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Author Topic: GMO  (Read 3611 times)

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Offline LinksEtc

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« Last Edit: June 20, 2014, 02:22:32 PM by LinksEtc »

Offline Macabre

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Re: GMO
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2014, 02:23:51 PM »
I don't understand why GMO food is evil. Haven't farmers been genetically modifying food for years with hybrid seeds?
Me: Sesame, shellfish, chamomile, sage
DS: Peanuts

Offline LinksEtc

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Re: GMO
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2014, 02:45:53 PM »
Since joining twitter and following a lot of food safety focused people/orgs, the subject of GMO comes up a lot ...which reminded me of some of CM's interesting posts on this ... which is why I started this clearinghouse thread.   :)


I didn't think I would like twitter as much as I do ... will have to cut back my time there.   :hiding:

ETA - I think that I should never say that I'm going to cut back my online time because I always then seem to do the opposite ... I should learn from some others and just do it.




« Last Edit: June 20, 2014, 02:52:03 PM by LinksEtc »

Offline rebekahc

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Re: GMO
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2014, 03:12:49 PM »
The only time I've ever heard where GMO was directly linked to allergy was the Starlink corn incident several years ago, but that was eventually disproven.  I can see where modifying plants to make them hardier, drought tolerant, insect resistant, etc. could also affect how allergenic they might be.

http://ccr.ucdavis.edu/biot/new/StarLinkCorn_new.html
« Last Edit: June 20, 2014, 03:16:32 PM by rebekahc »
TX - USA
DS - peanut, tree nut, milk, eggs, corn, soy, several meds, many environmentals. Finally back on Xolair!
DD - mystery anaphylaxis, shellfish.
DH - banana/avocado, aspirin.  Asthma.
Me - peanut, tree nut, shellfish, banana/avocado/latex,  some meds.

Offline CMdeux

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Re: GMO
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2014, 04:28:45 PM »
I don't understand why GMO food is evil. Haven't farmers been genetically modifying food for years with hybrid seeds?

Well, I don't really understand the kerfuffle over it either-- because GMO is what I would say is more properly termed "agriculture."

LOL.

I do think that the notion that there can be unintended consequences for the introduction of particular gene variants/organisms into an ecosystem (artificial or natural) is a real concern-- and Bt is a concerning thing, for that matter-- but whether it's more concerning when organic farming practices are using it as an add-on spray.... versus seed stocks that contain the genetic information to EXPRESS the product... well, I don't really see much of a difference, myself.

I have larger concerns re: treatment of naturally occurring gene sequences as proprietary, and that goes WAY beyond GMO foodstuffs.

Resistance isn't futile.  It's voltage divided by current. 

Western U.S.

Offline CMdeux

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Re: GMO
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2014, 04:39:44 PM »
The only time I've ever heard where GMO was directly linked to allergy was the Starlink corn incident several years ago, but that was eventually disproven.  I can see where modifying plants to make them hardier, drought tolerant, insect resistant, etc. could also affect how allergenic they might be.

http://ccr.ucdavis.edu/biot/new/StarLinkCorn_new.html



Conventional agricultural practices, however, can ALSO result in changes in allergenicity and allergenic gene products.  The difference is that there is almost zero oversight of the conventional breeding/hybridization developments, and LOADS of it for the ones derived from molecular biology tools.  Which is particularly surreal to me since molecular biology tools are surgically precise relative to how crude hybridization efforts are. 

So you're MORE likely (IMO) to get unexpected allergenic results from the one than the other, all right-- but it's not what most people think, I'll wager.  ;)

Anyone that has ever done extensive plant or animal breeding in an attempt to develop a new strain, enhance a behavioral quality, or add in a color/feature; or been around such a program, understands that part of things intuitively, I'm sure. 

Those color genes, for example, are often hard-linked with other traits (some of them inintended/undesirable)-- it takes MANY generations and some luck to "break" the linkage. 

Resistance isn't futile.  It's voltage divided by current. 

Western U.S.

Offline LinksEtc

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Re: GMO
« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2014, 05:48:04 PM »
Tweeted by @bittman

"Revolutionizing American agribusiness from the ground up, one seed at a time."
http://www.vqronline.org/reporting-articles/2014/05/linux-lettuce?utm_content=buffer78546&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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Morton is considerably less reserved. “It rubs me the wrong way that works of nature can be claimed as the works of individuals,” he said, his voice growing louder and louder. “To me, it’s like getting a patent on an eighteen-wheeler when all you did was add a chrome lug nut.”

Myers contends that, when applied to plants, patents are stifling. They discourage sharing, and sharing is the foundation of successful breeding.

Offline LinksEtc

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Re: GMO
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2015, 08:01:24 AM »
Tweeted by @mkonnikova


"Problems Too Disgusting to Solve"
http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/recycled-water-problems-disgusting-solve


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Feelings of disgust are often immune to rationality. And with good reason: evolutionarily, disgust is an incredibly adaptive, life-saving reaction.

Quote
Sometimes disgust is purely physical. But, often—as in the case of G.M.O.s—it acquires a moral dimension.


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« Last Edit: May 07, 2016, 10:55:13 AM by LinksEtc »