genetically altered meat birds

[Poler]

I know that we are doing this so we can get a larger, easier animal.

But theres got to be something said about god. If he would have wanted things to be like that, then he would have made it that way. Who are we to mess with that.

Selective breeding is one thing, but genetic engineering something... thats another.

 

[silkiechicken]

Genetic engineering is selective breeding. Selective breeding is where it started. Putting genes from a different animal into another animal is genetic engineering resulting in a TRANSGENIC animal. I think there is a huge divide in knowedge between the scientific community and the rest of the public, and I think scientists are taken for granted and blamed for anything that goes wrong and nothing the goes right.

I mean, "scientists" created a type of celery that was resistant to blight but unfortunately caused chemical burns to people who touched the juices. Guess what, it was done via selective breeding and because it was not "genetically altered" nobody tested the plant for safety. Sometimes ones with their genes touched can be safer.

It is like how phramecuticals are blamed on deaths and bad drugs. If tynol or advil was tested to todays standards, they would have NEVER been approved for general use. They kill more than most prescription drugs which have been pulled for being "dangerous".

I think I'll stop here.

 

[AnthonyT]

Genetically altered animals and plants are not being made to make the world a better place, they are being made to make rich companies richer and give them a tighter hold over the market. Big agribusiness has the goal of totally enslaving the farmer. Ever wonder why Monsanto made round-up ready beans? It wasn't to produce more food for the wolrd, it was so farmers would use more round-up on their crops. Every farmer I know that uses round-up ready crops sprays the hell out of them. More money for Monsanto. It won't be any different with gene altered animals. The fact that they don't have to label GMO foods is a crock of bull feces. But the genie is out of the bottle and the man-altered genomes will now be with us for a long, long time. And yes, I am a biologist so I do have a very good understanding about what GMO is and how it is done. In the lab it is great and interesting, unleashed into the ecosystem it is not such a great idea.

 

[Bossroo]

Breeding a female horse to a male donkey is breeding 2 different species that produces a mule. Each has a totaly different number of chromasomes and genes and produces a viable offspring. The mule is sterile but a great beast of burden. This breeding has been practiced since prehistoric times. So, should we ban this practice too?

 

[paduanchook]

i dont think we eat the mules do we? I dont want to be the test subject to foods that are not natural and CANNOT happen in nature. Come on, how can u compare that with something that is invented in a test tube and called food. You can only mess with mother nature for so long with out repurcutions.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Your first statement, sorry, that's incorrect. Genetic engineering is not selective breeding at all. How do you get fish genes in a strawberry by breeding? Spider genes in a goat? These things are real, google them. BT, the bacteria used to kill corn borers, did not breed with the corn. I'm all in favor of killing corn borers, but not this way. The results are too unpredictable.

Given that your first statement was wrong, I don't know if you're correct about the celery. Do you have a source you can site for that info?

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Actually, no, it isn't being done to produce a larger, easier animal. If only it were that benign, even if misguided.

It's being done so that Monsanto can patent the genes and own all the food sources on the planet. The goal is to prevent anybody from growing or selling or buying food that they don't own the rights to. This is one of the many reasons that sustainability is such a big deal to so many of us. We want to retain the right to grow, breed, and consume our own food.

 

[jjparke]

Greyfields is definitely right. This is copyrighted material. This is from a blog I saw over a year ago that I think has even been linked here. Cornish x are just selectively bred not altered. Don't like it either way? Just breed your own. Or you can copy someone else like paduanchook did.

 

[Beekissed]

Selective breeding is utilizing genetics of a particular species to develop certain traits, genetic altering is...well, altering or changing genes by splicing and adding genes of another species, to develop particular traits. Not quite the same. Very unpredictable and maybe disastrous results for the other creatures that may exist in a symbiotic relationship with these creatures or plants.

Now, if one produced a naked chicken and bred for this trait and produced a breed of chickens that would not need plucking...this is called selective breeding. These are still chickens and would not likely have any serious mutation of the cellular structuring and general health of the species, other than those already specific to chickens.

If a scientist spliced a gene from the naked mole rat into the genes of a chicken to produce a breed of chickens that didn't need plucked..this is gene modification. These chickens may very well develop genetic changes, or even diseases, specific to mole rats. They may no longer be able to develop antibodies for chicken specific diseases, only for mole rat diseases. Or unable to develop antibodies for either species-specific illness. This is just one example of the anomalies that may occur when doing trans-species gene splicing. There are many more severe consequences possible.

See the difference?

 

[quercus21]

First, I must admit that I am not geneticist nor do I work for any type of lab etc. I play with networks and computers. These are my thoughts, opinions and interpretation of genetically altered food.

I have been interacting and consuming genetically altered items since birth. I have owned (bad word) and grown up with German shepherds and Chocolate Labs, both of which are totally different dogs, from their personality to physical size. Both dogs have been bred (genetically altered) from ancestral wolves some say. I know of a farmer in our area that has breed his Angus cattle to have shorter legs and larger bodies. This was done outside of a test tube, but is this still considered genetically altered food? With regards to the Cornish X, I don't know 100% if they are a test tube product or bred this way. As with the majority of chickens, they all are a long way from their jungle fowl heritage.

Let's move on to tomatoes . Everyone is talking about the heirloom tomatoes: back to the basics, a true tomato, etc. Originally tomatoes were knowns as “Wolf Peaches”. From what I have read they are related to deadly nightshade and mandrake. They are a native plant of the Andes. They grew in the wild to about the size of knuckle. n#1 This is a far cry from a “Beef steak”.
n#1 Here is the source of the information: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/tomatoes

Here is another item mentioned “Transgenic”. From what I have just read, this type of genetic engineering has been going on since at least the 1930's in the USA. One of the major accomplishments
at that time was for wheat. n#2 A natural occurring process known as “Horizontal gene transfer” can occur between species. n#3 This is when genes of different species are transferred amongst each other.
n#2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenic_plants
n#3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenic_plants#Natural_movements_of_genes_between_species

I don't know if it is possible, but I would draw the line in eating genetically altered food if it is a cross between vegetables, fruit, insect , fish, mammals and or reptiles. I think evolution by mutation and selection is a naturally genetically altering process. I also don't believe in the use of steroids for animal enhancements. We as humans do benefit from the alteration of plants and animals. As I look out of the window at the neighbors orchards, I can see dwarfs, semi-dwarfs and standard size trees. These trees are also bred to reduce the need for pesticides by being insect and diseases resistant in some of the hybrid forms. In the future these pests and diseases will find a way to over come these defenses, I hope we are prepared. There will be a continuing growth in the human population that will have to be fed. I hope that the “new” and improved plants/animals are not rushed out into the market without research or testing.

In conclusion of this thread, I would like to say I have learned a lot.....something new and different.