From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Fri May 09 2003 - 15:14:32 MDT
On Fri, 9 May 2003, Greg Jordan wrote:
> I think it's so sad that GM, instead of genetically modifying crops to be
> healthier, more innately resistant to pests, instead went down the path of
> making crops accept more pesticides and herbicides so that more of the
> latter could be applied.
Greg, I strongly object that this statement is extremely unbalanced.
Crops which have had the BT gene added actually require *less* pesticide
administration than normal crops. With respect to herbicides, for
example adding enzymes to crops, e.g. soybeans, that allow them to
be tolerant of herbicides such as round-up -- humans do not have
the enzymes that the plants have that the herbicides inhibit. So
there is no toxic effect of increased levels of increased herbicide
(glyphosate) on humans.
You are spouting the (green) party line and on this list that isn't
going to get you far unless you back it up with some really hard science.
> That and using extremely dangerous diseases for markers.
Citations *please*?
> What a mess... If GM had been more responsible or regulated
> (waves down indignation), organic food certification probably wouldn't
> have had to exclude GM foods.
Organic food certification is simply a way to allow small-farm and/or
government subsidized farms (in Europe) farmers to compete against large
farms that have mass production advantages. Its health benefits
are marginal if any.
For example -- go find some statistics that state that "organic" peanuts
have less aflatoxin than "non-organic" peanuts. Aflatoxin is a known
carcinogen produced by fungi that grow on peanuts -- it is known to cause
mutations in the p53 gene that lead to cancer. The amount one ingests
is regulated by food safety regulations -- but clearly less would be better.
The amount one ingests has little or nothing to do with how the peanuts
are grown and a lot to do with how they are stored.
That isn't a GM/organic debate -- its a food processing (cost) debate.
Robert
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