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Exactly. Genetically increasing the muscle density of a chicken isn't going to kill you. Humans have genetically engineered foods for the past ten thousand years, but only in recent history have we actually done so with genetic precision.
Banana's, people, aren't naturally yellow.
My problem with GM foods isn't safety reasons, but political. GMOs are patentable. Monsato has made millions by crushing non corporate farmers, essentially non-Monsato farmers, by planting their crops in farms, and allowing nature to take place and cross breeding their GMOs with "natural" corn. Farmers would then have to pay the licensing fee for Monsato's corn, or be shut down and sued.
GM foods are on of the most heavily regulated food industries in the United States. I want to see GMOs stripped of their patent rights.
What I find interesting is that GM foods allow a biological approach to yields and problems, not a chemical one. Instead of pumping that chicken full of steroids, we can instead genetically engineer it to grow muscle in higher mass. Same result, nobody gets to complain about steroids.
There is nothing wrong with GM foods per se, but the politics surrounding them.
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Originally Posted by hammertime33
If an emeritus professor from Purdue University wrote that letter, then I'm the Queen of Mars.
I generally attempt to ascertain the veracity of a story based on which websites cite it. I look for major science news outlets. Needless to say, I haven't seen one yet reporting this pathogen that is unknown to science. (Side note: how do they know about it if it is unknown to science?)
Last time I checked, I don't merge DNA with something I just eaten.... last time I checked, there isn't anything toxic in GMO foods either... so while people may want organic food, that is a choice they can make on their own without trying to bring their OPINIONS on everyone else which is really what they want in the first place...
Yeah, except what will end up happening is that your side, powered by the FDA, will silence the OPINIONS of people like me by outlawing it and branding it as anti-science...and working together with big business grocery, they'll make sure that we can only eat the irradiated, genetically mutated, chemically processed things they define as "food" - all for the sake of their capitalistic pocketbooks.
To all of you who are to trusting of how this GMO thing will turn out...I invite you to remember how the FDA told you to cram your arteries with margarine and trans fats. How did that one turn out for you?
Yeah, except what will end up happening is that your side, powered by the FDA, will silence the OPINIONS of people like me by outlawing it and branding it as anti-science...and working together with big business grocery, they'll make sure that we can only eat the irradiated, genetically mutated, chemically processed things they define as "food" - all for the sake of their capitalistic pocketbooks. And it will be about as healthy as that margarine they told you to clog your arteries with.
Well, it is anti-science. You have one of the most heavily regulated food markets producing crops that can do more biologically than humans have ever been able to do chemically. There is nothing inherently dangerous about genetic manipulation, particularly those mutations which increase yield.
You're entitled to your opinion, even if it is stupid. As for food being irradiated--uh, what? As noted before, you genetic material doesn't spontaneously mash-up with whatever you're eating--you don't become what you eat, no matter how many after-school specials you watch, so if you're "franken-food" fears are based on that...well, god help you.
The levels of radiation--if at all present--could never surpass what you get from an x-ray. People get more radiation from flying than they do from dentist visits. Also, you might not want to stand in direct sunlight. [1]
Highly recommend clicking that source. Very informative.
The purpose of GM foods is to reduce the use of chemical stimulants, pesticides, herbicides, etc. Interestingly, we've increased the total tonnage of herbicides used, but use less types of it. Progressing with the research and development of GM foods would be necessary to lower our need for it all together--a problem with herbicide and pesticide use, not the food itself. That's the entire biological benefit of controlled genetic mutation of these species. There is nothing wrong with the food itself, but rather, the politics of it.
We could definitely stand to regulate it. I'd like to see the patenting of genetics completely banned, perhaps the greatest (if not only, really) problem with GM foods, is that large corporations can (and have) sued others over infringement because if natural processes. That's a serious problem. The food itself? No.
it amazes me that people are worries about genetically modified food, but dont realize that they have been eating GM foods for decades, actually centuries. anytime you take a cutting from one plant and splice it to another, you are genetically modifying the plant. and many food bearing plants have been manipulated over the centuries, just like animals have been. the only real difference between what is done in the field, and what is done in the lab, is that the lab is doing the job directly at the gene level rather than at the more complex plant level.
You are completely wrong. What you described is not at all or in any way genetically engineered. Selective breeding or grafting are not genetically engineered. I suggest that you read up on the topic so that you can inform yourself on what it really is, what are the possible dangers of it and what are the benefits. Then you can come to some conclusions based of reality and not on unimformed opinion.
There is nothing wrong with GM foods per se, but the politics surrounding them.
I generally attempt to ascertain the veracity of a story based on which websites cite it. I look for major science news outlets. Needless to say, I haven't seen one yet reporting this pathogen that is unknown to science. (Side note: how do they know about it if it is unknown to science?)
Your opinion does not fact make either. GMO crops, especially those which are "Round-up ready" are believed to be one of the main causes for bee colony collapse. But I suspect Europe is just wrong, in your opinion, to be banning GMO crops and have no scientific proof behind their reasons either?
It would be downright ignorant not to acknowledge the power of Monsanto with our government buraucracies of the USDA and FDA. What Monsanto wants Monsanto gets, period.
It has never been proven beneficial to man or to wildlife to reduce the biological diversity of food sources; in fact, quite the opposite.
it amazes me that people are worries about genetically modified food, but dont realize that they have been eating GM foods for decades, actually centuries. anytime you take a cutting from one plant and splice it to another, you are genetically modifying the plant. and many food bearing plants have been manipulated over the centuries, just like animals have been. the only real difference between what is done in the field, and what is done in the lab, is that the lab is doing the job directly at the gene level rather than at the more complex plant level.
I have no problem with grafting, but I am leery of recombinant DNA, especially when it is used to introduce pesticide into the organism.
These links are not from hard scientific articles, but they do reference articles.
What is more disturbing however is that Monsanto evidently wants complete control of all seeds used by farmers. If GM seeds blow over to the next farm and that farmer, who did not purchase the GM seeds, uses seeds from his own farm, he becomes liable to Monsanto for the use of the GM which he didn't want in the first place.
What is more disturbing however is that Monsanto evidently wants complete control of all seeds used by farmers. If GM seeds blow over to the next farm and that farmer, who did not purchase the GM seeds, uses seeds from his own farm, he becomes liable to Monsanto for the use of the GM which he didn't want in the first place.
I would like to see a class action against Monsanto by those same farmers suing for the unwanted contamination of their crops by these GM pollens blowing on to their crops.
Your opinion does not fact make either. GMO crops, especially those which are "Round-up ready" are believed to be one of the main causes for bee colony collapse.
Do you have any research supporting this claim?
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But I suspect Europe is just wrong, in your opinion, to be banning GMO crops and have no scientific proof behind their reasons either?
Africa banned GMO crops too, despite their huge hunger problems, as a result of uninformed fear tactics, I.E., "franken food" Unless of course you can cite Europe's science and sources for banning GM crops.
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It would be downright ignorant not to acknowledge the power of Monsanto with our government buraucracies of the USDA and FDA. What Monsanto wants Monsanto gets, period.
I agree, Monsato is a huge problem.
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It has never been proven beneficial to man or to wildlife to reduce the biological diversity of food sources; in fact, quite the opposite.
Citation for this claim? Bananas are clones of one another, and we haven't had problems with them. We have delicious yellow banana after delicious yellow banana. Of course, GMO foods don't reduce the biological diversity of food sources--nothing is stopping them from developing mutations. They occur just the same in GM Foods as non GM foods. Splicing beneficial genetic material into the foodstuffs, if anything, increases genetic diversity by providing foods with genes they might not otherwise develop.
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