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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.
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.
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.