Can we talk about GM crops?

[Calum]

get stuck into this

[Neils]

Oh blimey, tin foil hats are going to melt. Not Bayer or Monstanto, not end of the world AND reported by the Guardian? I think I need to lie down.

[Jon]

So even the Guardian has been co-opted into the vast conspiracy whose tentacles know no limits.

Just goes to show that the battle is going to be even tougher!
The article is just talking about cotton though, I wonder how much can be extrapolated to other crops which are engineered to produce toxins like this.

[Jon]

The Independent appeared in our household today instead of the Guardian for some reason and I noticed this article which looks at GM and the oft quoted 'precautionary principle'.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion...s-7865639.html

The precautionary principle is inhumane, counter-productive, and extremely risky. Its superstitious opposition to human intervention in nature – for instance, with stem cell research – often increases suffering needlessly. It causes rogue rather than regulated scientists to take up the cause of human progress. And it hugely limits the likelihood that great discoveries will be made.

[gavin]

Always nice to see the Mail get a pasting. Even if the article is indeed a bit of a rant.

[Stromnessbees]

Those big papers obviously know how to secure their advertising money.

But there are other news outlets that put the record straight:

Superbug vs. Monsanto: Nature rebels against biotech titan

Published: 25 June, 2012, 05:11





Reuters / Victor Ruiz


A growing number of rootworms are now able to devour genetically modified corn specifically designed by Monsanto to kill those same pests. A new study shows that while the biotech giant may triumph in Congress, it will never be able to outsmart nature.


Western corn rootworms have been able to harmlessly consume the genetically modified maize, a research paper published in the latest issue of the journal GM Crops & Food reveals. A 2010 sample of the rootworm population had an elevenfold survival rate on the genetically modified corn compared to a control population. That’s eight times more than the year before, when the resistant population was first identified.


Experts are also noting that this year’s resistant rootworm populations are maturing earlier than expected. In fact, the time the bug’s larvae hatched was the earliest in decades...

http://rt.com/usa/news/superbug-mons...esistance-628/

[Jon]

Those big papers obviously know how to secure their advertising money.

Pile those conspiracies high!

[Calum]

my attempt at quote of the week.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle said that, and he is still right.

[beeanne]

Keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.

Not sure who said that - Marge Simpson maybe?

[HJBee]

Now that gets my vote for quote of the week!! 👍