GMO
Americanabbreviation
abbreviation
Usage
What is a GMO? GMO is an abbreviation for genetically modified organism. A GMO is any living thing that has had its genetics altered through genetic engineering.Typically, a GMO is created by first inserting a gene into the DNA of a single cell of an organism. Next, the scientist will stimulate the growth of this cell so that it quickly replicates. Eventually, the cell will replicate to such a point that all of the organism’s cells contain the modified gene that was originally inserted.A GMO can be any living thing, from a bacteria to a cow. The GMOs that most people are familiar with are genetically modified crops. Farmers will grow corn or other crops that have been modified to be resistant to chemicals like herbicides or have been modified to repel insects. GMOs can be appealing to farmers because they are easier to grow and can lower farmers’ costs.Besides plants, organisms such as bacteria and farm animals have been turned into GMOs. Bacteria have been modified to produce helpful chemicals such as insulin, and farm animals have had their genes modified to protect them from deadly diseases that would endanger large groups of animals.
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A high percentage of food crops, such as corn and soybeans, are genetically modified.
Etymology
Origin of GMO
First recorded in 1985–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That’s the view of legendary investor Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of Boston-based GMO and author of the recent Wall Street memoir The Making of a Permabear.
From Barron's
That’s the view of legendary investor Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of Boston-based GMO and author of the recent Wall Street memoir The Making of a Permabear.
From Barron's
Mr. Grantham, a co-founder and longtime investment strategist at the Boston-based money-management firm GMO, can be said to have dug the ruts and potholes on his own bumpy road.
And he describes the sometimes harrowing volatility of GMO’s own business history; indeed, the adventures and misadventures of his firm take center stage in this investment saga, as well they might.
Refusing to believe it, GMO gave wide berth to the high-tech darlings of the day but instead bought such bubble-market castoffs as high-dividend-paying real-estate investment trusts.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.