicide-resistant 'superweeds' or altering wild gene pools. Continuous exposure of pests to a single toxin can drive the evolution of resistant pest populations over time, reducing the long-term effectiveness of the GM trait. On the health side, there are concerns that a newly introduced protein in GM food could act as a novel allergen or have unforeseen toxic effects in consumers, requiring careful biosafety testing before approval. Large-scale adoption of a single high-yield GM variety can also reduce the genetic diversity of a crop species (since most farmers grow the one variety), making the crop …