Food crunch opens doors to bioengineered crops

Monday 01st December, 06:53 AM JST

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Latest 15 of 21 Total Comments Show All

terebiko at 01:23 PM JST - 1st December

changing a couple of genes (proteins) ain't gonna kill you!

It's going to take a long time to determine whether or not this is true. They may not kill, but they may harm. We just don't know for sure.
stipend at 01:35 PM JST - 1st December

Since when did subsistence farming cost anything? Patented GM seed DRIVE people to starvation.

Pro-GM people should go study economics and have a reality check with the physical results of their science.

http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/287/Monsanto-and-GMO-crop-video.html
2020hindsight at 01:57 PM JST - 1st December

stipend

Read the article. GMO technology is being developed by many groups and countries. GMO does not equal Monsanto. GMO is the next big revolution in agriculture that will make it more efficient and feed the poor.
proxy at 01:58 PM JST - 1st December

I am adamantly against opposed to the blanket use of GM crops but not because of human health issues. Glyphosate tolerant GMO crops destroy the ecosystem. Farmers spray Glyphosate gratuitously, confident that their crops will not be harmed and that there will be very few if any weeds that escape and the "weed" population will crash. For example the "weed" American Dragonhead is already endangered in New York. It is actually a native plant, not a weed. If the use of herbicides associated with GMO crops results in the extinction of native plants like American Dragonhead, then the food chain, from aphids and beetles that feed on American Dragonhead up to the birds that feed on those beetles will become extinct.
stipend at 01:59 PM JST - 1st December

changing a couple of genes (proteins) ain't gonna kill you!

The genie gets out and there is no bringing it back.
cleo at 02:08 PM JST - 1st December

The widespread planting of GMO crops in North America has led to widespread disease and death among bee colonies; the bees' digestive systems cannot cope with GMO pollen. Honeybees are responsible for pollinating up to 40% of crops; no bees, no pollination, lower crop yields - maybe not of the GMO crops that are doing the damage, but of other crops such as almonds, apples and berries, which rely heavily on bee pollination.

There's evidence that pollen from bt corn kills monarch butterflies and other beneficial insects.

There's also evidence that GMOs kill small farmers; unable to repay massive debts incurred in the purchase of GM seeds (1000x more expensive than traditional seeds, and needing to be bought every year) that did not produce the promised increased crops but needed twice as much water as traditional seeds - something the Monsanto salesmen somehow forget to mention - around 125,000 small farmers in India have taken their own lives.

Studies in Africa also show that GMO crops do not reduce poverty or increase the food supply.
2020hindsight at 02:11 PM JST - 1st December

Sure crosspollintation can occur and care should be taken. One such measure would be to intoduce terminator technology. But the genie can be kept in the bottle.
cleo at 02:20 PM JST - 1st December

One such measure would be to intoduce terminator technology.

So that poor farmers have to go into debt to buy the seeds every year?

Terminator technology is itself a genie that cannot be put back in the bottle. Mess around with the pollen supply, and you mess around with the population of beneficial insects that pollinate other, non-GMO crops. Look at CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) in the US, where up to 80% of honeybees colonies have been lost.
2020hindsight at 02:29 PM JST - 1st December

cleo How can terminator technology be a genie (i.e. get out of control)? The plants can't reproduce and hence the GMO dies out.

The bt corn study had the opposite conclusion about the effect on monarch populations (i.e., no real effect):

http://biotech.cas.psu.edu/articles/btcornmonarch.htm

But in general GMO technology can vastly reduce the amount of insecticides and pesticides that you have to use on plants. Good news for everyone.
cleo at 03:01 PM JST - 1st December

The plants can't reproduce and hence the GMO dies out.

So do the small farmers who can't keep back seeds to plant next year and have to go into debt to buy expensive GMO seeds.

So do the bees and other insects that rely on the pollen.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8436

http://www.biotech-info.net/JR_testimony.html

"The bt corn study"? There have been several, with roughly as many different conclusions as studies.
2020hindsight at 03:37 PM JST - 1st December

cleo

"The bt corn study"? There have been several, with roughly as many different conclusions as studies.

I would agree. The earlier studies suggested harm to monarch butterflies, but later, more extensive studies showed this isn't the case.

The links you have provided for the honeybee seem either dated, anectdotal and/or biased. A report that starts off with: "Genetically modified seeds are produced and distributed by powerful biotech conglomerates. The latter manipulate government agricultural policy with a view to supporting their agenda of dominance in the agricultural industry." is hardly likely to have a balanced view.
cleo at 05:37 PM JST - 1st December

Genetically modified seeds are produced and distributed by powerful biotech conglomerates. The latter manipulate government agricultural policy with a view to supporting their agenda of dominance in the agricultural industry.

Sounds perfectly balanced and factual to me.
Nessie at 06:47 PM JST - 1st December

I heard experiment shows that even animals prefer to eat partially rotten natural fruits instead of healthy looking GM fruits.

What, like worms?
Triumvere at 07:50 PM JST - 1st December

Blech.

"Oh no, not EVIL CORPERATIONS!!!" Heaven for bid that anyone make a profit off of anything... we all know its a ploy to usurp control of the global food suply, and thus control the world.

Meanwhile, large swathes of Africa starve because leftist, enviromentalists, and Europe convince farmers and governements not only not to use GM crops, but also to use fertilizers and pesticides, sending African agriculture back to the stone age. All so you can feel good about having done something to "save the planet."

Lets not even get in to how many millions of malaria deaths could have been prevented by the use of DDT...
mael at 10:18 PM JST - 1st December

GM foods for me and mine? No ta!

For the Chinese? OK! I don't care about them. If they are aware of the risks and want to take them then fine.