Friday, January 24, is celebrated as National Peanut Butter Day. I'm a huge fan of peanut butter. I'm more of a crunchy fan over smooth, but I'll take it either way. For a while there a few brands even had extra-crunchy versions, which I loved!
Growing up, both peanuts and peanut butter were common snacks in schools: they were affordable, high in protein, and easy to serve. But somewhere along the way, children started developing an allergy to peanuts (and tree nuts, for that matter), so now peanuts and peanut butter are not as ubiquitous as they used to be.
But what if we had a way to modify the peanut so that it would not cause these life-threatening allergies? Research teams around the world are researching this theory. Whether through traditional breeding, gene editing, or through genetically modifying the nut, scientists see a problem they are trying to solve.
Celebrate National Peanut Butter Day by learning more about the various ways that GMO scientists are working to save lives in this resource page from GMO Answers. And while you're there, get facts about any GMO nuts (spoiler alert: there aren't any) along with information about other GMO crops on the market today.