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Mystery #1Tier 2genetics / food

What does it mean when food is called genetically modified?

You may have heard of 'genetically modified' food, or 'GM' for short. It sounds a bit mysterious, maybe even a little scary. In Britain you would have to look hard to find any: no GM crops are grown here commercially, though plenty of GM maize and soya is fed to farm animals. So what does it actually mean, and why would anyone bother?

A field of young green maize plants growing in rows, with hedgerow trees along the far edge under a pale sky.
Photo: Christine Johnstone · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

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