a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by BuffaloXdk
BuffaloXdk  ·  3177 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Misleading War on GMOs: The Food Is Safe. The Rhetoric Is Dangerous.

I'm all for science and research and generally improving our knowledge and understanding, I'm also all for applying this in new technologies and methods including the use of genetics.

However I do have a problem with GMOs for several reasons. A major problem IMO is that organisms and even genes can be patented and copyrighted. That's is not a sensible concept, you can't copyright breeding dogs with for instance a red tip on their tale, but if you locate the gene for it, you can seemingly patent that. Of course genetics makes it possible to take that gene from somewhere else if dogs don't have it in their gene pool, but basically what genetics are doing is copy/paste coding and should not be protected as IP, just like we shouldn't have software patents.

My other problem is that GMOs often are made for resistance to pesticides, and while that is great to ensure the harvest, the use of more and stronger pesticides is exactly what we shouldn't do, some pesticides are pretty harmless to humans, but those are not the ones GMOs are used to make crops tolerant against.

The third problem is that even if GMOs theoretically could actually be safer than traditional selection, because modifying specific genes theoretically makes it possible to have more accurate knowledge of the change it introduces, I'm not convinced either by regulation or that there is sufficient and qualified oversight or structure to safeguard against blunders that simply wouldn't be possible with normal breeding. Most likely something akin to letting rabbits lose in Australia. Less likely something akin to gut bacteria in ants, that alter the ants behavior so it is more likely to get eaten by ant predators.





thundara  ·  3177 days ago  ·  link  ·  

With regards to patents:

    Gene patents may claim the isolated natural sequences of genes, the use of a natural sequence for purposes such as diagnostic testing, or a natural sequence that has been altered by adding a promoter or other changes to make it more useful. In the United States, patents on genes have only been granted on isolated gene sequences with known functions, and these patents cannot be applied to the naturally occurring genes in humans or any other naturally occurring organism.[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_patents_in_the_United_States#Gene_patents

    My other problem is that GMOs often are made for resistance to pesticides, and while that is great to ensure the harvest, the use of more and stronger pesticides is exactly what we shouldn't do, some pesticides are pretty harmless to humans, but those are not the ones GMOs are used to make crops tolerant against.

BT genes and RoundUp are both safe in the context of the average person's diet and safer for the environment than most other pesticides. Not that both don't encourage resistance, but that's a separate matter.

    I'm not convinced either by regulation or that there is sufficient and qualified oversight or structure to safeguard against blunders that simply wouldn't be possible with normal breeding

Most previous generation plants didn't really fare well outside the environment of a farm (since their ancestors evolved to work well on a farm, not outside of it). Horizontal gene transfer / cross-pollination are indeed risks, but we're not really spraying RoundUp on forests. To be fair though, horizontal gene transfer always going on between species. And in the case of many GMOs, there are other environmental benefits that partially offset the risks.

matjam  ·  3177 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    My other problem is that GMOs often are made for resistance to pesticides, and while that is great to ensure the harvest, the use of more and stronger pesticides is exactly what we shouldn't do, some pesticides are pretty harmless to humans, but those are not the ones GMOs are used to make crops tolerant against.

It should be noted that the increase in pesticide use is at least partially at fault for the bee colony collapse disorder phenomenon.