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GM DNA Spreading...
Raphter writes: "Frightening study on GM crop genes spreading to wild plants. Original [subscription required] is here." The best part is the farmers who have been sued because plants on their land showed traces of this same DNA, and the agriculture giants alleged the farmers must have planted them.
It seems that the sueing should go the other way around. It should be the responsibility of the growers of geneticly modified crops to keep their plants from "corrupting" other farmers crops. Some farmers use the fact that their crops arnt geneticly modified as a way to attract some customers.
I assume though that the current plantiffs suing represent a lot more money than the farmers who do not use geneticly modified plants, and so it goes...
Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
There's nothing in the story about anyone suing anyone. Either Michael hallucinated it or he's confusing this with a case in the US where Monsanto (I think) was claiming that some farmer was growing their corn stock without paying the appropriate licensing fee and the farmers were threatening a countersuit claiming that pollen from the Monsanto corn had gotten into their corn and diminished the sale options for their crop. It's unclear what actually did happen.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I am not totally sure about the context here, but it sounds like the agri. giants are mad that little farmers are planting the GM crops they spent lots of money to make. They think the farmers are stealing the seeds (or planting some that they bought as produce perhaps).
But what actually may be happening is that these little farmers are victims of natural cross polenation (bees, wind, etc). So the DNA is spreading naturally, this happens all the time in the wild, it's a little thing called Darwinian Theory of Evolution....
http://monkeyserver.com --- weeeeee
It's quite interesting the reaction you get when you throw genetically modified into something. People's corn have been cross polenating for thousands of years, and ppl have been performing Genetic Selection on the varieties they plant as well. This probably the most basic form of Genetic Manipulation, but it is a form.
Now that science can do more sophisticated forms of this everyone flips out. I do see that the possibility of danger is higher, but everything that the scientists do can (and possibly has) occur in nature.
I do agree that testing needs to be done, but more importantly ppl need to be informed that these scientists are trying to improve products, not make gross odities. They are taking a random act (evolution) and trying to direct it towards a productive end.
http://monkeyserver.com --- weeeeee
Somebody help me. Adding genes to the pool threatens diversity?
We're all computer people here. Genes are genes, there's no magical "man-made" marker that makes them evil. (Some protesters think there is. I consider them idiots. Other protesters have better reasoned opions. I listen to them.) The gene won't spread to the whole population unless it enhances survivability, and even then, it probably won't get to ALL the plants.
Massive dieoffs of particular genes happen all the time, and is part of "evolution".
I don't understand the panic, unless you have the unfounded "man made genes are somehow automatically evil" idea. Genes have been transferring amongst life forms since the invention of viruses at least.
Then again, I'm a rational environmentalist, not a reactionary one. I've never understood the reactionaries.