[gnaffle]

It's not so much that it's intrinsically bad, but just like with new, man-made chemical compounds that has never existed before, there's a possibility that there are adverse effects that we can't anticipate and won't be apparent for many years to come. After all the experience we've had with persistent pollutants, I think we're right to be cautious.

[sampo]

> "new, man-made chemical compounds that has never existed before"

GMO cultivars usually do not contain new, man-made chemical compounds.

For example, Golden Rice contain beta carotene (occurs naturally in e.g. carrots).

The virus resistant Hawaiian Rainbow Papaya contains a protein from the virus' capsid, effective "vaccinating" the plants, resulting in virus resistance.

Bt Cotton contains a chemical from Bacillus thuringiensis, a common bacterium in soils, that is harmful to pest insects.

[gnaffle]

If you had taken the time to also read the words preceding your quote, "but just like with new,", you would have realized that I was making a comparison instead of believing I was making the claim that GMOs include new, man-made chemicals.

New, man-made chemicals aren't intrinsically bad. But based on past experience, we are right to be cautious because we can't always anticipate their effects, the effects can take a long time to become apparent and they can be impossible to eliminate (like with PCBs).