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Post by Vene on Dec 30, 2011 13:26:27 GMT -5
I found a nice pdf today concerning genetically modified foods and the science behind it. www.senseaboutscience.org/data/files/resources/9/MSofGM2011.pdfSome of the parts I particularly liked: “GM crop plants look and behave in most respects like conventional crop plants: they differ only in very specific ways. When anti-GM protestors tried to stop a trial that included GM peas at the John Innes Centre in Norwich they actually destroyed a collection of non-GM peas from around the world that looked very different from conventional UK peas – they assumed that these must be GM. The GM peas – which looked identical to conventional UK peas – were left undamaged.”
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Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) causes blindness in around half a million people, mainly children, every year. Half of them die within 12 months of going blind and others die of diseases like malaria because VAD severely affects the immune system. It is prevalent in poor communities that rely on rice as their major food because their diets don’t contain the beta-carotene that the body needs to convert to vitamin A. GM technology has been used to create a variety called Golden Rice, which produces beta-carotene because it has genes from maize and from a soil bacterium. It has been created with joint public sector and commercial funding and the final product will be given to national governments to distribute to resource-poor farmers free of charge.
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Some consumers have expressed concerns about ‘eating genes’ and ‘eating DNA’ in foods from GM sources. All food contains genes and DNA but this is digested and disposed of in the usual way: “When we eat any food, we are eating the genes and breaking down the DNA present in the food.” I think it does a pretty good job of giving a rough outline of GM technology, current and potential benefits of it, and refutations of the concerns. |
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Post by SimSim on Dec 30, 2011 15:37:14 GMT -5
Many of the people who fight GM food are so ignorant of human history and the history of food that'd it be funny, if they weren't so infuriating.
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Post by Wykked Wytch on Dec 30, 2011 16:08:28 GMT -5
My parents think GM food is a conspiracy to give people cancer because it's not "natural DNA."
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Post by Vene on Dec 30, 2011 16:45:47 GMT -5
My parents think GM food is a conspiracy to give people cancer because it's not "natural DNA." Of course they do. And it shows a profound misunderstanding of how digestion works as well as how cancer works. |
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Post by Random Guy on Dec 30, 2011 18:46:35 GMT -5
Many of the people who fight GM food are so ignorant of human history and the history of food that'd it be funny, if they weren't so infuriating. Indeed. Humans have been genetically modifying food for thousands of years; we've just developed new ways of doing it now. |
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Post by SimSim on Dec 30, 2011 19:13:27 GMT -5
Exactly.
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Post by RavynousHunter on Dec 30, 2011 19:15:56 GMT -5
Yeah, but those were working with nature! Our current methods are unnatural! WE'RE MAKIN ZOMBIE PLANTS!  Its a government conspiracyyy. |
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Post by Dragon Zachski on Dec 30, 2011 23:14:37 GMT -5
FUN... FACT... (I say with gritted teeth, despite typing this out)
I was once assigned to a group in Ethics class. They wanted to do something about the evils of GMOs. They also continually left me out of the loop, and then called the teacher when I wasn't contributing (kinda hard to when you aren't included in discussion). The teacher arranged for a discussion with a counselor, who instantly took their side on the issue (to be fair, my kind of situation is an exception, not a rule, but at the same time, she's supposed to account for that) The teacher wisely decided to let me be a team of one rather than insta-fail me for this issue.
They ended up going nearly two times over their time limit for the presentation. My presentation (which was on gambling, which concluded in FAVOR of it) managed to get within the time necessary to go, but still managed to be succinct.
Guess who got a good grade and who didn't?
But in any case, my point is that they sounded more like rambling conspiracy theorists about the whole thing, and I am VERY glad I ended up getting dropped from that group. This just makes me even MORE glad.
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Post by Wykked Wytch on Dec 31, 2011 0:20:41 GMT -5
FUN... FACT... (I say with gritted teeth, despite typing this out) I was once assigned to a group in Ethics class. They wanted to do something about the evils of GMOs. They also continually left me out of the loop, and then called the teacher when I wasn't contributing (kinda hard to when you aren't included in discussion). The teacher arranged for a discussion with a counselor, who instantly took their side on the issue (to be fair, my kind of situation is an exception, not a rule, but at the same time, she's supposed to account for that) The teacher wisely decided to let me be a team of one rather than insta-fail me for this issue. They ended up going nearly two times over their time limit for the presentation. My presentation (which was on gambling, which concluded in FAVOR of it) managed to get within the time necessary to go, but still managed to be succinct. Guess who got a good grade and who didn't? But in any case, my point is that they sounded more like rambling conspiracy theorists about the whole thing, and I am VERY glad I ended up getting dropped from that group. This just makes me even MORE glad. Whenever a school project comes up, I check with the teacher to see if I can do the work by myself. I'm usually allowed to work solo, on the condition that my work is really fucking good. The most reasonable (and I use reasonable loosely here) argument against GMO foods is that if crops become too uniform, then genetic diversity will be lost and they will be more susceptible to genetic warfare. Except that the point of GMO foods is to make them more resistant to disease, not less. Last night there was a woman on the local news talking about how she's growing her own organic food so that she doesn't have to "be a part of the system" and "sully her conscience." So in that respect she kind of came across as a cross between a conspiracy theorist and a smug bitch. |
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Post by Vene on Dec 31, 2011 0:26:06 GMT -5
The most reasonable (and I use reasonable loosely here) argument against GMO foods is that if crops become too uniform, then genetic diversity will be lost and they will be more susceptible to genetic warfare. Except that the point of GMO foods is to make them more resistant to disease, not less. There's another problem, many foods we eat are sterile hybrids (read: clones), especially seedless fruits like bananas. Even outside of them, you don't want too much diversity or the traits for optimal yield will disappear. |
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Post by DeadpanDoubter on Dec 31, 2011 2:10:45 GMT -5
Last night there was a woman on the local news talking about how she's growing her own organic food so that she doesn't have to "be a part of the system" and "sully her conscience." So in that respect she kind of came across as a cross between a conspiracy theorist and a smug bitch. Seeds can travel, though, on the wind and on animals. Also now I imagine her neighbors 'contaminating' her crops with 'tainted' seeds so they can shit themselves giggling whenever they see her eating. |
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Post by Wykked Wytch on Dec 31, 2011 3:42:29 GMT -5
Last night there was a woman on the local news talking about how she's growing her own organic food so that she doesn't have to "be a part of the system" and "sully her conscience." So in that respect she kind of came across as a cross between a conspiracy theorist and a smug bitch. Seeds can travel, though, on the wind and on animals. Also now I imagine her neighbors 'contaminating' her crops with 'tainted' seeds so they can shit themselves giggling whenever they see her eating. They don't even have to fuck with her to find something to laugh about. She eats mealworms. No, seriously. She keeps live mealworms in a container and fries them alive. Then she eats them. |
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Post by jackmann on Dec 31, 2011 4:49:11 GMT -5
Nothin' wrong with mealworms. Nice protein there.
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Post by RavynousHunter on Dec 31, 2011 6:04:12 GMT -5
I'll take a genetically modified steak (I know, doesn't exist yet, don't bite my head off) over Kentucky Fried Mealworms any day.
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Post by jackmann on Dec 31, 2011 7:36:53 GMT -5
We'll split the difference. Genetically modified mealworms.
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