- [!] Status - status-updated:: completed 2021-08-07 The line between “artificial” and “natural” is a blurry one; the target moves depending on the discussion being had, and the vast majority of the time I find that people debating whether something is “natural” or “artificial” are talking about something that ultimately doesn’t matter to the core issue they are upset about. The danger of genetically modified organisms isn’t that it’s “unnatural” to genetically modify organisms. Humans have been genetically modifying plants and animals since the Neolithic era, and it’s an open question whether we’re the ones who initiated the process. It’s entirely possible that wolves were the ones driving the domestication process—and humans aren’t the only ones who have formed unique relationships with wolves. Ravens and wolves get along even when the wolf has never seen a raven before and was raised exclusively by humans; the symbiotic relationship between them seems almost instinctive. While it would be a mistake to consider the relationship between wolves and ravens “domestication,” the relationship between ants and aphids has resulted in something that is pretty clearly an ant-caused change in the genetic makeup of aphids. The main advantage ants offer to aphids is that they reduce competition for the aphids by getting rid of the “untended” aphids from an area. Aphid species that are “tended” (read: farmed for their honeydew) by ants have longer mouthparts, shorter cornicles, and winglessness. This corresponds with how domesticated plants like corn or wheat wind up with bigger grains, and animals tend to wind up with less sexual dimorphism (which is to say, bulls get smaller). So are ants unnatural? Whether a particular type of food has been “processed” or not is less important (most of the time processed food is being discussed) than its actual health impacts. [Organ meat that has been “processed” via heating has probably lost some of its nutrients](https://newsletter.eleanorkonik.com/scurvy/) %% ( [[2021-06-08 Scurvy]] ) %% but for most people, the trade-offs — like living in a society with a [relatively low infant mortality rate](https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past) — is worth it. A tablespoon of high-fructose corn syrup in a daily menu that is balanced and homemade from local farm ingredients probably has fewer negative health impacts than a diet consisting exclusively of, say, raw fruit even if it comes from a local organic farm. To be clear, I’m not saying that “avoid processed sugars” is bad advice; a lot of good rules of thumb are convenient oversimplifications and there’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s something we should be aware of, because as Madame says, scientists tend to push the boundaries of what we consider normal. Is it normal for a dog to primarily eat grain? Chinese dogs 9,000 years ago ate diets of up to 90% millet, a type of grain. They didn’t suffer from this diet; they had a bunch of copies of the amylase gene, which encodes the enzyme for digesting starch. It’s no more “unnatural” for dogs to eat grain than it is for humans to drink cow’s milk, which is to say, some people do have negative impacts from a dairy-heavy diet, and _that’s_ what we should be looking out for. I do believe that there probably are some dangers to genetically modified organisms—the same way that there was danger to using degerminator machines to dry-mill corn. Pellagra is a dietary disease, similar to scurvy, that is caused by a diet with too much cornmeal and not enough niacin. Also known as “vitamin B3,” niacin helps the body maintain its blood sugar, process fats, make new DNA. Without it, people lose their appetites, get irritable, and start vomiting. If pellagra gets bad enough, people’s mouths and tongues get inflamed and they wind up with scaly red rashes on their hands and neck. It became really common in the poor rural parts of the American South after the invention of industrial degerminator machines sped up corn processing at the cost of niacin levels. This process made it possible to export _bunches_ of corn from the Midwest without it going bad, at prices that made it very appealing to Southern land barons. In a story that’s depressingly similar to the tale of [scurvy](https://newsletter.eleanorkonik.com/scurvy/) %% ( [[2021-06-08 Scurvy]] ) %%, it took heroic efforts to convince people that pellagra was a _dietary_ disease and not an epidemic caused by poor sanitation or hygiene or what-have-you. It’s not that milled corn is inherently evil or somehow unnatural. The invention of the conical stone mortar 12,500 years ago allowed humans to de-husk cereal grains to grind fine flour for breadmaking. Bread is great! [Highly portable, long-lasting, and high in calories, it was incredibly important to the rise of early civilization](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/our-14-400-year-old-relationship-with-bread/). But there can be unintended consequences from scientific advancements, especially in a world that is unwilling to listen to medical advice from “elite” sources they dislike—like many Southern doctors during the pellagra epidemic. Milled cornmeal can absolutely be mixed with vitamin B3 supplements, and diets high in corn can be supplemented with other foods with lots of vitamin B3, like chicken or peanuts. Yet, it’s pretty easy to see how a group of people might come to stop trusting scientists, inventors and even governments who invent things like egg-laying cows. How sure could you be that cow-eggs aren’t missing some vital nutrient? Enough mistakes, enough public outrage, and it’s easy to see how genetically modifying organisms might get outlawed, even if humans have been doing this kind of thing for tens of thousands of years. ## Further Reading - [Tamed by Alice Roberts](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1112946/tamed/9781786090010.html) is a nice overview of the history of domestication. I’m only about a chapter and a half in but I’ve learned so much new stuff about wolves and grain that I feel comfortable recommending it anyway. - [A Storytelling of Ravens by Betty Coon Wheelwright](https://doi.org/10.1080/19342039.2013.759022) has a bunch of fascinating information about the relationship between ravens and people throughout history. - Sarah Taber has an [amazing thread on Twitter](https://twitter.com/SarahTaber_bww/status/1413328817863659529) about the history of pellagra in the American south and how it was caused by an institutionalized diet. Sarah Taber is the scientist who inspired my piece on the [American Chestnuts](https://newsletter.eleanorkonik.com/cat-and-wolf/) %% ( [[2021-07-21 Cat and Wolf]] ) %% and I highly recommend reading the thread for some eye-opening history about why a whole bunch of people in the American South have good reasons not to trust government-mandated diets. [This article](https://www.southernfoodways.org/malnourished-cultural-ignorance-paved-the-way-for-pellagra/) from Southern Foodways touches on the topic as well, but it’s a little less scathing if you prefer reading things in a neutral academic tone.