GM foods?

[MidnightFox]

Are we still debating on if GM foods are good or not?

 

Cause the pro side is winning I think. All the cons ideas are mostly theories like questions with IF with them.

[insane_alien]

i'd eat them. they would still have to go through the same checks that the rest of our food goes through.

[jeremydave]

People are debating about the effects of GM food but I think it is not a problem to consume it since 70% or most of the vegetable and can food are GM food. Most are not labelled.

[woelen]

Consumption is not a real problem to me. I'm more concerned about the impact it has on natural species. What if modified plants mix up with original plants? Can they suppress natural species?

[insane_alien]

what about the GM crops we've been eating for centuries? bananas for example. and if you go to korean markets then you can pick up genetically modified meats(dogs). the method didn't involve a lab but its still GM

[Gilded]

However, we're already at the phase where it isn't just the breeding, but rather direct manipulation of the genes. With breeding godawful things rarely happen. But when you're directly tinkering the genome and really don't know what you're doing you end up with flesh-eating tomatoes that probably taste like window cleaner as well.

 

Not that I'm against GM as long as there are some boundaries. But I'd hate to eat ketchup that tastes like goddamn Windex.

[jdurg]

Corn is a good example of genetically modified food. Corn is simply the result of wheat and other grass plants which normally should not have been able to crossbreed doing just that.

[SororSaudade]

nowadays there are no such things like "original plants" (there are, but not in our houses). Farmers have been selecting crops for centuries... at least with GMO's we know what kind of selection we're doing (not just by the looks).

[Sequence]

they should test the ones made in a lab to insure that it won't kill off the natural species but I don't have a ptoblem with them.

[ecoli]

they should test the ones made in a lab to insure that it won't kill off the natural species but I don't have a ptoblem with them.

 

Also, there is a major problem with species conformity from GM plants and them being able to handle environmental changes. Lack of species diversity makes it that much easier to species to go extinct.

[Bluenoise]

However, we're already at the phase where it isn't just the breeding, but rather direct manipulation of the genes. With breeding godawful things rarely happen. But when you're directly tinkering the genome and really don't know what you're doing you end up with flesh-eating tomatoes that probably taste like window cleaner as well.

 

Right...

 

...lay of the sci fi for a while eh.

[MidnightFox]

There was a study that in 50 or 100 years, all organic food will be lost. Is this true?

[jeremydave]

what is the use of caring non GM food if GM food is better and have more nutrient than non GM food?

[Nashyboyo]

there is nothing wrong with GM food. people don't understand it so they fear it. Gilded above for example shows some uncertainty about them. i know it sounds silly but people truly fear GENETICALLY MODIFIED organisms. they simply don't know anything about it. tesco is making a lot of money from this by selling 'NORMAL' (organic) overpriced food, so stupid people buy it.

[insane_alien]

midnight, you'll have to define organic there.

by some definitions, there is already no 'organic' food

by some there is a decline but some still exists

by others(many others) its all organic regardless if its gm or not (i agree with this one)

[Gilded]

Apparently very few grasped my lowlevel humor. Frankly, if a species has come as far as to industrially start farming another organism for food then I don't find it revolting that you modify its genome for even greater gain, and for most parts trial and error concerning possibly harmful substances that weren't there before is all part of this. The main concern I have is the one woelen already mentioned, as I do care somewhat about biodiversity and not f***ing up ecosystems completely.

[ecoli]

what is the use of caring non GM food if GM food is better and have more nutrient than non GM food?

 

post 10

[bascule]

I think the real issue is trying to leverage life systems as an engineered technology, when life systems operate in a way which naturally diverges from its present state.

 

There's a lot of fear that GMOs could diverge in undesirable ways. It can, and has happened.

 

I'm not too worried though. And I think starvation and poverty in Africa are much more pressing issues, although the WTO, more than GMOs, is likely the answer to that question.

[SororSaudade]

That's another wrong assumption... GMO's aren't the answer to poverty and starvation since this is mainly a political issue.

And about that whole "original species/diversity" issue... that's why it is important to have germplasm banks. And also... introduction of new genes into plants it's only a way to get more diversity, it's up to farmers to select the more profitable (after being tested and tested and tested by scientists)

[ecoli]

That's another wrong assumption... GMO's aren't the answer to poverty and starvation since this is mainly a political issue.

And about that whole "original species/diversity" issue... that's why it is important to have germplasm banks. And also... introduction of new genes into plants it's only a way to get more diversity, it's up to farmers to select the more profitable (after being tested and tested and tested by scientists)

 

Yeah, except that when farmers select for the plant that is profitable, it winds up reducing genetic diversity, which, from a species survival standpoint, is not good. For example, selection for a large tastey banana fruit has lead to a decreased ability to adapt to changing environments, which isn't good in a world where the environment is changing.

[SororSaudade]

Yeah, except that when farmers select for the plant that is profitable, it winds up reducing genetic diversity, which, from a species survival standpoint, is not good. For example, selection for a large tastey banana fruit has lead to a decreased ability to adapt to changing environments, which isn't good in a world where the environment is changing.

 

I agree... but that kind of selection has been done for centuries and has nothing to do with GMO's

[ecoli]

I agree... but that kind of selection has been done for centuries and has nothing to do with GMO's

 

yep, your right. Except that now, with GMOs, we can screw up biodiversity in even less time.

[bascule]

For example, selection for a large tastey banana fruit has lead to a decreased ability to adapt to changing environments, which isn't good in a world where the environment is changing.

 

The real reason the banana plant can't adapt is because it has been bread to be seedless and must reproduce with cuttings, eliminating its ability to adapt to the ravages of Panama disease.

[ecoli]

The real reason the banana plant can't adapt is because it has been bread to be seedless and must reproduce with cuttings, eliminating its ability to adapt to the ravages of Panama disease.

 

yeah, I know. My fear is that this will happen with GMOs, except on a smaller time scale, which could be even more devastating.

[SororSaudade]

yep, your right. Except that now, with GMOs, we can screw up biodiversity in even less time.

 

I can't agree with you on that... as i've said, GMOs are new varieties of the species that already exist and i can't see how they can lead to a decrease in biodiversity in shorter periods.

Plus, nowadays scientists are aware of the importance of creating germplasm banks...

Basically what i mean is that the biodiversity thing is not a big problem related to GMOs, since it happens with agriculture in general.