There is one extremely simple [1], unequivocally positive GMO success story: Rainbow papaya in Hawaii [2,3]. In the 90s, papaya ringspot virus was about to wip

There is one extremely simple [1], unequivocally positive GMO success story: Rainbow papaya in Hawaii [2,3]. In the 90s, papaya ringspot virus was about to wipe out papaya cultivation from Hawaii. Scientist (the leading scientist was Hawaiian born even) transferred a gene from the virus to a cultivar of papaya, making the cultivar resistant to the virus. Hawaiians have been happily producing papaya ever since. But still the general anti-science, anti-GMO sentiment is strong. Banning GMOs seems to be the fashionable thing to do. So in 2013 the main island in Hawaii banned the cultivation of any GMO crop [4]. Except the papaya. They have been safely growing and eating GMO papayas for 20 years, and growing papaya is economically important to them. But with some cognitive dissonance they can still jump on the "GMOs are dangerous" bandwagon, and ban all other GMO crops. Talk about hypocrisy. [1] There are other successes, but their stories are more complicated. For example herbicide tolerant cultivars are usually 'good', considering that they facilitate switching from more toxic herbicides to less toxic, but the story is more complicated, and can be quite easily attacked by a populist demagogue. [2] http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/papaya-gmo-success-story.html http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/pap... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering_in_Hawaii#Papaya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering_in_Hawaii#... [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering_in_Hawaii#Local_government_action https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering_in_Hawaii#...