5 ms·

Yep, this was my take. I don't even think the law is necessarily bad. In vague terms, if someone combines a food and a vaccine, we probably should treat it li

Yep, this was my take. I don't even think the law is necessarily bad. In vague terms, if someone combines a food and a vaccine, we probably should treat it like a vaccine rather than a food. I don't know if the law reasonably defines the terms, that would be my only holdback. I fear that in their attempt to legislate away something that doesn't exist, they may cast an overly broad net and break mundane farming methods.

andrewflnr 3y ago
It might get really interesting when we get more modern farming developments that "vaccinate" against plant viruses or fungus or someone, which someone who doesn't understand RNA can then get confused about and call on this law to label otherwise-boring lettuce as a vaccine.
- everforward 3y ago
  This is kind of what I was thinking about. Or even something less sophisticated; I vaguely remember a story about some plants that were cross-bred or spliced onto tobacco, because the resulting nicotine in the leaves kept plant-eating insects away (and I believe there was some biological reason the nicotine couldn't cross into the edible parts, but it's been forever so I don't really remember). Frankly, I don't even know that "vaccine" is a useful categorization for this. Vaccines, as a category, are defined by their outcome and intent, not their constituent parts or methodology. A properly refrigerated mRNA injection for COVID is a vaccine. If you heat that same vial up to 100C, it's not a vaccine anymore, it's just some junk in a vial. At the same time, a properly-refrigerated mRNA shot and a deactivated virus shot are both vaccines, even though their method of action and production share little in common.
JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> don't even think the law is necessarily bad. In vague terms, if someone combines a food and a vaccine, we probably should treat it like a vaccine It would be. It would also be subject to federal law. This is entirely performative nonsense. Tennessee has deep problems; this is a distraction.

andrewflnr 3y ago

It might get really interesting when we get more modern farming developments that "vaccinate" against plant viruses or fungus or someone, which someone who doesn't understand RNA can then get confused about and call on this law to label otherwise-boring lettuce as a vaccine.

everforward 3y ago
This is kind of what I was thinking about. Or even something less sophisticated; I vaguely remember a story about some plants that were cross-bred or spliced onto tobacco, because the resulting nicotine in the leaves kept plant-eating insects away (and I believe there was some biological reason the nicotine couldn't cross into the edible parts, but it's been forever so I don't really remember). Frankly, I don't even know that "vaccine" is a useful categorization for this. Vaccines, as a category, are defined by their outcome and intent, not their constituent parts or methodology. A properly refrigerated mRNA injection for COVID is a vaccine. If you heat that same vial up to 100C, it's not a vaccine anymore, it's just some junk in a vial. At the same time, a properly-refrigerated mRNA shot and a deactivated virus shot are both vaccines, even though their method of action and production share little in common.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago

> don't even think the law is necessarily bad. In vague terms, if someone combines a food and a vaccine, we probably should treat it like a vaccine It would be. It would also be subject to federal law. This is entirely performative nonsense. Tennessee has deep problems; this is a distraction.