Retracted green light on GM crops feeds suspicions
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Like if we haven’t learned enough with the past from playing God men still wants to do it in the search of high profits.
Seems like we haven’t learned enough from our previous experience from playing God. Now we play with food modifying its genetic structure in order to obtain higher profits. Just now we start detecting problems like unstable proliferation of some crops and destruction of the natural genetic structure of the old ones through cross polinization. Also, GM crops can result in people and animals developing resistance to certain types of antibiotics which are used to treat diseases.
Worlds leaders are starting to take more attention into the matter because of thousands of complains and petitions made by Greenpeace supporters and negative observations from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Institute Pasteur and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Lately the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has had a remarkable action when it retracted the green light for a new type of GM potato and two types of GM maize to be grown. Though it was a good step in denying the previous given green light to the new GM crops of potato and maize how do we know that EFSA didn’t made the same mistake before and we are producing crops that harm the human being and the environment? The European commission has ordered a second investigation on these crops but shouldn’t a second investigation be done to all GM crops since EFSA got it wrong this time?
These crops may deliver health problems that might only be noticeable a few generations after, isn’t this a cause for concern too?
Another fact is that most probably the GM crops that produce their own insecticides and other GM crops may have a negative impact on the environment and because of that the EFSA should have rejected the crops right away since we know so little about the future problems that it may bring us.
May 14th, 2008 at 1:08 am
…are you fucking retarded?
man, I wish I could write bullshit articles without a single factual piece of information in them and get them linked to ebaumsworld.
you fucking schmuck, GM crops are made to feed the world, not to “make a profit”. There’s never been a single scrap of evidence to support your claim of “people and animals developing resistance to certain types of antibiotics which are used to treat diseases”, and Greenpeace is an absolutely terrible organization.
You are lucky to have the privilege of being able to throw away food. The people you’re hurting by spouting this bullshit are starving, I hope that feels nice on your conscience.
May 14th, 2008 at 3:44 am
Wow some people will post anything whether it is fact of fiction. Sorry I don’t buy into the opinion that food will make us resistant to antibiotics. Working in the medical field for the past 12 years has taught me otherwise. I don’t know much about how europe allows controls human consumables like food and medicine, but I am sure that some type of research is required before any product is released. So until new research shows products cause issues, why does a government agency need to re-hash current research that says a product is safe. Also sience has been working with creating better plant food sources for years, after all how long has seedless fruit been around? Do you think that is a natural phenom?
May 14th, 2008 at 6:21 am
While Ian sounds like a douche, he’s absolutely right.
GM crops don’t get spliced with animals, as is common theory, and as of the time of this writing there has been absolutely ZERO evidence to support any negative findings due to GM crops, except for a few greenpeace whack-jobs who’re doing essentially the same thing that the writer of THIS article is doing and spouting off completely false information.
Go read about Norman Borlaug, it’ll help you to sound not so stupid.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:06 am
I feel really sad to have to discuss with people that show no respect but I believe in freedom of speech so here it goes: if you at least went through the trouble of checking if the article is real before making this useless remarks it would be much better.
All the stuff written here is true and is backed up by proper fonts. To increase your culture I?m going to let you search, and because I know you are “smart”, I know that you’ll find the info regarding the retracted green light by the European commission.
After you checked the story I hope you are educated enough to apologize.
For your information there are some places where you can check the veracity of what I published:
The ban is real and happened for some reason : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2011074.ece
More info to prove your comments are useless: “A new report shows how GM crops have led to a rise in the use of pesticides worldwide. They have failed to address hunger and poverty including for farmers in developing countries.” From http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/Index.htm
“Who benefits from GM crops” at http://www.foei.org/en/publications/pdfs/gmcrops2007execsummary.pdf
“”GM crops, GM industry is not competitive, it is not creating jobs, it is not creating any new environmental benefits, it’s not accepted by consumers, and I think we need to take a long, hard look. These figures today are more about the industry trying to reassure its investors than any significant success.”” At http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7066878.stm
also: “Antibiotic Resistance Marker Genes in GM Crops … in food animals and Enterococcus faecium resistance to therapeutic antimicrobial drugs in Europe” from http://www.jic.ac.uk/corporate/about/publications/gm-debate/armg.htm
and: “GM crops containing antibiotic resistance. markers have raised concern in Europe about. the risk of spreading antibiotic resistance genes …” from http://www.efb-central.org/images/uploads/AntibioticRM_English.pdf
I’m sure that if you search the WWW you’ll get much better informed about the subject.
Everybody is welcome to comment this post but I just ask for a bit of education because I will publish the comments.
Ps: waiting for an apology for the lack of education in the previous comments.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Hi guys, its naive to think that GMO will have no negative effect on our planet. I’m tempted to insult and speak the same language as some users here but I am an adult. So I’m just going to say that it is more than naive to think that suppliers will use GM _of kindness_ to feed the world, money talks.
Well written post on an important subject, we continue to push our borders, when will it go wrong?
May 14th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I cannot believe the intelligence level of so MANY people when it comes to thinking that things are done for ‘humanitarian’ reasons verses for the money.
.
MONSANTO…
For those who have not seen the site yet :
http://www.seedsofdeception.com - will inform the ‘unknowing’ to the reality of the situation.
I am inclined to think that Ian, Rags, and Vincent are of the same intelligence that believes that Global Warming isn’t happening.
Cudos ! to the Author
May 15th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Although genetically modified crops are in theory, a fabulous idea that are not harmful to the world at large, GM’s genetically modified crops are not this theoretical god-send.
GM crops are designed to be infertile so that the genetically modified strains do not breed with the natural strains. This is fine and dandy for the environment but in practice, the farmers have to keep coming back to GM and paying more and more money for each season of crops. And the seeds are not cheap.
Also, GM crops have been proven to produce less product than the wild type strains despite their added genetically-enhanced benefits. They can also wreak havoc on the wildlife in the surrounding ecosystems.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:20 am
“Also, GM crops can result in people and animals developing resistance to certain types of antibiotics which are used to treat diseases.”
Anyone with even a moderate background in science will laugh in your face if you even suggest something like this to them. It goes against literally everything we know about genetics and cell biology. For that scenario to occur you would have to not only find a way to get an intact gene from a plant despite the numerous digestic enzymes that prevent that, but you’d also have to somehow insert it into your own DNA.
What you’re probably trying to say is that some scientists fear that GM crops that harbor antibiotic resistance genes could pass those genes to bacteria, resulting in resistant bacteria.
It’s fears like these that have given GM crops a worse image in the public (particularly in Europe) than they deserve. The obviously should be highly regulated but there’s nothing inherently evil or wrong with them. They have the potential to do plenty of good.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Thus far there have been zero human deaths or diseases caused by GM crops. On the other hand there are countless deaths from slow agonizing starvation every year. If you oppose GM crops based on your own fear and ignorance and manage to get even a single country to ban them, you are personally responsible for the deaths of all those people that starve because of your actions. Think before you speak. If you can’t think, don’t speak.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Clownshoes… you are a breath of fresh air. Or did you just read the authors last source? Like I did? And apparently the author did not. Please, read the sources you site. If you don’t think someone will go and actually read them YOU ARE WRONG. The only source you site that even comes close to what you claim is source(s) 2 and 3 - they lead to the same info. And even that is misinterpreted.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Ohh great, more junk science to feed the masses of rtards.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Nope, I didn’t read them before. But now that I have, it seems that the links were posted without being read thoroughly first.
That’s the biggest problem with huge issues like this. Many of the people don’t take the time to make an informed decision. And an even smaller number are actually qualified enough to make a rational decision after they’ve read up on something.
I study genetics and I believe I know enough to say you can’t pick up genes from a GM crop. But if I walked up to a non-scientist and told them that you could, what would they do? They don’t have the knowledge base in the subject to know if what I’m saying makes sense at all.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:18 am
Admin:
Creating a GM plant is essentailly an extension of the breeding techniques humans have been using since the dawn of the argricultural revolution. To assert that it is somehow dangerous because it circumvents natural processes is ignorant at best.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:47 am
The internet is rampant with wasted bits and bytes due to people replying to folks like Ian.
We really need to teach our children that when a moron starts ranting, you just let him rant, then walk away.
Ian, stop writing and start reading. I know it is hard, but if you stick with it, you will… one day… learn something.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Certain honey bees are dying from the pollen of GM crops. Other crops don’t even warrant attention by honey bees — it’s as though the crops are invisible to them.
Google it for the scientific evidence.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:36 am
This may be off topic, but what about the beef steer that are fed GM corn from our massive surplus? Big Agro does this because it’s more “efficient” than grazing them. The industrial feedlot method is abhorrent to nature, creates a ridiculous amount of waste, and yields fatty, low-quality meat, but it reaps incredible profits. Aren’t these cows pumped full of antibiotics because otherwise they are unable to digest corn? Can this practice result in the mutation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria?
Maybe this is what us non-scientists are afraid of. I’m not a scientist, so I guess I don’t understand why we subsidize corn at the expense of the farmers, who HAVE to grow it AND sell it at a market price that continues to fall due to an ever-growing surplus. I don’t understand why we should be lining the pockets of the industrial giants like Cargill, who take advantage of all this cheap corn and turn it into monstrous profits in the form of cheap beef and high-fructose corn syrup laden processed foods, while America just gets fatter.
I’m not a scientist, so I guess I wouldn’t have the knowledge base to understand how this is ultimately good for anyone. Except big Agro.
May 15th, 2008 at 5:43 am
While I will agree with some about GM being about profit. Efficient food production as a result is humanitarian by nature. Drug resistance coming from this food? Hmmmm
The natural progression with survival of the fittest is to adapt or perish. The antibiotic resistant bugs are the surviving litl buggers from too weak of a prescription, or incorrect dosing, or incorrect consumption. I mean, what exactly happens when we correctly take the dang things? We develope resistance to the bugs DOH! Why would germs not benefit from us doing it wrong? That which doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger… usually
Microwaving food in plastic containers? Now there’s something that scares me.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:46 am
some of the posters here are either naive/ignorant or extremely biased, i say this as a bio-engineering post grad.
first gen gm foods were innocent enough, such as bruise resistant tomatoes. the solution was to tweak teh thickness of the cell wall. no biggie. however, since then things have gotten out of control.
the links between glyphosate (roundup) and lymphatic cancer have been exposed in several comprehensive studies, a good one is by the swedes (Miikael Eriksson, M.D., PhD, Department of Oncology, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden).
glyphosate also increases the level of plant estrogen, it also seriously screws with invertebrates such as earth worms, subsequently affecting the food chain. including fish.
just as troubling is the increased amount of lectin in roundup ready potatoes and soy. if you understand how lectin binds to certain types of proteins you’ll understand the reason for concern. simply put, high amounts of lectin lead to intestinal cancer. roundup ready soy beans have greatly reduced levels of proteins and core amino acids such as phenylalanine, on top of that they have significantly higher amounts of trypsin inhibitor and double the amount of lectin.
but the real issue here is monsanto’s policy towards the truth. they lied about pcb’s. they lied about agent orange. they completely manipulated the fda review process for bovine somatotropin or bst (which is banned across europe and cananda). after the fda approved bst the head of the fda review process went to work for monsanto. fortunately the writing is on the wall for posilac/somatotropin. however, monsato’s policy towards disclosure is clear, if you expect to hear the truth from them or even the fda you’re fooling yourself.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:58 am
btw, unless i’m missing something, i can’t see how anyone can blame gm foods for the increased resistance to antibiotics. i lay the blame squarely at the feet of the practice of pumping livestock full of antibiotics to fight infections that primarily arise due to poor animal husbandry methods. chicken and pork production methods (battery farming) in particular.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:04 am
“GM crops can result in people and animals developing resistance to certain types of antibiotics which are used to treat diseases.”
I had a look at your references but couldn’t find where you got this information. Please could you provide details?
May 15th, 2008 at 8:08 am
“I study genetics and I believe I know enough to say you can’t pick up genes from a GM crop.”
wait till you learn about prions (proteinaceous infectious particles) or improperly folded proteins.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:24 am
There is no way to prove GMOs are safe. PERIOD!
May 15th, 2008 at 8:56 am
[...] Retracted green light on GM crops feeds suspicions Lately the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has had a remarkable action when it retracted the green light for a new type of GM potato and two types of GM maize to be grown. Though it was a good step in denying the previous given green light to the new GM crops of potato and maize how do we know that EFSA didn
May 15th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
There is no way to prove non-GMOs are safe. PERIOD!
May 16th, 2008 at 6:19 am
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May 16th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Aren’t all crops genetically modified? We’ve been selectively breeding crops for thousands of years, so strictly speaking, we’ve already genetically modified every crop we eat.
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May 28th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
[...] Retracted green light on GM crops feeds suspicions Lately the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has had a remarkable action when it retracted the green light for a new type of GM potato and two types of GM maize to be grown. Though it was a good step in denying the previous given green light to the new GM crops of potato and maize how do we know that EFSA didn
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