tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608997405675313455.post4957232017607022510..comments2023-05-20T11:16:47.443-04:00Comments on Next Gen House: GMO culture war - is there a middle ground?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16336925504159543895noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608997405675313455.post-80902066363776748012014-01-21T12:50:31.586-05:002014-01-21T12:50:31.586-05:00I also think that there needs to be discussions of...I also think that there needs to be discussions of what we're trying to achieve with GMOs. I've not read his piece but I'm assuming the rice he's referring to is "golden rice" which is vitamin a enriched. It was ostensibly developed to combat that deficiency in the third world but, when you look closer, it's really just a ploy for good PR because you'd have to eat a HUGE amount of it to get any measurable benefit. Other GMO crops, whether or not they are themselves safe, are otherwise problematic for reasons such as: <br /><br />1. The biotech company owns the seeds. You can't save seed and must purchase new seed, at whatever price they set, each year. Plus, there's something frightening about patenting life. <br /><br />2. The reasoning behind the modification. We aren't seeing GMOs that make food more nutritious or beneficial. Instead, the modifications are things like Roundup resistant corn and soy (modified to be able to dump tons of toxic chemicals on them...chemicals that are causing a massive increase in birth defects in places like Argentina), or modifying salmon and the like just to grow bigger and faster...and eat the same GMO corn we're growing as a monoculture across the land. <br /><br />I don't mind the theoretical idea of genetic engineering. When we cross breeds naturally, through things like grafting, cross polination, etc, we are doing the same thing. What worries me is, as you said, the lack of transparency and a government complicit in doing what these companies want, with as little regulatory oversight and mandatory testing as possible. Facehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14616864866608368193noreply@blogger.com