We want to share an important development – and to explain why our fight goes well beyond questions of food safety or agriculture and strikes at the heart of preserving fragile ecosystems and environmental integrity.
Our recent X thread highlighted that the unregulated release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is not just a matter of what ends up on our plates. It’s a matter of what ends up in our rivers, woodlands, pollinator populations and soil microbiomes. These ecosystems are already under strain from climate change, habitat loss, pollution and invasive species. GMOs, especially when released without stringent oversight, introduce risks that are poorly understood and potentially irreversible.
UK scientists have recently announced they are developing a “superfood” supplement for honeybees made from genetically modified yeast. On paper, this is meant to improve honeybee health and boost reproduction. This supplement, say the scientists, would allow bees to continue to produce valuable honey without the need for flowers as a food source.
Honeybee diets are naturally diverse, while these genetically engineered supplements focus only on a few key nutrients aimed at improving productivity. In a very real sense, these GMO supplements could indirectly ‘re-engineer’ the bees’ gut flora (microbiome). Indeed, scientists are currently experimenting with directly re-engineering the gut bacteria of honeybees to improve their immunity and resistance to pathogens.
Because bees constantly exchange microbes with flowers, this could also alter the microbiomes of wild plants and other bees, reshaping pollinator–plant interactions across whole landscapes. In other words, what begins as a lab experiment for commercially managed honeybees could ripple outward into every meadow, hedgerow and woodland that depends on pollination.
And honeybees are just the start (read more here). In the name of ‘conservation’, biotech developers in the UK and elsewhere are also proposing the release of genetically engineered trees, grasses, squirrels, frogs and even seaweeds and corals. Each of these organisms belongs to a unique and fragile ecosystem and the introduction of engineered genes could have cascading effects that we cannot predict or control.
Under current UK law, the Genetic Technology Act 2023 and its secondary regulations extend to environmental releases, human food and animal feed. There are no requirements for environmental risk assessments, labelling or monitoring before the environmental release of genetically modified precision-bred organisms. In short, our government has opened the door to the deliberate or accidental release of GMOs into the wild without safeguards.
Meanwhile, as we highlight in another X thread, in the government’s recently released Good Food Cycle plan for healthy and sustainable food, 7 of the 10 priority outcomes depend on genetic modification (“precision breeding”) to be achieved.
We are fighting for robust regulatory oversight, stricter environmental impact assessments, transparency and legal precedents that ensure ecosystem preservation and that the interests and opinions of the public are at the core of decisions about GMO releases.
Every donation, large or small, brings us closer to our goal. Your support isn’t just protecting what we eat – it’s protecting what we share: water, soil, air, wild species, pollinators and landscapes.
Change begins with awareness. If this matters to you, please consider donating to our case and sharing our campaign with others who also feel strongly about these issues.