Genetically Modified "Organic" Fertilizers
Devin Mendoza
8 years ago
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Comments (12)
kimmq
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Is cross-breeding even comparable to genetically modified?
Comments (32)"There is no method of cross breeding that can insert bacteria DNA into a vegetable plant like transgenic corn and cotton has" You've clearly never heard of retroviruses, which do exactly that. "GMO crops then are no longer technically corn or soy or sugar beets but mutants" Mutation is the single most important thing in evolution, and the adaptation of life (which is a two part process - mutation expands the genome, natural selection winnows it down to what is useful). It's not a bad thing. Genetic Engineering is also DRASTICALLY more predictable than traditional crossbreeding. You want to pull the genes from a Geneva roostock that code for fireblight resistance and put it in a different apple? Trivial. You want to cross one of the geneva lines with a Braeburn apple and try to get an apple that tastes right and isn't very susceptible to fireblight? Almost impossible. Predictability also leads to safety. You want to try and get a resistance gene from a wild solanum into a tomato? Easy with gene splicing. Via traditional breeding? You're very likely to end up with something that will kill you if you eat it....See MoreHow do I know if my veggie plants are genetically modified?
Comments (5)SVP I am more angry than I am scared. I am angry that corn growers in the midwest must grow GM corn, wheat, and soy, and that Americans consume those products without their being labeled as such, thousands of food products. I am angry that those GM crops easily cross-pollinate with other varieties of the same crops and essentially destroy their unique characteristics. I am angry that Monsanto can sue others whose crops have been inadvertently polluted through wind-pollination and the grower whose crops were ruined was the one who was found guilty of violating agricultural law. Monsanto is not on my list of "good companies". But I think dan_staley is right -- seed vendors don't sell GM seeds to home gardeners, so what you grow so far is clear of Monsanto's taint. My concern is focused on agribusiness, which is more than just Monsanto, and the world's food supply that they want to have a heavy hand in....See MoreStop Genetically Modified Crops
Comments (38)Sam_md this very issue has been taken into consideration and even investigated, and yes plants below the corn plants and plants off to the sides for about 10 feet will not harbor Lepidoptera larvae, you should however see the wide path cut by insecticides that continues in which ever direction run off flows. The BT protein (initially produced by bacteria, now produced by corn too) binds to a protein lining the intestines of Lepidoptera and death ensues. That protein interaction is a lock and key thing, just as you wouldn't expect your house key to suddenly start working on fords you wouldn't expect this protein to suddenly start working on other animals, such as Hymenoptera (bees, ants, and wasps) or people (in fact your house key is orders of magnitude more likely to work on your neighbors BMW than this protein is to bind to a human digestive protein and take you down). Resistance (despite what the borg will tell you) is inevitable, eventually they will form resistance to any means of control used, they even form resistance to manual removal (camoflage, spines, hiding under leaves, evading grasp) and to sprayed on insecticides as well. If "it wont work forever" was an excuse not to do something then humans might as well give up now, because nothing we do will work forever (I mean nothing, breathing with lungs is not timeless, having eyes to detect em radiation in not timeless, perhaps being made of cells is timeless, we might see...) These questions were all asked and answered, the scientists developing these things are not stupid, in fact they are among the smartest people in the world, and they are thinking about what might happen....See MoreGeneticallyModified seeds
Comments (11)The Times link didn't work, but I read the SA article. It didn't tell me anything I didn't know. I'm not interested in propaganda from either side of this. I want to see science or facts. Some source with a .edu would be helpful. Here's what I think. GM is technology. The shrill outcry against GM seed is an anti-technology rant. Technology in and of itself is not bad, but the uses to which it can be put are sometimes bad. Here's my example. Let's say a hybridizer set out to hybridize corn that was resistant to corn borer. After many generations of hybridizing (likely a lifetime of work) this hybridizer produced a cultivar that was resistant. Would we reject this work as being a Genetically Modified monster? Likely not. Would the corn be safe to eat? We wouldn't know until it was tried. (Hopefully, it would first be tried on voles.) Now let's say a scientist who works for the evil company Monsanto, takes some genetic material from Bt (a naturally occurring bacterium) and in a lab dish combines it with sweet corn to produce a GM hybrid that is resistant to corn borer. Is it a monster? Probably not. Is it safe to eat. We wouldn't know until it was tried (voles first). Unless you are a corn borer, it's probably fine to eat this stuff. To me it's the same process, only sped up and made much more efficient. Not everything that happens in a lab dish is bad. Invitro fertilization happens all the time and doesn't produce monsters. Yet some people wring their hands about that. Now, let's say some other evil scientists at Monsanto create a form of soybean that is resistant to glyphosate. Of course they sell Roundup so now they can sell both seed and synthetic herbicides to farmers so they can weed by spraying. This is very bad because 1. they are putting a lot of synthetic chemicals into the watershed near those farms, and 2. eventually the weeds around those fields will become resistant to glyphosate making it less useful as an herbicide when it is used properly. So it's not the technology that is bad in and of itself. It's the uses to which it is put that can be either helpful or harmful to society in general. That's my point. Sorry to be so long winded. Steve...See Moregardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years agoDevin Mendoza
8 years agogrubby_AZ Tucson Z9
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agokimmq
8 years agolittle_minnie
8 years agolazy_gardens
8 years agokimmq
8 years agoDevin Mendoza
8 years agokimmq
8 years agolittle_minnie
8 years ago
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