“The human mind comprises evolved intuitions that shape and constrain cultural preferences. In the case of GMOs, folk biology, religious intuitions, and emotions such as disgust leave the mind readily seduced by representations of GMOs as abnormal or toxic.”

- Blancke, S., F. Van Breusegem, G. De Jaeger, J. Braeckman, and M. Van Montagu. 2015. Fatal attraction: the intuitive appeal of GMO opposition. Trends in Plant Science 20:414–418.

"We have reviewed the scientific literature [1783 studies] on GE crop safety for the last 10 years that catches the scientific consensus matured since GE plants became widely cultivated worldwide, and we can conclude that the scientific research conducted so far has not detected any significant hazard directly connected with the use of GM crops."

- Nicolia,A.,Manzo,A.,Veronesi,F.,and Rosellini,D.(2014). An overview of the last 10 years of genetically engineered crop safety research. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology. 34, 77–88. doi:10.3109/07388551.2013.823595

“Golden Rice has not yet been approved in any country, including India. According to our calculations, the delay over the last 10 years has caused losses of at least 1,424,680 life years for India, ignoring indirect health costs of VAD [vitamin A deficiency].”

- Wesseler, J. and Zilberman, D. (2014) The economic power of the Golden Rice opposition. Environment and Development Economics 19, 724–742

“Overall, the review finds that currently commercialized GM crops have reduced the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity, through enhanced adoption of conservation tillage practices, reduction of insecticide use and use of more environmentally benign herbicides and increasing yields to alleviate pressure to convert additional land into agricultural use.”

- Janet E. Carpenter (2011) Impact of GM crops on biodiversity, GM Crops, 2:1, 7-23

Bottom line: Widespread adoption of GM crops would save millions of lives and protect the environment. It would help us adapt to climate change by increasing the resilience of crops, while contributing to climate change mitigation by freeing up land for reforestation. Opposition to GMOs in general or as a matter of principle is irrational and based on deep-seated biases in the human psyche.