Mark Lynas admits he was wrong on GM foods

myp · Jan 4, 2013

Unfortunately the unscientific anti-GM foods movement continues. There is nothing inherently wrong with genetic modification!

http://www.marklynas.org/2013/01/lecture-to-oxford-farming-conference-3-january-2013/

Thoughts?

Cicero · Jan 7, 2013

myp said:
Unfortunately the unscientific anti-GM foods movement continues. There is nothing inherently wrong with genetic modification!

http://www.marklynas.org/2013/01/lecture-to-oxford-farming-conference-3-january-2013/

Thoughts?

I agree. I don't know who Mark Lynas is, but if he has been persuaded by the evidence as to the safety of GMOs then I can appreciate him for that much. I think it is imperative to feeding the growing global population that GMOs not be held back in any way, they represent a very promising new source of food.

redwood · Jan 8, 2013

It's a rather new thing,and there's various factors. For now, my thing is there ought to be fair warning. When I was a kid, Asbestos, Mercury, Lead...were not yet seen for the hazards they were and DDT was widely used also.

myp · Jan 8, 2013

redwood said:
It's a rather new thing,and there's various factors. For now, my thing is there ought to be fair warning. When I was a kid, Asbestos, Mercury, Lead...were not yet seen for the hazards they were and DDT was widely used also.

It's not that new and this isn't like mercury, lead, etc. because this is something that happens naturally in the none-GMO foods we eat too. Genetic modifications happen naturally over time- it is evolution.

Cicero · Jan 8, 2013

redwood said:
It's a rather new thing,and there's various factors. For now, my thing is there ought to be fair warning. When I was a kid, Asbestos, Mercury, Lead...were not yet seen for the hazards they were and DDT was widely used also.

I agree with myp. There is no reason, even in principle, that a GMO should be any more a cause for concern than, say, a new breed of dog. What are the various factors that concern you?

Gottago · Jan 9, 2013

I have issues with the idea of eating a crop that is resistant to a systemic herbicide. I have issues with crops being treated with a systemic herbicide.

The difference between a cross pollinated plant, sport (reversal of hybridization) and a GMO, is what nature intended.

I don't agree with 'breeding' as is done for dominant traits.... just like inbreeding, eventually it weakens the animal to a detrimental degree. (mentally or physically)

The big business agri-crop has lost a great amount of it's palatable and nutritional benefits when picked early. Full development of both can only occur on the 'vine', so to speak.

myp · Jan 9, 2013

Gottago said:
I have issues with the idea of eating a crop that is resistant to a systemic herbicide. I have issues with crops being treated with a systemic herbicide.

This is not necessarily synonymous with all GM crops, but either way, why?

Gottago said:
The difference between a cross pollinated plant, sport (reversal of hybridization) and a GMO, is what nature intended.

Nature doesn't "intend" anything though.

Gottago said:
I don't agree with 'breeding' as is done for dominant traits.... just like inbreeding, eventually it weakens the animal to a detrimental degree. (mentally or physically)

That is quite a bold claim. Do you have any data or studies to back that up? Breeding dates back hundreds if not thousands of years and without it we probably would not have been able to feed all the people we have.

Gottago said:
The big business agri-crop has lost a great amount of it's palatable and nutritional benefits when picked early. Full development of both can only occur on the 'vine', so to speak.

Not sure how this is related to the GM issue, but even then, there are many types of various fruits available including I am sure ripened on the vine fruits.

tecoyah · Jan 9, 2013

Gottago said:
I have issues with the idea of eating a crop that is resistant to a systemic herbicide. I have issues with crops being treated with a systemic herbicide.

The difference between a cross pollinated plant, sport (reversal of hybridization) and a GMO, is what nature intended.

I don't agree with 'breeding' as is done for dominant traits.... just like inbreeding, eventually it weakens the animal to a detrimental degree. (mentally or physically)

The big business agri-crop has lost a great amount of it's palatable and nutritional benefits when picked early. Full development of both can only occur on the 'vine', so to speak.

"
What are genetically modified foods?

For thousands of years, farmers have used selective breeding to yield plant crops with particular genetic traits. The process can combine genes of similar plants in order to create a more-sustainable crop."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/03/08/f-genetic-foods-bg.html

Short of Organic Gardening in your own yard...and avoiding Meat and Dairy...you will be hard pressed to stay away from what you deem unacceptable.

Gottago · Jan 9, 2013

Day from hell here (work), I will respond. Sorry

Gottago · Jan 9, 2013

MYP and Tecoyah:

Hybridizing, which has been around thousands of years, is a genus to genus process (cross pollination). (tomato to tomato, for example) where GMO is the introduction of a foreign substance (salmon has been used?) or even in some cases, man made substances (chemicals and chemical compounds) are introduced.

One fairly good article: http://www.pbs.org/pov/hybrid/getinvolved_article.php

Yes, I do grow my own, and attempt to be reasonably organic.

GMO is NOT a natural process. It is wholly man made.

As to the 'breeding' issues, hip displasia, if prevelant in both dogs breed, it will increase the probability of it occuring, just as inbreeding will weaken the gene pool, which can accent the negatives in a certain string of DNA http://www.as.wvu.edu/~kgarbutt/QuantGen/Gen535_2_2004/Inbreeding_Humans.htm

Gottago · Jan 9, 2013

tecoyah said:
"
What are genetically modified foods?

For thousands of years, farmers have used selective breeding to yield plant crops with particular genetic traits. The process can combine genes of similar plants in order to create a more-sustainable crop."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/03/08/f-genetic-foods-bg.html

I answered both you and MYP below on this.

Short of Organic Gardening in your own yard...and avoiding Meat and Dairy...you will be hard pressed to stay away from what you deem unacceptable.

I do as best I can... my neighbor raises cattle, and shares with us what he can. I do try and stay as far away from meats that have added solutions, and mass-produced foods as best I can. My dairy usually comes from the Amish, and locally raised chickens provide my eggs as often as possible.

But the question is, why should someone have to guess at what has been done to their food? Why should there be antibiotics given ROUTINELY to cattle (or chickens or pigs), when no illness is present? Why should chicken be injected with solutions that contain chemicals?

These chemicals pass to the end user, you and me. And that is definitely not natural.

tecoyah · Jan 9, 2013

Gottago said:
I answered both you and MYP below on this.

I do as best I can... my neighbor raises cattle, and shares with us what he can. I do try and stay as far away from meats that have added solutions, and mass-produced foods as best I can. My dairy usually comes from the Amish, and locally raised chickens provide my eggs as often as possible.

But the question is, why should someone have to guess at what has been done to their food? Why should there be antibiotics given ROUTINELY to cattle (or chickens or pigs), when no illness is present? Why should chicken be injected with solutions that contain chemicals?

These chemicals pass to the end user, you and me. And that is definitely not natural.

I will not argue your very valid points, as I agree with a more natural diet.

I simply stated you would be hard pressed to avoid ingesting modified foodstuffs..

myp · Jan 9, 2013

Gottago said:
GMO is NOT a natural process. It is wholly man made.

There is no differentiation between the two in this case. If you looked at a GM genome, you would not be able to tell if it happened naturally or through intervention by man.

Gottago said:
As to the 'breeding' issues, hip displasia, if prevelant in both dogs breed, it will increase the probability of it occuring, just as inbreeding will weaken the gene pool, which can accent the negatives in a certain string of DNA http://www.as.wvu.edu/~kgarbutt/QuantGen/Gen535_2_2004/Inbreeding_Humans.htm

I am not saying inbreeding isn't detrimental- I am asking you how GM or non-inbreeding breeding is.

Your points aside, do you have any actual studies that support your worries? Also, did you watch the video in the OP (I know it is long- maybe part of it?) Mark Lynas was a staunch critic of GM for many of the reasons you bring up until he realized that the science was wholly against him. And if you are against GM- do you think the cost of GM is so high that we should produce less food to levels below which we can feed the world? He talks about this too- about how a country like India, using old techniques would have to farm an area the size of France to be able to still feed its current population- China, double that. Traditional organic farming is not viable for bulk food production anymore.

clax · Jan 10, 2013

I never have much thought to gmo it seemed like the next thing to blame Americans declining health on.

Just a newly discovered scape goat I thought.

Mark Lynas admits he was wrong on GM foods

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