Large scale genetic modification of Plants and animals is dangerous and we have no way of knowing what problems an uncontrolled genetic goldrush will cause in nature. Genetic modifications of any kind should be striclty controlled by the state and not by corporoations. Genetic contamination and the escape of genetically modified plants and animals into wild populations is impossible to reverse.
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It's also important to remember that reduction of genetic diversity is impossible to reverse. Populations don't survive because they have super-individuals; populations survive because SOME individuals are suited to survive a given crisis. If all individuals are very similar, they tend to stand or fall as one when a new and unexpected crisis hits.
If companies are producing genetically modified plant and animal populations which are diverse genetically, I have yet to hear about it. Genetically diverse populations are less profitable because it is difficult to control them with patents. It's far easier to develop a few dozen so-called "super" varieties which have short term advantages to farmers and/or consumers.
Think of a population of, say, corn, as a large base of software. Much of this software doesn't have any discernable purpose, so we (agribusiness) are ripping it out and replacing it with software which we think is more suited to our needs. The trouble is, we (all of us) aren't competent system architects. We've had to reverse engineer the system (since we never got any documentation with it) and we've managed to write a small but useful programs using its language. On the basis of this limited knowledge we call ourselves "genetic engineers" and propose to replace wholesale portions of the existing code with our new code, but at the system (population) level, we haven't really even managed to figure out the principles of a good implementation. Oh, by the way, we don't have a reasonable backup system in place, so it's going to be difficult for us to study the original system (in a comprehensive way) once we've made our modifications.
When we do get in trouble, who are we going to have to pay to get us out? Agribusiness.
Leave research to researchers, and business to businesspeople.
Slashdot Mirror
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Large scale genetic modification of Plants and animals is dangerous and we have no way of knowing what problems an uncontrolled genetic goldrush will cause in nature. Genetic modifications of any kind should be striclty controlled by the state and not by corporoations. Genetic contamination and the escape of genetically modified plants and animals into wild populations is impossible to reverse.
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It's also important to remember that reduction of genetic diversity is impossible to reverse. Populations don't survive because they have super-individuals; populations survive because SOME individuals are suited to survive a given crisis. If all individuals are very similar, they tend to stand or fall as one when a new and unexpected crisis hits.
If companies are producing genetically modified plant and animal populations which are diverse genetically, I have yet to hear about it. Genetically diverse populations are less profitable because it is difficult to control them with patents. It's far easier to develop a few dozen so-called "super" varieties which have short term advantages to farmers and/or consumers.
Think of a population of, say, corn, as a large base of software. Much of this software doesn't have any discernable purpose, so we (agribusiness) are ripping it out and replacing it with software which we think is more suited to our needs. The trouble is, we (all of us) aren't competent system architects. We've had to reverse engineer the system (since we never got any documentation with it) and we've managed to write a small but useful programs using its language. On the basis of this limited knowledge we call ourselves "genetic engineers" and propose to replace wholesale portions of the existing code with our new code, but at the system (population) level, we haven't really even managed to figure out the principles of a good implementation. Oh, by the way, we don't have a reasonable backup system in place, so it's going to be difficult for us to study the original system (in a comprehensive way) once we've made our modifications.
When we do get in trouble, who are we going to have to pay to get us out? Agribusiness.
Leave research to researchers, and business to businesspeople.