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They're mostly modified so that they can handle herbicides.
by soperj 4y ago
They're mostly modified so that they can handle herbicides.
- adamgordonbell 4y agoI'm not sure why something handling herbicides makes it problematic for eating? Is it because it will then have more herbicides on it or because you feel the incentives behind GMO are off or is their some more immediate problem?
- soperj 4y agoIt's more than just food for eating. For instance, in BC they plant GMO round up ready pine, and then spray clear cuts and forest fire areas with round up, so that they can plant mono-culture pine stands. This has caused massive forest fire issues which also results flooding issues, along with biodiversity issues.
- asdff 4y agoSeems like they would have done that anyhow without the GMO pine...
- algoatecorn 4y agoBut that's only because the originators of the first GMO seeds had to be firms with plenty of capital and R&D capacity ie. chemical companies. They also had the double revenue stream of seeds + herbicide. Herbicide resistance is also the most attractive seed trait in terms of farmer adoption. Now, the cost of generating GMO seeds is much lower. We have more firms creating GMO with traits beyond herbicide resistance. These genotypes will have value for processors, retailers, and consumers. Be careful to not tarnish the reputation of GMO seeds before we realize their true potential.