Pathos In William Saletan's Are Gmos Safe?

In William Saletan’s “Are GMOs Safe? Yes. The case against them is full of lies, fraud and errors”, the truth about GMOs is discussed and explored. In his argument Saletan effectively uses pathos, ethos, and logos. To accomplish this, he lists the many incredibly applications of GMOs (logos), tells the story of the Golden Rice GMO (pathos), and speaks of the research he put into his work (ethos).
In Saletan’s work we read that “the USDA’s catalog of recently engineered plants shows plenty of worthwhile GMO options, (yet people still oppose these brilliant plant modifications). The list of potential GMOs includes drought-tolerant corn, virus-resistant plums, non-browning apples (you will soon have access to this GMO), potatoes with fewer natural toxins, and soybeans that produce less
saturated fat. A recent global inventory by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization discusses other projects in the future, such as virus-resistant beans, heat-tolerant sugarcane, salt-tolerant wheat, disease-resistant cassava, high-iron rice, and cotton that requires less nitrogen fertilizer. Skim the news, and you’ll find scientists at work on more ambitious ideas such as high calcium carrots, antioxidant tomatoes, non-allergenic nuts, bacteria resistant oranges, water conserving wheat, corn and cassava loaded with extra nutrients and flax-like plant that produces the healthy oils formerly available only in fish.” (Saletan) In writing this, Saletan uses logos, he tells about future GMOs, and there incredible changes from non-GMO plants. Most notably, he talks about the non-allergenic nut GMO, which would make it so that those with nut allergies would be able to have GMO nuts.
In addition to effectively using logos, Saletan uses pathos to persuade readers about the validity, and truth of his argument.
One of the greatest examples of logos in his argument is when he tells the story of the Golden Rice GMO. Saletan wrote: “Right now, across the world, a quarter of a billion preschool-age children are suffering from vitamin A deficiency. Every year, 250,000 to 500,000 of these kids go blind. Within a year, half of the blinded children will die. Much of the affliction is in Southeast Asia, where people rely on rice for their nutrition. Unfortunately, rice doesn’t have enough beta carotene—the compound that, when digested, produces vitamin A. About twenty-five years ago, a team of scientists set out to solve this problem. Their plan was to engineer a new kind of rice that would make beta carotene. (Make a GMO that caused rice to produce Vitamin A) This was a sustainable solution. It would use biotechnology to prevent suffering, disability, and death. In 1999, they created the world’s first beta carotene rice by transferring genes from both daffodils and bacteria. The yellow grains became known as “Golden Rice.” (Saletan) Clearly, GMOs can better the lives of
many.
In this argument Saletan successfully uses pathos. He notes that this Project shows just one of the many incredible potential applications of GMOs. If third world countries planted golden rice, there would be a significantly decreased rate of death in countries afflicted with vitamin A deficiency. However, golden rice is unfortunately no longer available due to the actions of Anti-GMO groups. Anti-GMO groups have inadvertently caused the blindness and/or deaths of many due to their actions against golden rice. By continuing to oppose GMOs there can be, and has been, disastrous consequences. GMOs improve the general quality of life for many people; they decrease the rate of death and they provide people with what they need. Yet, society is still restricting the creation and use of GMOs. In his essay, Saletan showed that opposition to GMOs leads to many issues and complications, both big and small.
In conclusion, GMOs are safe. The evidence is very clear that GMOs provide a net benefit for humanity. In regards to labeling them, I personally think that labeling confuses people about what is safe and what is not. I think that if we require GMO labeling, people will think that there is something officially dangerous about GMOs. There are many incredible applications for GMOs. If GMOs, such as Golden Rice GMO were made, there would be a significantly decreased rate of death in countries afflicted with vitamin A deficiency. Unfortunately, however, we do not have this, or many other good GMOs, due to the actions of Anti-GMO groups. By allowing the creation and use of GMOs, there would be many beneficial products available to the world. But, without them, we are doing a great disservice to humanity. “The war against genetically modified organisms is full of fear-mongering, errors, and fraud. Labeling them will not make you safer.” (Saletan)