3 ms·

Why would you even ask that? If we can make food that requires less pesticides, or less fertlizer, or is more nutritious, or just produces more per acre, why wo

Why would you even ask that? If we can make food that requires less pesticides, or less fertlizer, or is more nutritious, or just produces more per acre, why wouldn't we? How is the idea that genetically modified = intrinsically bad anything other than superstition?

oliv__ 12y ago
It's not about the GMOs themselves but if you can grow the same/a sufficient amount of food without using pesticides at all, then why even bother with GMOs?
- gusfoo 12y ago
  > It's not about the GMOs themselves but if you can grow the same/a sufficient amount of food without using pesticides at all, then why even bother with GMOs? But you can't. For example, organic farming uses much more pesticide and herbicide than the same GMO crops do. There is a persistent myth that organic doesn't use herbicides and pesticides but it is not in any way true and never has been. But +1 to the marketing department for implanting that persistent idea in the mind of the general public.
gnaffle 12y ago
It's not so much that it's intrinsically bad, but just like with new, man-made chemical compounds that has never existed before, there's a possibility that there are adverse effects that we can't anticipate and won't be apparent for many years to come. After all the experience we've had with persistent pollutants, I think we're right to be cautious.
- sampo 12y ago
  > "new, man-made chemical compounds that has never existed before" GMO cultivars usually do not contain new, man-made chemical compounds. For example, Golden Rice contain beta carotene (occurs naturally in e.g. carrots). The virus resistant Hawaiian Rainbow Papaya contains a protein from the virus' capsid, effective "vaccinating" the plants, resulting in virus resistance. Bt Cotton contains a chemical from Bacillus thuringiensis, a common bacterium in soils, that is harmful to pest insects.
  - gnaffle 12y ago
    If you had taken the time to also read the words preceding your quote, "but just like with new,", you would have realized that I was making a comparison instead of believing I was making the claim that GMOs include new, man-made chemicals. New, man-made chemicals aren't intrinsically bad. But based on past experience, we are right to be cautious because we can't always anticipate their effects, the effects can take a long time to become apparent and they can be impossible to eliminate (like with PCBs).

oliv__ 12y ago

It's not about the GMOs themselves but if you can grow the same/a sufficient amount of food without using pesticides at all, then why even bother with GMOs?

gusfoo 12y ago
> It's not about the GMOs themselves but if you can grow the same/a sufficient amount of food without using pesticides at all, then why even bother with GMOs? But you can't. For example, organic farming uses much more pesticide and herbicide than the same GMO crops do. There is a persistent myth that organic doesn't use herbicides and pesticides but it is not in any way true and never has been. But +1 to the marketing department for implanting that persistent idea in the mind of the general public.

gnaffle 12y ago

It's not so much that it's intrinsically bad, but just like with new, man-made chemical compounds that has never existed before, there's a possibility that there are adverse effects that we can't anticipate and won't be apparent for many years to come. After all the experience we've had with persistent pollutants, I think we're right to be cautious.

sampo 12y ago
> "new, man-made chemical compounds that has never existed before" GMO cultivars usually do not contain new, man-made chemical compounds. For example, Golden Rice contain beta carotene (occurs naturally in e.g. carrots). The virus resistant Hawaiian Rainbow Papaya contains a protein from the virus' capsid, effective "vaccinating" the plants, resulting in virus resistance. Bt Cotton contains a chemical from Bacillus thuringiensis, a common bacterium in soils, that is harmful to pest insects.
- gnaffle 12y ago
  If you had taken the time to also read the words preceding your quote, "but just like with new,", you would have realized that I was making a comparison instead of believing I was making the claim that GMOs include new, man-made chemicals. New, man-made chemicals aren't intrinsically bad. But based on past experience, we are right to be cautious because we can't always anticipate their effects, the effects can take a long time to become apparent and they can be impossible to eliminate (like with PCBs).