"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
What's the biggest food security HAZARD near us all?
Hello, I was suposed to talk about Who is affected by hunger and food insecurity in my
community.
Well, my subject goes beyond all that, we all know by now that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not a food security challenge but a food safety hazard threatening the wh*** planet.
The way I see it, any big or small efforts fighting food security in Zimbawe or Honolulu will sooner than later be worthless due to the way transgenic technology management is being carried away.
I am familiar enough to this field in order to state that transgenics are being handled recklessly. Please check:
http://www.upvery.com/8884-the-european-commission-authorized-the-c...
BASF has just been authorized to commercialize a new "type of potato which contains more starch than the traditional, so it is best to manufacture high-strength paper or for improved livestock feed". HOWEVER, "the marker gene that gives higher starch potatoes could at the same time cause antibiotic resistance in humans"!!!
Two scientists on the European Food Safety Authority panel dissented from the decision, saying that harmful impacts could not be a****sed and gene transfers between plants and bacteria may be possible.
And what innovations are being used to combat this hazard?
Now, here´s the thing, approval of a transgenic organism is normally supported and promoted by political and economical reasons rather than food safety or humanitarian reasons. This keeps repeating on and on & no one seems to care enough to straighten things away. We as consumers share a great part of that responsibility.
Currently, the state of the art of transgenic science is that GM crops can not be controlled, unless they are farmed in separate planets. In my opinion, this technology should be put on hold until conditions allow us to have a real control of the technique, including more information about long term effects.
This is my objective: to give you all +1 global insight
community.
Well, my subject goes beyond all that, we all know by now that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not a food security challenge but a food safety hazard threatening the wh*** planet.
The way I see it, any big or small efforts fighting food security in Zimbawe or Honolulu will sooner than later be worthless due to the way transgenic technology management is being carried away.
I am familiar enough to this field in order to state that transgenics are being handled recklessly. Please check:
http://www.upvery.com/8884-the-european-commission-authorized-the-c...
BASF has just been authorized to commercialize a new "type of potato which contains more starch than the traditional, so it is best to manufacture high-strength paper or for improved livestock feed". HOWEVER, "the marker gene that gives higher starch potatoes could at the same time cause antibiotic resistance in humans"!!!
Two scientists on the European Food Safety Authority panel dissented from the decision, saying that harmful impacts could not be a****sed and gene transfers between plants and bacteria may be possible.
And what innovations are being used to combat this hazard?
Now, here´s the thing, approval of a transgenic organism is normally supported and promoted by political and economical reasons rather than food safety or humanitarian reasons. This keeps repeating on and on & no one seems to care enough to straighten things away. We as consumers share a great part of that responsibility.
Recently, Greenpeace submitted a report for the EU parliament regarding their concerns, please check.
Cautious initiatives are being carried out in some countries:
Canada, where the approval of Bill C-474 would support Canadian farmers in carrying out “an analysis of potential harm to export markets be conducted before the sale of any new genetically engineered seed is permitted.” This information is borrowed from my fellow Jamie Ihaksi in his Mission 2.
India's government has just blocked the commercialization of an aubergine which was meant to be the first commercial genetically engineered (GE) food crop.
Currently, the state of the art of transgenic science is that GM crops can not be controlled, unless they are farmed in separate planets. In my opinion, this technology should be put on hold until conditions allow us to have a real control of the technique, including more information about long term effects.
This is my objective: to give you all +1 global insight
Views: 19
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Comment by Starling on March 26, 2010 at 9:58am
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Another problem with GM food crops is their low level of genetic variability. Transgenic crops are a clone, each is genetically identical to the next plant. This means that if a disease, bacteria, fungus, insect gets a successful attack on one plant they can eat the wh*** crop. I know I read that planting traditional way with 6 cultivars of rice reduces rice blast fungus by 97% - can't find the paper right now but obviously thinking about genetic diversity means lower intensity of farming practices - less fossil fuel use as well.
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Comment by Ternura Rojas on March 26, 2010 at 11:07am
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You are right Alice, although genetic variability of transgenic crops disappears as they get mixed with neighbor crops they transmit their transgenic genes to "wild" crops. This process has been taking place since ever in a natural form. The downside of non-natural transgenic technology is that it involves dangerous genes introduced to the loop. It is very expensive and hard to develop new antibiotics, I do not think it is a good idea to develop a potato that could render us resistant to antibiotics.
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Antibiotic resistance is widespread - largely due to veterinary use of antibiotics in intensive meat production! Not saying it's not a problem. But studies have shown resistance genes in the families of workers in intensive pig production. If it's antibiotic resistance you're wanting to address there are many avenues that need to be blocked.
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Comment by Riko Kamachi on March 26, 2010 at 12:43pm
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I agree, the overusage of antibiotics (as preventatives, or for overtreating very minor ailments) is mostly to blame for the increase in resistance against antibiotics. But your post is very informative regarding the dangers of genetic modification - thank you, Ternura :)
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Tell me about it! I am a Pharmacist, I know how hard it is to find a molecule that potentially will in 10 or 20 years become an antibiotic. Moreover, in a daily basis I have to ensure that the policies about antibiotic misuse are being followed by doctors and patients. I am also familiar with misuse of antibiotics in the "agro" field. There are indeed many avenues to block and we certainly do not need one created consciously (but recklessly) by our own.
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Yeah I agree - just did my PhD in microbial genomics studying antibiotic production gene systems.
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Some links about the courageous doing something about it: Greenpeace and here
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Comment by Sam D on May 10, 2010 at 11:59am
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Of course! I was thinking about this just today. Transportation is a major food security issue in big cities, but in the rural area I live in this is definitely the biggest issue. As moratorium on GM foods has been lifted in my state, cross contamination is a real issue.
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Hello Sam. Thanks for the visit :-) I don´t understand why others do not consider this cross contam a potential hazard. Ignorance and greed are my candidates :-).
problems should be solved soon: as honeybees are collapsing, when they totally disappear we will only have about 4 years of survival......then there will be nothing to worry about :-(
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