Besides, we've been selectively breeding plants for better crop yield for hundreds of years - we're just much better at it today, and have better tools to work with.
The selective breeding that has been going on for decades has been using tens of thousands of genes; genetic modification that is currently going on involves inserting genes from other organisms that would otherwise never enter the human body. They've been working on Strawberries that would survive extreme cold by inserting genes from an Arctic Flounder into it; it's completely different than selective breeding between different types of corn
pesticides have nothing to do with genetically modified crops.
I've got two words for you:
Bacilus Thuringensis aka BT is a bacteria.
BT corn is corn that has been modified with a gene from Bacilus Thuringensis that allows it to produce it's own pesticide; however, because it produces it's own pesticide, the amount released cannot be controlled. Thus it kills all of the pests around, introducing new species of pests which fill the void.
BT is actually very specific in the pest it kills, though: caterpillars. However, as with all pesticides, the toxin that the BT corn emits only kills the weakest and middle portions of the pest population, leaving the strongest to survive and repopulate. This cycle repeats until you've got ultra-strong pests and ultra-deadly pesticides.
The biggest problem with GM food is that it is not labeled when it is in a product, as are other ingredients in foods, nor is it possible for it to be labeled due to how interspersed it already is in the food system of the world. Combine that with the fact that 76% of people who were interviewed said they had no idea they were being fed genetically modified crops, and you've got an angry public.
Monsanto, formerly a pesticide company and now a company whose main vice is genetic engineering for crops, created a type of corn that produced a toxin known as Cry9C. Cry9C was shown as a very probable allergen for humans, and thus, was only approved for animal use. However, 1/20 products in the supermarket that were tested had the corn that produced Cry9C in it. Countries around the world tested their products, and the Cry9C was found as far as South Korea and Great Britain.
There are many other cases such as this, but when groups such as Greenpeace threatened to present their findings, big brand-name companies pulled their products from the shelves.
Another problem with GM crops is pollen drift; pollen from the GM crops moves and, because of the superior genes, replaces the population of unmodified corn or other foods.
