K, talk to us after Monsanto executives feed themselves and their families a diet of GMO foods for a year and they are still alive and healthy. Maybe you'd like to join them? A short term study done on rats with a biased interpretation of the data doesn't do it for me.
Sara - 15 years ago
Sorry about addressing my comment above to "Dan"....I meant to comment on "K"'s comments. Thanks!
Sara - 15 years ago
WOW DAN!!! You are a BILOGIST working with CANCER!!! And you "don't care" about GM foods or our food sources.......SCARY!!!! You must have blinders on and YES.....lack of education in your field might just be the reason solid cures have yet To be discovered! Could you be defying nature and science????
Your concerns about GM foods are completely unfounded and likely, unresearched.
1) "They threaten biological diversity" - actually they maintain biological diversity. GM foods tend to be modified in such a way that the pest being maintained is the only one targeted. This means that other organisms that would have been harmed due to the use of pesticides are not killed. There was a 30% INCREASE in monarch populations after the GM StarLink corn was introduced. You might say you don't want to use pesticides either, but I think we've all just gotten used to pesticides and have no idea what it's like to cut into a piece of fruit or veg and finding it teeming with insects. I will take GM foods over that any day!
2) "This is a dumb risk to take especially as we race into their production without the proper regulations in place." Actually GM foods have MORE regulations in place than other foods and they err on the side of caution. Again back to the StarLink corn, although it was not shown to be toxic to humans, it was not approved for use in human food. Crops sprayed with pesticides that are known to be harmful to humans are completely approved for use, though.
Dan - you are a representative of the group of people I fear most - the uninformed but opinionated. There is nothing wrong with not knowing the facts about GM foods, but once you want to form an opinion on it, you should look at the facts before you form an opinion, otherwise you come off sounding like an idiot.
The scary thing is that flip-flopping treehuggers will do when it comes to science. They want us to believe that global warming exists because the majority of scientists say it does. The few scientists who argues against it must be getting paid by the oil companies. On the other hand, the majority of scientists say GM foods are okay, but treehuggers want us to believe the minority of scientists who say they're not, because the majority must be getting paid by monsantos or something! Honestly, if Monsantos had to pay off all the scientists who say GM foods are okiekosher, they would lose money.
Look at the facts and figures for yourself. Don't believe journalists that just want to spout their opinions and hope you are stupid enough to believe their opinion when they give you no facts.
As for me, since I'm a biologist in a completely different field (cancer) I could care less what happens to GM foods. If they disappeared tomorrow I would be just as apathetic as if they took over the entire market tomorrow. However, if they disappeared because of morons irrationally saying they were bad, then I would be worried at our educational system.
Dan Selden - 15 years ago
I worry about GM foods with pest resistance and the sorts. They threaten biological diversity and often throw surrounding ecosystems out of balance as they cross with their wild relatives. This is a dumb risk to take especially as we race into their production without the proper regulations in place. However, the potential to develop drought resistant GM foods or those with increased vitamin content could have profound effects on regions of the world where sustainable agriculture is most needed. All in all, I'm concerned that we are using GM in the wrong way.
K, talk to us after Monsanto executives feed themselves and their families a diet of GMO foods for a year and they are still alive and healthy. Maybe you'd like to join them? A short term study done on rats with a biased interpretation of the data doesn't do it for me.
Sorry about addressing my comment above to "Dan"....I meant to comment on "K"'s comments. Thanks!
WOW DAN!!! You are a BILOGIST working with CANCER!!! And you "don't care" about GM foods or our food sources.......SCARY!!!! You must have blinders on and YES.....lack of education in your field might just be the reason solid cures have yet To be discovered! Could you be defying nature and science????
Dan
Your concerns about GM foods are completely unfounded and likely, unresearched.
1) "They threaten biological diversity" - actually they maintain biological diversity. GM foods tend to be modified in such a way that the pest being maintained is the only one targeted. This means that other organisms that would have been harmed due to the use of pesticides are not killed. There was a 30% INCREASE in monarch populations after the GM StarLink corn was introduced. You might say you don't want to use pesticides either, but I think we've all just gotten used to pesticides and have no idea what it's like to cut into a piece of fruit or veg and finding it teeming with insects. I will take GM foods over that any day!
2) "This is a dumb risk to take especially as we race into their production without the proper regulations in place." Actually GM foods have MORE regulations in place than other foods and they err on the side of caution. Again back to the StarLink corn, although it was not shown to be toxic to humans, it was not approved for use in human food. Crops sprayed with pesticides that are known to be harmful to humans are completely approved for use, though.
Dan - you are a representative of the group of people I fear most - the uninformed but opinionated. There is nothing wrong with not knowing the facts about GM foods, but once you want to form an opinion on it, you should look at the facts before you form an opinion, otherwise you come off sounding like an idiot.
The scary thing is that flip-flopping treehuggers will do when it comes to science. They want us to believe that global warming exists because the majority of scientists say it does. The few scientists who argues against it must be getting paid by the oil companies. On the other hand, the majority of scientists say GM foods are okay, but treehuggers want us to believe the minority of scientists who say they're not, because the majority must be getting paid by monsantos or something! Honestly, if Monsantos had to pay off all the scientists who say GM foods are okiekosher, they would lose money.
Look at the facts and figures for yourself. Don't believe journalists that just want to spout their opinions and hope you are stupid enough to believe their opinion when they give you no facts.
As for me, since I'm a biologist in a completely different field (cancer) I could care less what happens to GM foods. If they disappeared tomorrow I would be just as apathetic as if they took over the entire market tomorrow. However, if they disappeared because of morons irrationally saying they were bad, then I would be worried at our educational system.
I worry about GM foods with pest resistance and the sorts. They threaten biological diversity and often throw surrounding ecosystems out of balance as they cross with their wild relatives. This is a dumb risk to take especially as we race into their production without the proper regulations in place. However, the potential to develop drought resistant GM foods or those with increased vitamin content could have profound effects on regions of the world where sustainable agriculture is most needed. All in all, I'm concerned that we are using GM in the wrong way.