The Perils Of Privatisation - Part X
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GM by stealth
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Should GM crops be accepted in Britain first before exporting them to places like Africa.
Should GM crops be accepted in Britain first before exporting them to places like Africa.
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No Brendon I think you're slightly off GM foods can be fed to livestock abroad and the meat consumed in the UK not directly sold.
This is exactly wher GM should be used - my major gripe with GM is that people want to use it to increase supermarket profits by extending shelf life not by developing strains that can be grown in marginal conditions to tackle famine.
If this money is targeted to those sorts of crops Bill gets my thumbs up!
This is exactly wher GM should be used - my major gripe with GM is that people want to use it to increase supermarket profits by extending shelf life not by developing strains that can be grown in marginal conditions to tackle famine.
If this money is targeted to those sorts of crops Bill gets my thumbs up!
Maize is already genetically modified. None of the maize commercially grown in the EU is not genetically modified and the same is true of the US. And maize products are everywhere in our foodstuffs as starch and as corn syrup etc (Maize itself never existed as a wild plant. It was created by selective breeding of wild plants. Early genetic engineering !)
Can't see why Africa shouldn't benefit. The objections of a few people over here shouldn't stop that. Don't understand the argument is in the last part of the link. That GM crops are not affected by pesticides or herbicides is irrelevant to weeds having resistance. Evolution sees to it that wild plants and other creatures develop resistance and mechanisms to defeat their enemies; weeds and pests would do so whether or not they had GM crops in the same field. We have this problem with anti-malarial drugs, anti-viral treatments, penicillin and many others, and it's seen to have happened everywhere in the wild e.g with plants that are toxic to some insects suffering because insects of that species evolve to be resistant to the toxin.
Can't see why Africa shouldn't benefit. The objections of a few people over here shouldn't stop that. Don't understand the argument is in the last part of the link. That GM crops are not affected by pesticides or herbicides is irrelevant to weeds having resistance. Evolution sees to it that wild plants and other creatures develop resistance and mechanisms to defeat their enemies; weeds and pests would do so whether or not they had GM crops in the same field. We have this problem with anti-malarial drugs, anti-viral treatments, penicillin and many others, and it's seen to have happened everywhere in the wild e.g with plants that are toxic to some insects suffering because insects of that species evolve to be resistant to the toxin.
Correct to doubt it, jake. I have been cheerfully citing this bold '100 per cent' because I read it in some article, which I'm pretty sure was in Wikipedia a while ago. If so, it cannot be found by me now. It was probably edited out as wrong, and/or was misunderstood by me in the context of a paragraph with the words 'on current trends, it is expected that' or some such. GM production is certainly on the rise but it still represents,on latest figures available, a small percentage of overall EU production, which is nearly all for animal feed. France, in particular, has a very low production. Spain, on the other hand, seems quite keen on it. [From various EU and EU sponsored sites and French Wikipedia (!)]
Even the figure for the US is not 100 per cent yet. Latest figure is 85 per cent for the total crop, but, of course, it may be that the 15 per cent is not in exports.
Even the figure for the US is not 100 per cent yet. Latest figure is 85 per cent for the total crop, but, of course, it may be that the 15 per cent is not in exports.
Selective breeding is not GM.
GM involves splicing genes from an unrelated species into the plant or animal to be modified.
They have added jellyfish genes to mice to make them a fluorescent green. -
http://
TLikewise, goats with spider genes now produce silk protien in their milk! - http://
How about HUMAN genes implanted into goats to produce milk similar to human breast milk. This is presented as under development, but you can't help thinking someone's going to do it! - http://
There can be no way of knowing what else is spliced into these animals along with the bit they want.
Remember the well meaning idiot who thought rabbits would be a useful food source in Australia...
When goats start demanding their human rights, while sitting in their webs, perhaps the GM people will say "Sorry"
GM involves splicing genes from an unrelated species into the plant or animal to be modified.
They have added jellyfish genes to mice to make them a fluorescent green. -
http://
TLikewise, goats with spider genes now produce silk protien in their milk! - http://
How about HUMAN genes implanted into goats to produce milk similar to human breast milk. This is presented as under development, but you can't help thinking someone's going to do it! - http://
There can be no way of knowing what else is spliced into these animals along with the bit they want.
Remember the well meaning idiot who thought rabbits would be a useful food source in Australia...
When goats start demanding their human rights, while sitting in their webs, perhaps the GM people will say "Sorry"
As Jake points out GM crops are only allowed as feed for animals in UK and not allowed for human consumption. We go on to either eat these animals or drink the milk that comes from the cows fed on GM.
This surely presents a problem in itself as the GM genes are in the food we eat. This was well illustrated in Venators reference to producing silk from goats milk. The milk looked quite ordinary and if we were none the wiser could have drunk the stuff and also consumed the silk lying hidden in the milk.
A ghastly thought!
This surely presents a problem in itself as the GM genes are in the food we eat. This was well illustrated in Venators reference to producing silk from goats milk. The milk looked quite ordinary and if we were none the wiser could have drunk the stuff and also consumed the silk lying hidden in the milk.
A ghastly thought!
Well I'm not sure it's all that ghastly - people have a bit of a "frankenstein food" view of GM that I think has been stoked up by the media.
However in any technology like this there is a risk - much as there is in taking an air flight - I don't think this ris is very great but it's still there.
Where there's a risk there needs to be a matching benefit - there's often a not insignificant risk in taking prescribed drugs from your GP but you want the benefit.
I don't see the benefit in this risk/benefit equation with GM in this country
To me the benefit seem to go entirely to the supermarkets or the producers - I don't buy the "it'll bring down food prices" argument - I think the profit will go straight into the coffers of Tescos and GM companies.
However in any technology like this there is a risk - much as there is in taking an air flight - I don't think this ris is very great but it's still there.
Where there's a risk there needs to be a matching benefit - there's often a not insignificant risk in taking prescribed drugs from your GP but you want the benefit.
I don't see the benefit in this risk/benefit equation with GM in this country
To me the benefit seem to go entirely to the supermarkets or the producers - I don't buy the "it'll bring down food prices" argument - I think the profit will go straight into the coffers of Tescos and GM companies.
There's big money here. The "improved" grain for instance - you can't keep the seeds for next year - it has to be bought every year.
And Jake - do you want to eat veg with animal genes in it? Is it vegetarian any more?
You probably won't mind the fluorescent green mice, bur when the bit they didn't notice kicks in, they will be as big as cows, perhaps? Six foot ratholes in the skirting boards?
Brave new GM world....
And Jake - do you want to eat veg with animal genes in it? Is it vegetarian any more?
You probably won't mind the fluorescent green mice, bur when the bit they didn't notice kicks in, they will be as big as cows, perhaps? Six foot ratholes in the skirting boards?
Brave new GM world....
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