4 ms·

It’s a valid perspective. If there were to be a contagious disease that could rapidly spread via eg spores, it could wipe out the entire population of these cro

by pm90 7y ago

It’s a valid perspective. If there were to be a contagious disease that could rapidly spread via eg spores, it could wipe out the entire population of these crops. I am hoping that various ag labs around the country store a diversity of cereal grains. That being said, it’s unlikely that GMO crops will stop being popular anytime soon. The best we can hope for is that labs get really good and fast at producing GM crops so that when the disease eventually hits, the lab/company can quickly produce a disease resistant variety. The population of the world is growing rapidly. We absolutely do need highest yielding food crops if we are to not cut down every forest to just feed everyone.

arrosenberg 7y ago
> If there were to be a contagious disease that could rapidly spread via eg spores, it could wipe out the entire population of these crops. That's more or less how we started down the GMO path in the first place, back in the 60s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_leaf_rust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_leaf_rust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug
ratacat 7y ago
Is there a point where the conversation shifts from we need to produce more for less to feed or growing population to we need to stop growing. Obviously a hugely loaded subject, but also worth thinking about.
riffraff 7y ago
> The population of the world is growing rapidly. We absolutely do need highest yielding food crops if we are to not cut down every forest to just feed everyone. Do we really need GMO for this though? The EU is more or less self-sufficient[0] without GMO production. It is true it relies on GM imports (soy, rice) but it also exports a ton of other stuff. I am not against GM crops, but I'm not unconvinced they are the only option. Africa is (was? I'm not up to date) a net food importer, but it has crop yields 5 times lower then US/EU/Asia, which could also be improved by other means such as better land management. [0] http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%2013364%202014%20INIT http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%201336...
SuoDuanDao 7y ago
My personal hope is that we'll shift from big, centralised labs producing and selling vast quantities of essentially the same organism to lots of decentralised hackers modifying their own strains and scaling up if they find a real winner. Potential for the best of both worlds there.

by pm90 7y ago

arrosenberg 7y ago

> If there were to be a contagious disease that could rapidly spread via eg spores, it could wipe out the entire population of these crops. That's more or less how we started down the GMO path in the first place, back in the 60s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_leaf_rust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_leaf_rust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug

ratacat 7y ago

Is there a point where the conversation shifts from we need to produce more for less to feed or growing population to we need to stop growing. Obviously a hugely loaded subject, but also worth thinking about.

riffraff 7y ago

> The population of the world is growing rapidly. We absolutely do need highest yielding food crops if we are to not cut down every forest to just feed everyone. Do we really need GMO for this though? The EU is more or less self-sufficient[0] without GMO production. It is true it relies on GM imports (soy, rice) but it also exports a ton of other stuff. I am not against GM crops, but I'm not unconvinced they are the only option. Africa is (was? I'm not up to date) a net food importer, but it has crop yields 5 times lower then US/EU/Asia, which could also be improved by other means such as better land management. [0] http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%2013364%202014%20INIT http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%201336...

SuoDuanDao 7y ago

My personal hope is that we'll shift from big, centralised labs producing and selling vast quantities of essentially the same organism to lots of decentralised hackers modifying their own strains and scaling up if they find a real winner. Potential for the best of both worlds there.