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New Scientist - glyphosate, increases the risk of fungal infections
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message ...
"dave @ stejonda" wrote in message ... There's a news story at http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994051 which reports that laboratory studies have suggested that glyphosate increases the risk of fungal infections. I have read the URL. The item is interesting, but it was quite incorrect to publish it in New Scientist at this stage, since the work is quite inconclusive so far, and the article contains zero quantitative information to help the reader decide whether the effect is statistically significant or not.. The folk involved are not making any claims yet, they are only making suggestions. My initial reaction is that since it is known that water also affects the population of a number of malignant organisms, one should ban the use of water in agriculture. That's unfair to *New Scientist*, an entirely responsible weekly. It would be wrong not to report initial and interim findings as they become available. Those who have read the article properly must have noticed that it contains clear cautionary remarks such as: QUOTE/ But the investigators warn against jumping to conclusions. "We're deferring judgement until we have all the data," says Hanson. His team is now planning field and greenhouse trials. .... The team's initial findings are likely to be seized upon by anti-GM activists. But switching to other herbicides could be bad news for the environment - glyphosate is one of the least harmful herbicides, as it quickly breaks down in the soil. Ironically, Syngenta, another biotech giant, based in Basle, Switzerland, has been developing and testing both GM and conventional wheat strains that are resistant to the fusarium head fungi. "The results have been promising," says a Syngenta spokesman. /ENDQUOTE I've mentioned in this newsgroup today the tendency for some people to drag in utterly irrelevant distractors, such as your mention of water, whenever anybody says something not fully in favour of the agricultural chemical industry. Is there something you aren't telling us? (You certainly didn't tell us what the article actually said when attacking it for not saying it.) Mike. |
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