posted on November 15, 2003 01:09:26 PM new
A scientist saying these things KNOWS he is lying. They are trying to push public acceptance of GM food by saying there is no difference between selection by breeding and full gene engineering.
It is simply not true. You can breed only fron that group of plants or animals that are fertile with the organism you want to modify.
It is fundamentally different when you can bring genes from poison ivy into tomatoes or even genes from an animal or bacteria into a green plant or visa versa. The potential for error and unexpected and lethal results are huge. Plants that produce toxins or have no natural enemy.
Also the moral questions of mixing species goes far beyond any trivial religious questions and strike at the heart of law and civilization.
Do you want to have people modified with animal genes and at what point does a person stop being human and become property?
These are questions the subject can not decide before they are created and so there is no way to give informed consent.
Should a person even be allowed to consent for their genetic material to be mixed with a wolf or a jelly fish? Can that be anything other than child abuse? It certainally is bestiality in a worse sense than any simple coupling since it produces offsping.
posted on November 15, 2003 01:43:05 PM new
"Selective breeding" and "genetically modified" are two different things. GM food have genes turned off or on, depending on the characteristic they want to achieve. In Africa, a GM breed of corn might be locust resistant, but if it breeds with non-resistant strains, it could result in another strain that could be even more harmful. Long term, these strains could affect the food chain.
posted on November 15, 2003 02:55:36 PM new
A real big lie! The use of GM food crops effects non-modified crops through cross pollination. Eventually great measures will have to be taken to maintain any non-modified crops, if they continue there present rate of cultivating of GM food crops. I read a article some time ago about tribe of native South American Indians which
grow 3 species of corn that are tailored for the climatic extremes in their area. By doing so they were insured that if several of the strains failed they would still manage some amount of yield, regardless of what weather conditions prevailed during any
particular growing season. Much to their surprise the ancient strains of corn now exhibit evidence of cross pollination from GM strains. Tinkering with the mechanism of evolution is a dangerous endeavor , which could prove disastrous
posted on November 15, 2003 09:43:21 PM new
Evolution...bah!!! An evil lie created by the atheist-pinko-humanist-liberal-anti-american-Dixie-Chicks-Demon-crats!!!
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In this world of sin and sorrow, there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican. -- H.L. Mencken
posted on November 15, 2003 09:49:09 PM new
What was that old Steven King novel where everyone was crapping purple from some kind of sinister food additive, while the smiling Tee-Vee announcer kept holding up a box of the food saying "nothing wrong here!"....
GM agricultural products may or may not be a threat to the health of humans directly, but there is little doubt that they are a dire threat to the healthy diversity of species on this planet....people who don't mind GM food are the same people who eat cheese that comes in spray cans.....
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In this world of sin and sorrow, there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican. -- H.L. Mencken
posted on November 16, 2003 06:32:56 AM new
I am glad to see some people on this board are seeing that the FDA is not protecting consumers.
No real research was ever done on gm plants
before they were placed on the market.
Genetically modifed plants for "Pharming" was brought to court Wednesday. There will probably be more "reports" from scientists on the network news this week to combat the lawsuit below.
It has been shown that pollen can travel many many miles. Having crops planted for cheap medicines even within 10 miles of other plants is stupid.
I feel very sorry for farmers who listened to Monsanto and Dow and planted gm crops whether for food or medicine. Their lands are now contaminated and will probably face lawsuits as farmers of traditional and organic acres file lawsuits. I know I would
sue to spot contamination if my crops were going to be "infected" by gm farms in my county.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
By Randy Fabi, Reuters
WASHINGTON — A coalition of environmental groups and consumer advocates sued the U.S. Agriculture Department in federal court Wednesday to try to halt the experimental planting of biotech crops engineered to make medicine.
[snip]
Biotech companies like Dow Chemical Co. and Monsanto Co. have experimented with corn, soybeans, tobacco, rice, and sugar crops as a cheaper way to mass-produce medicines to treat a range of human ailments.
The coalition, which includes Friends of the Earth and the Center for Food Safety, accused the USDA of allowing the experimental crops to be planted in open fields without assessing the risk to other crops, wildlife, and humans.
[snip]
Before field-testing pharmaceutical crops, biotech companies must obtain a USDA permit that sets strict planting requirements to minimize environmental risks. This includes planting experimental crops at certain distances away from other crops and cleaning farm equipment.
A Monsanto spokesman said the company has decided to shut down its plant-made pharmaceuticals program to cut costs and focus its resources on its seeds and biotechnology businesses. The St. Louis-based company said it expects to complete the process by the end of the year.
In March, the USDA imposed tougher rules on planting industrial and pharmaceutical crops after a Texas biotech firm was accused of accidentally contaminating other crops. Privately held ProdiGene Inc. last year agreed to pay about $3 million to settle the matter.
