[Rob Says: "Yes- let the darkies starve while we indulge our scientifically illiterate moral posturing about things we barely understand."]

The darkies starve because of business, because they don’t have anything we want.

Joe D: my beef with Monsanto isn’t from an ecological point of view. It’s more of an political disagreement with (parts of) their business model:

GM crops are in my view unlikely to have much detrimental impact on people’s health – as we screw ourselves up with all sorts of potentially dangerous, all-natural or not-so-natural products anyway (I say as I sip my coffee & nibble my biscuits).

And following at least some analysis and forethought (yeah, right..) GM crops are also unlikely to have any lasting effects in the environment, as what we introduce in plants is entirely unlikely to help the plant itself as it and its offspring are exposed to natural selection. Check for example what effects 7000 years of non-GM plant breeding has had on natural populations, outside of direct human agricultural interference. The latter, which admittedly counts for quite a lot in itself.

Come on. I know you guys are better at spotting bad arguments than this. It never ceases to amaze me how intelligent, rational, critically thinking people can fall on a single piece of nonsense, and make all of the same argument faux pas that they criticise in other nonsense. Suddenly they think it’s acceptable to use technical terms like “dominance” without finding out what they mean, or whether the Greenpeace press-release or Daily Mail article that they read it in bear any resemblance to reality. Would any of you make similarly uninformed comments about evolution, climate chance, HIV/AIDS, the MMR vaccine, or quantum physics — even if you had seen a YouTube video about them?

GM is not a black and white issue.

Import enough food so they can keep reproducing and the problem continues.

Darwinism held in check by technology.

Here in the Los Angeles, California area we have an artificial desert that has been

overpopulated but sustained by importing water from northern California, so the

result is more people moving here to take advantage of the water supply…

There’s no water shortage, just too many people trying to live off land that isn’t

really able to support them. Soon we will have recycled water from our pee?

Umm, Soylent Yellow!!!

http://boskolives.wordpress.com/

the worst danger about GM crops is genetic “pollution”, that is when they crosspolinate with non GM crops. The problem is that these GM genes are dominant and actually wipe out nonGM crops when cross polinated.

That is so far off the mark – it reminds me of the piles of dreck that creationists claim about evolution. A little research goes a long way.

Patents are involved, but they only last for 23 years, I believe. Then anyone can grow them. Also, there are groups working on open-source genetic engineering tools that do not require the use of patents. These will be to Monsanto what Linux is to Microsoft.

People in other countries are very dependent upon us, and it behooves us to help them become agriculturally independent. GE technologies can help them do that. What we do not need more of are European countries threatening to cut off imports from developing countries that are considering GE crops (or even accepting food donations that include GE food), which is little more than Old World colonialism.

One of the things that we really need is better communication of this field. That’s one thing I try to do on my blog and podcast. After all, I’m a grad student in plant breeding and genetics.

Great comic strip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIvNopv9Pa8

BTW, this comment ‘The problem is that these GM genes are dominant and actually wipe out nonGM crops when cross polinated.’ bears no connection to reality as I understand life and genetics

Well, I guess, that could work. In a good world. But I recall seeing many years ago in Sudan market stalls piled high with bags of grain stenciled ‘Gift from the USA’ and sold very cheaply. and seeing the irrigation works fall into terminal disrepair because you can’t make a living if the crop you are growing is given away free. For now. With understood conditions.

For some, food can be a weapon. They are scum, but they influence the way the world wags.

Efficency is not enough.

Um, what about a GM crop getting out of control? Anything can happen. As far as I remember, genetics involve gadzillions of A-T-C-G combinations that determine a living being.

GM or non-GM, as long as it keeps people from starving, what’s the difference? Whichever can be delivered where it’s needed quickest and cheapest, that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?

it can’t, the system that has created this over production is complex and fragmented. you can’t just reallocate mcd’s beef and soya and use it to feed the world, that assmption is indeed, callous, ignorant and naive.

sorry!