GMO irony

[triplepurpose]

Huh? Nobody mentioned hybrids. If you are talking about today's breeds or strains of animals and grains, yes, some are hybrids but all are genetically modified from a (or multiple) common ancestor(s) through mutation and selection over hundreds or thousands of years for traits deemed desirable. And some, round up ready grains, for better or worse, just had that process sped up.

See, the problem I see with the argument you're making is that on the one hand you seem quick to accuse certain other people (who seem to have concerns about GE technology and its application) of spreading unscientific inaccuracies or misinformation. But meanwhile you insist on fudging the facts yourself by deliberately obscuring and ignoring the differences between genetic engineering and conventional breeding (which are demonstrably totally different processes, as anyone who does them can tell you) by calling both "genetic modification" as if there was no difference whatsoever! Which just sounds like propaganda, not a healthy debate.

If you think genetic engineering is a great thing, that's a perfectly respectable viewpoint (shared by many) and open for discussion. But please don't muddy the waters with semantic propaganda, especially if you're going to hold other people to higher standards than yourself. Fair enough?

Personally, I've always been somewhat skeptical of GE, mostlly because of the way it's been put to use, rather than the principles behind it. It could be used--with great care and caution--to great benefit. Sadly, though, it seems like a lot of the big seed companies involved in their development have racked up a pretty sorry track record of exploitation (of people and environments), intimidation of farmers and local governments attempting to regulate their operations, pollution of traditional varieties and damage to organic farmers from genetic trespass (and perverse litigation against those farmers). And they've had a pretty easy time of it here in the US because of lack of genuine third party (government) oversight, which has further eroded the public's trust in their motives and integrity. Further, much of the grand, much-touted benefits that it was supposed to provide for the common good (such as reduced need for pesticides and fertilizers, higher yields, etc.) have often failed to be realized in real world application.

There is potential for great good in GE, sure. But in the real world, what sounds great in the lab can quickly get messy if it isn't managed carefully. GE should be approached very carefully to avoid contaminating other varieties through open pollination and to mitigate any unforseen negative consequences. But it largely hasn't been handled this way. And unfortunately, there are a lot of issues with this technology being wielded so cavalierly by companies with a need to deliver profits, a lot of financial clout, and very little oversight, regulation, or restriction--acknowledging that doesn't make one a conspiracy nut, or anti-science.

FYI I live in HI. Three of our counties are currently being sued by GE seed companies (struck down, in appeal now) over attempts to restrict their wild-west operations (esp RUPs spraying) in the state. You can look it up for more info, I won't detail here...

 

[Cindy in PA]

Whoever loves GMOs, please use them all! Label them for the rest of us so we can make a choice. You are trying to convince those of us that know better. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[triplepurpose]

Whoever ​loves GMOs, please use them all!  Label them for the rest of us so we can make a choice.  You are trying to convince those of us that know better. Ignorance is bliss.

i would like to see it labelled, but also to know what ingredients were engineered for and how so people can actually make informed decisions (tho that is a lot to ask from a label). as a farmer, i would also like to ensure that open pollinated, non ge genetic commons are protected from contamination.

fundamentally, if producers think its a good thing, great--but then its up to them to sell it to consumers honestly. but sneaking it into stuff without telling people, because you think you know whats better for consumers than they do, is just cynically paternalistic, shady, and undemocratic.

 

[MeepBeep]

There's nothing "foreign" in GMO items, it's just genes that have been moved around artificially.

To be more specific GMO requires that a controlled and precise DNA gene splicing technique was used, on the other hand if you pump a seed or plant full of this or that radiation to mutate it or mutate it some other way like soaking it in a toxic slurry the mutated results can still and are regularly deemed organic still and is not considered a GMO even though it's genes have been mutated and altered randomly by some laboratory process, just not gene splicing... http://farmwars.info/why-are-mutagenesis-and-cell-fusion-acceptable-in-usda-organic-seed-production/

And ironically the Bt protein that is spliced into many GMO crops is also sprayed and/or injected into/on organic crops as a regular approved organic pesticide... Heck the entire Bt live bacteria is commonly injected into organic vine crops so the bacteria grows inside the plant and produces the Bt proteins...

It's also funny to hear people complain about GMO cross contamination while they ignore and/or are totally oblivious to cross contamination happening from many other engineered and genetically mutated 'organic' crops that have been altered in a lab as well but by a different and random process that allows them to still be organic...

Fact is most people are oblivious to what organic actually means and encompasses in reality... So yes ignorance is bliss, point proven when they conduct surveys of people asking whey they choose organic and the first words out of their mouths is 'Because it's chemical free' and that is something organic simply is not, there is a long list of chemicals that are approved for organic crops, many of them quite toxic and dangerous... https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~lhom/organictext.html

 

[Buckley22]

search youtube for"Seeds of Death" watch it, then tell me what you think

 

[Buckley22]

www.geneticrouelette.com

 

[Buckley22]

www.geneticrouelette.com

 

[Birdy Buddy]

There are a lot of myths and misinformation about genetic engineering that are spread by those that make money by instilling fear. Organic is no longer the truck farmer at the farmers market. Now it's "Big Organic" that has only money to gain by vilifying biotech so they can sell their stuff at a much higher price.
Most cheese is made with GMO enzymes instead of rennet from slaughtered calve's fourth stomach. Somehow cheese does not have to be labeled GMO. If you are diabetic your insulin is GMO. Now we don't have to harvest insulin from cadavers anymore.
The truth is that farmers buy the stuff that makes them money with the highest yields and with fewer pesticide applications. No one is forcing farmers to buy GE seeds. Monsanto makes stuff that farmers want and that's how they make business. Bt and roundup ready crops allow farmers to use LESS pesticides. Glyphosate, (Roundup) is by far less toxic than many other herbicides available. It breaks down readily and uses less than a soda can of volume per acre.
Most "GMO" crops are for animal feed. There is no GMO wheat or sweet corn or tomatoes available. Most GMO corn and soy are grown for animal feed.
Because farmers prefer to grow GMO sugar beets the organic sugar is all cane sugar. Cane sugar crops are burned between harvests dumping millions of tons of carbon in the air. Sugar beet sugar is sucrose too and is a more sustainable crop but fear of GMOs make it taboo.
The organic milk industry is buying up all the organic feed and that competes with organic chicken food. Organic milk is more than twice the cost of regular milk. It must be ultra pasteurized so it is more processed too.
Organic is over rated. No GMO ever made any one or any animal sick. GMOs are simply a gene that is a string of amino acids that is wholly digestible. The Bt and roundup ready genes are just strings of ACGT that code for a protein in the DNA. It is not some evil built in pesticide like you hear all over the internet.
Before genetic engineering, plant breeders tried everything from chemical mutagens and radiation to find mutant strains to breed. It was willy nilly but that was considered organic. Most food we eat is unrecognizable from it's wild cousin.

 

[MeepBeep]

Before genetic engineering, plant breeders tried everything from chemical mutagens and radiation to find mutant strains to breed.  It was willy nilly but that was considered organic.  Most food we eat is unrecognizable from it's wild cousin.  

It's not just before GMO, chemical mutagens and radiation/nuclear mutagens are still quire popular and they are AOK to be labeled organic in many places as long as the newly created mutated plants are grown organically...

BASF, Dupont and even the very demonized Monsanto are all highly active in creating new mutagenic plants to avoid the GMO stigma but still get the same results...

 

[chickchick56]

I don't believe science and technology will ever be the same.. joy ...just can't change some people's minds by giving get them actual facts