WILL: Spider goat, spider goat, does whatever a spider goat does! GARRETT: Once upon a time, Peter Parker the goat was bitten by a radioactive spider! WILL: Then he became SPIDER GOAT!!! The most incredible superhero of all time!

Just Kidding! GREGORY: Just kidding! That would be cool though.

GARRETT: Spider goat is a real animal though GARRETT: Spider goat is a real animal though! Just not exactly a superhero. WILL: Spider goat is actually a genetically modified goat.

GREGORY: What does ‘genetically modified’ mean?

GARRETT: Well, genetic modification is a form of artificial selection GARRETT: Well, genetic modification is a form of artificial selection. This is when humans select which plants or animals to breed in order to pass on specific traits to the next generation. WILL: For example, if someone wanted a dog with brown fur and floppy ears, they would breed two dogs with these characteristics together to get it. GARRETT: Or, you can grow crops with certain things put in the seeds to make it grow a certain way.

GREGORY: Oh! I get it now! So how does this apply to spidergoat again?

WILL: The spidergoat itself isn’t actually any different from a regular goat. But, it’s milk is genetically modified in order to later turn the milk into silk. GARRETT: Yeah, what he said.

GREGORY: Well, is the spider goat the only genetically modified thing? WILL: Not even close! There are a lot of common foods that we eat that are genetically modified. GREGORY: Like what?

GENETICALLY MODIFIED PLANTS Corn Squash Sugar Beets Cotton Soybean GARRETT: Like corn, squash, sugar beets, cotton, and a hole bunch of other crops. GREGORY: What about animals?

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ANIMALS Cattle Pigs Sheep Dogs foxes WILL: Let’s see, there’s cows, chicken, pigs, sheep, dogs. And that’s just to name a few. The world is full of all sorts of genetically modified animals and crops!

GREGORY: Wow! I never knew science could be this cool!

GARRETT: The more you know.