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Old 04-10-2003, 10:11 AM
Oz
 
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Default A Danger to the World's Food: Genetic Engineering and the EconomicInterests of the Life Science

Bob Hobden writes

"Oz" wrote in message in reply to me
Assessment of risks can only take place when we have full knowledge of

the
possible risks and understand the processes fully.


Factually incorrect.
Assessment can take place at any time.
It's accuracy may depend on our depth of knowledge, and usually does.
Note that we have quite a bit of knowledge of genes and introductions.


Perhaps I should have inserted Worthwhile or Meaningfull at the beginning.


WE know quite a lot about agriculture, ecology and genetics.
However no scientist worth their salt will EVER guarantee anything.

Still scientists working in this field get unexpected results, especially

as
inserted genes turn on latent genes, proof they aren't yet in control of

the
process, haven't yet mastered the subject.


Mutations happen all the time and produce quite unexpected results.
The whole biosphere is in an orgy of reproduction that produces billions
of mutations annually. It's what biological systems have been doing for
a billion years. Nothing new there.


Not talking mutations of genes here, talking about latent genes that are
already there but that don't "do" anything suddenly making things happen
after the GM insertion of another gene triggers them into action.


Mutations (natural) do that all the time.
yawn

It's a bit like when they got soldiers to stand up and watch a nuclear
explosion just to see what happens, this time it's the whole world they

are
making stand up.


I think you underestimate the resilience of biological systems,
particularly to point mutations.


I have little doubt that GM will not cause the total destruction of life on
earth,


Clearly so. GM without life is nothing.

however, it will cause change,


Change has been happening for 1000,000,000 years without ceasing.
Big deal.

possibly some destruction of species,


Species have been being lost for 1000,000,000's of years.
Big deal. Best avoided, but it's actually quite hard to take a species
to extinction, particularly insects, unless you remove their ecosystem.
The field is already a species-deficient zone, being essentially a
monoculture of necessity (even organic fields).

more use of chemicals in farming,


Unlikely. Most/all gmo's use fewer chemicals because if they didn't
there would be no point using them at all. The reduction of insecticide
use in BT cotton has by all accounts been huge for example.

inability of farmers to save their own
seed for the next crop,


Been going on for decades (see hybrids), and in any case I very much
doubt this will be the case in the EU, and doesn't appear to be the case
in the 2nd/3rd world.

contamination of other crops/wild flora.........


If genes are transferred from some crop plants to some wild plants then
this has been going on for millennia anyway. The question is whether the
new genes give a significant advantage or disadvantage in the wild (cos
wild plants live in the wild). Whilst I can see a mechanism for GM
insecticides, I cannot see one for herbicide tolerance. It's also worth
remembering that apart from some very closely related species (typically
the brassicae) this is known not to happen (see selective weedkillers
for example).

Will it be change for better or worse?


As a farmer, the ability to use fewer, safer, sprays is highly
beneficial. Remember by far the person most at risk is the sprayer
operator, who is handling bulk quantities of concentrate.

Do we know yet?


The US (and elsewhere) experience is that it's for the better overall.
Otherwise they wouldn't continue to increase their area of gm cropping.

Other than those
companies involved making lots more money I don't think so.


Farmers are most certainly not making lots of money, anywhere in the
world. In any case one might just as well, and with much more
justification, say the same about pharmaceutical companies. You know,
the guys who sell you life-saving drugs at a truly vast margin.

I suspect we will never agree on this subject. Well not for some years
anyway.


Depends if the evidence counts or not.

--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.
DEMON address no longer in use.