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BASF Moves GM Plant Research From Europe To US
ananyo writes "The German chemical giant BASF is moving its transgenic plant operations from Europe to the U.S., it says, because of widespread opposition to the technology. The company on 16 January announced that it would move its plant science headquarters from Limburgerhof, Germany to Raleigh, North Carolina and no longer develop plants solely for cultivation in Europe. The division employs 157 people in Limburgerhof, plus another 63 at facilities elsewhere in Europe. BASF said it would relocate 123 of those jobs to the North Carolina facility. In statement, Stefan Marcinowski, a member of BASF's Board of Executive Directors, cited 'a lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe – from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians.' The company instead plans to focus on plant biotechnology markets in the Americas and Asia."
dude, if you aren't eating organic, you're already eating GMO. At least in the US.
The BASF facility in RTP has never been terribly large and/or important when compared to their neighbors.
These jobs will be a nice addition to the area and help elevate Biotech even further.
Thanks Limburgerhof!!!
"Murderer? Well, that's a harsh word. I prefer to think of myself as a Mortality Technician."
if you're eating, you're already eating GMO ... if you think GMO is freak-food you watched too much Ninja Turtles when you should have studied for the Biology/Science class ... there is no "Genetic Engineering" yet, only genetic tinkering and selecting (with a lot of praying involved) the best outcome, much like mother nature does. Humans have been growing GMO for milenia, and even have GM themselves ... if you're an adult and can metabolize milk, you're it.
What, exactly, do you think people will eat on our journey out to colonize the galaxy??
Transgenic plants. No complaint from me, it will be needed. Also, closed in a spaceship it cannot do much harm.
I just am a bit more hesitant about releasing GM plants into all the biosphere we have.
And they are against GM food, because it's patent creep - doodle around in a little corner of the genome and patent the whole plant afterwards, thus gaining power over all people doing business with similar plants and destroying traditonal seed circulation.
30 years of Conservative ideology has finally paid off.
Is it so irrational? Look at Japan. People there believed in progress, in technology, with an almost religious fervour. Until a disaster laid bare not flaws in the science, mind you, but flaws in the humans profiting off it. The same goes for our European anti-GM sentiments: Do you in all seriousness trust the likes of Monsanto or BASF not to put cash over lives? No matter how sound the science behind GM is, there already are enough reasons to be very mindful of what food I buy. And all of them are down to some greedy fucks trying to skim off just a little bit more. I do not need another layer of adverse interests thrown into the mix.
Rudolf Hess edited Mein Kampf. He was the very first grammar nazi.
It's funny - the IP/Patent Creep angle is actually the most compelling and possibly only legitimate argument against GM food. If this is the real reason behind the protesting, then it's doing the right thing (fighting GM food) for the right reason (Patent Creep / IP / Corporate greed controlling food)
However, I bet there really are a lot of "frankenfood" protestors there too.. folks who are doing the right thing (fighting GM food) for the wrong reason. I worry about that crowd because it's like handing the corporate apologists a giant strawman.
The Digital Sorceress
You don't need genetically-modified plants in a spaceship, where presumably you can use hydroponics to grow everything. The whole point of GMO, at least these days, is to make plants that are resistant to herbicides and pesticides, since trying to grow crops in a natural environment means you'll have to deal with weeds and insects that reduce the crop yield. That way, you can douse your farmland with all that shit, and the plants will still grow, without any insects or weeds reducing yields. Then, you can sell pesticide-laden plants as food to consumers.
In a spaceship, there's no natural environment; no weeds, no unwanted insects. You just bring the plants you want to grow, and grow them hydroponically for best yield. With no pests to deal with, you can use regular plants.
GMO is not about making plants that produce more, or are resistant to cold or heat or drought.
It is the control of the food supply, that is what it is about.
Ask any Biologist, and they will tell you, genetically creating strains of identical plant lines to maximize a trait is a truly dangerous thing to do. Whenever you take and engineer biological entities such as plants, that are gentically identical and create entire artificial eco systems that have low diversity, or in the case of GMO, _NO_ diversity, all sorts of catastrophic destruction can happen to the population.
Whether it be a GERM, a BUG or BAD WEATHER, having a food supply that is genetically diverse and NOT engineered is the safest and will produce the most food, consistently over a wide variety of environmental conditions.
GMO has got to be the worst possible idea of all time. It won't produce food for anyone except the rich, and it will not produce food that has the ecological diversity requirements to provide a safe consistent yield.
It isn't by accident you know, they will not put GMO labels on food. They know it is not safe, and they do not want you to know about it.
GMO also is causing massive extinction rates in our grain crops from gene contamination. If this isn't stopped, there won't be any grain species left that are safe to eat.
-Hack
Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.