Re: SOC/BIO: Rifkin's "worldwide moratorium" on genetically modified organisms

From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@turbont.net)
Date: Tue Aug 01 2000 - 22:39:58 MDT


altamira wrote:
>
> If you were not aware, most of the
> > native bees in North America died off a couple years ago due to the
> > depradations of a *naturally* evolved fungal infection epidemic (showing
> > that evolution itself still has far more impact upon our environment
> > than we think we do in our hubris).
>
> Actually, its the Varroa mite that's been killing off the honey bees, and
> it's the Italian honey bee that's effected, not native bees. Here in Texas
> we have populations of Africanized honey bees that are surviving well in the
> wild, and there's research underway to identify resistant strains of Italian
> honey bees.

Ah, I was under the impression that the mite transmitted the fungus, but
I may be mistaken.

>
> I believe the grain crops you're referring to are the ones which contain
> genes from the *Bacillus thuringiensis*, a bacterium which is lethal to the
> larvae of moths and butterflies. Based on what I know about the way plants
> and other organisms interact, I think the insertion of the Bt gene into
> grain crops is a bad idea.

But is there any evidence to show that its a bad idea? Info I've seen
says its ok, whenever researchers actually get any plants to grow
without them being sabotaged by greens.



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