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View Full Version : Article: GM Banana Designed to Increase Vitamin A in the Diets of the Poor in Africa


kentiopsis
06-16-2014, 08:08 AM
Spotted this Star newspaper in Malaysia. The concept seems similar to that of "Golden Rice." Maybe I missed it, but the article doesn't seem to discuss how it tastes or whether people are likely to accept it as part of their diet. USDA plant explorer in the early 20th century, David Fairchild, was constantly frustrated in his efforts to introduce new foods into the America because people simply didn't want to change what they ate.

'Super' banana to face first human trial - Regional | The Star Online (http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Regional/2014/06/16/Super-banana-to-face-first-human-trial/)

PR-Giants
06-16-2014, 08:35 AM
Thanks

:2738:

TARS Musa Catalog.pdf file (http://www.ars-grin.gov/may/documents/TARSMusaCatalog.pdf)


Pohnpi Bananas
A Photo Collection
CAROTENOID-RICH VARIETIES
By Lois Englberger and Adelino Lorens - pdf file (http://www.underutilized-species.org/documents/publications/pohnpei_bananas.pdf)


The banana cultivar checklist is a list of of banana cultivar names and the groups into which they are classified. (http://www.promusa.org/tiki-index.php?page=Banana+cultivar+checklist&tr_initial=a) :waving:


http://www.musarama.org/upload/high/makira-banana-poster-ifcp.jpg

Pancrazio
06-16-2014, 09:52 AM
Yes. Those bananas already exists. Now, if they want to profit on people in Africa trough the patent system, they apparently are allowed to, but for sure there wasn't a need for tropical banana rich in vitamin A.

trebor
06-17-2014, 08:29 AM
Hmmmm Professor James Dale is from Queensland Australia he works at the university. And since 2005 he and his group have been playing with bananas! Backed by Bill Gates funding.. OK all that sounds fine a university prof experimenting with plants. But its only been 9 years sinse this project has begun ? How many crops has he grown in 9 years ? 7 maybe 8? And so next he sends some to USA for a 6 week trial. I guess we all are going to constantly be exposed to this QUICKIE science as time rolls by. How about we send some seed and tools to every village in A 1000 square mile area in Africa or any other content.. Help people to grow food plants that are found in their area. They could grow Greens easily! Other plants with vitamin A in them that grow faster and are more abundant. And yes bananas also! This Quickie science is going to come back and kick the human race in its Genetic Modified A$$ one day in the future! I say we need 10 years of positive results in a controlled environment.. Ten more years of results on control groups before we release this on the human race.
I guess back when the world started using pesticides these same mined people said “We are saving the world through pesticides”

wolfyhound
06-17-2014, 06:22 PM
If the people are used to growing the bananas and will grow a newer variety that's richer in vitamin A, then good. Vitamen A deficiency is a wicked terrible thing to have happening to kids. Considering how bananas propagate, once they have some, they wouldn't need to continue getting more "patented" bananas, since they still clone themselves.

Pancrazio
06-17-2014, 07:08 PM
once they have some, they wouldn't need to continue getting more "patented" bananas, since they still clone themselves.

But to propagate a patented plant without permits is forbidden. And a patent holder usually don't care if you do it for eating, selling or whatever reason. They are CEOs and are supposed to do the interest of shareholders, otherwise they lose their jobs.

To this date, I don't recall many instances where GMO patents have been gifted to people in need to help them with their food supplies.

Well if they want to help the poor, instead of creating a new GMO banana with added vitamin A, why they don't create a program to import and acclimate australimusa in africa? This would be truly a great thing to do. Will increase crop diversity, and solve the problem of vitamin A.... but australimusa aren't patented. Too bad. They can't make money on them.... so, who cares?

robguz24
06-17-2014, 10:17 PM
But to propagate a patented plant without permits is forbidden. And a patent holder usually don't care if you do it for eating, selling or whatever reason. They are CEOs and are supposed to do the interest of shareholders, otherwise they lose their jobs.

To this date, I don't recall many instances where GMO patents have been gifted to people in need to help them with their food supplies.

Well if they want to help the poor, instead of creating a new GMO banana with added vitamin A, why they don't create a program to import and acclimate australimusa in africa? This would be truly a great thing to do. Will increase crop diversity, and solve the problem of vitamin A.... but australimusa aren't patented. Too bad. They can't make money on them.... so, who cares?

Fe'i are finicky and have a more limited range of climates they do well in. They are also totally different than other bananas and plantains and are less likely to be acceptable to a given population.

Golden Rice is one example where the plan is for it to be given away. GMO papaya here in Hawaii saved the papaya industry, was funded by taxpayers and was given to whoever wanted it for free.

GM is just a technology and not some huge evil. Like any other technology it holds great promise and is not inherently something done solely for profit and control of food production. As for not being able to patent a plant, there are many millions of people around the world making their livings off plants that aren't patented. Dole bananas aren't patented, they're Williams. So is nobody making money off them?

PR-Giants
06-18-2014, 06:40 AM
The sweet potato is a traditional crop in Africa & their sweet potato has an even higher Vit. A content.

1 oz of a normal sweet potato 5381 IU

adult daily requirement 5000 IU

child daily requirement 3300 IU



1 oz of a Cavendish banana 18 IU

Nicolas Naranja
06-18-2014, 01:28 PM
Hua Moa bananas have quite a bit more beta carotene than a regular banana, as do Pisang Raja.

Kat2
06-18-2014, 03:28 PM
The article mentioned A but also other trace elements. Perhaps sweet potatoes lack those? It also mentioned cooking bananas (plantains?); if they're expecting someone accustomed to those to switch to "Chiquitas" that could be an issue.

I'm not against GMOs per se--it's still a plant, right? Science is part of our lives. But I do have a problem with making poor people dependent on paying royalties for super plants. If I were farming on a large scale, I might purchase RU ready corn seeds in order to stay competitive but, since I only grow veggies for myself and someday a few others again if I ever master FL dirt and seasons, I'm content to save my own seeds from my best fruits/accept spares from friends which means my plants cost nothing save my labor. (I've actually checked out propagating patented plants; it doesn't appear the exercise is particularly onerous but you do have to keep good records if you're going to be honest. I've been checking on blackberries which are about 20 cents each--cheap but I, like my supplier, would pass the cost on to my customers when I sold plants. I wouldn't be paying that annually for the parent plants which, unlike bananas, are technically the same plant forever and not a new pup.)

PR-Giants
06-18-2014, 05:41 PM
Plantains have quite a bit more beta carotene than a Hua Moa, but both still have very little compared to a sweet potato.

I can't imagine anyone eating 45 lbs of Hua Moas every week for their Vit A. :ha:

Sweet potato - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_potato)

Kat2
06-18-2014, 06:28 PM
Plantains have quite a bit more beta carotene than a Hua Moa, but both still have very little compared to a sweet potato.

I can't imagine anyone eating 45 lbs of Hua Moas every week for their Vit A. :ha:

Sweet potato - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_potato)Sweet potatoes are really cool. I have yet to grow and harvest them successfully--I should have taken that tuber sitting on the ground when I was in Jville but kept waiting for it to grow and it rotted. You can eat the leaves; I haven't yet but plan to try them someday. (Finally something they don't say tastes like chicken so I'm game.)

But I'm still mystified about what other trace minerals a banana (cooking or otherwise) offer that sweet potato tubers or vines don't. Or even weeds. (If you haven't tried dandelion buds sautéed in butter you're missing out!)

There must be a reason they're pushing bananas for nutrition; I'd hate to think it's a plot to further impoverish these people. I've seen several articles about this and am not going to reread the one posted but Bill Gates' foundation is involved with this. Can't be another Windows thing, can it?

Pancrazio
06-18-2014, 07:39 PM
Fe'i are finicky and have a more limited range of climates they do well in. They are also totally different than other bananas and plantains and are less likely to be acceptable to a given population.

Golden Rice is one example where the plan is for it to be given away. GMO papaya here in Hawaii saved the papaya industry, was funded by taxpayers and was given to whoever wanted it for free.

GM is just a technology and not some huge evil. Like any other technology it holds great promise and is not inherently something done solely for profit and control of food production. As for not being able to patent a plant, there are many millions of people around the world making their livings off plants that aren't patented. Dole bananas aren't patented, they're Williams. So is nobody making money off them?

Probably I'm not able to make my point in a clear simple way, i guess because I'm not really much proficient with english.

I'm not saying that GM is an huge evil. I'm not against GM "because they can be dangerous to human health" and so on.
But what I'm against is the way patents and GM are developed now. Specifically, I'm against huge economical interest entwined to scientific research.

When you say "papaya research was funded by taxpayers and given away for free" I do say "wondeful, that's how things should be". When i see a huge company patenting important crops i can avoid to ask myself "what is happening?".

Even if golden rice is given away for free, once is widespread, what happens if the company holding the patents changes idea? What happens to the previous biodiversity? From several strains of rice to just one? We on bananas should know the dangers of monoculture.
And if a new disease hits the golden rice what are the companies going to do? GMO once again?

Maybe I'm a bit harsh; i'm sorry for that. I have seen several attempt of the gmo lobby to reduce my capability to choose the food i want to eat trying to pass bills in the european parliament less restrictive on food labels, and now I'm a bit mad at them.

Kat2
06-18-2014, 08:02 PM
Not everyone on the islands likes the GMO papayas. Search for "GMO papayas Hawaii destroyed" and see that not all residents are pleased with the program.

BTW, you did fine with your "english"; I could never do more than post something in dBase or Perl if my life depended on it. Ciao is about my limit in Italian. All romance languages get jumbled with what little French and Spanish I remember from school. Abiento and merci come to mind most frequently. De nada seems like a very thankless thank you to me.

robguz24
06-18-2014, 08:43 PM
Not everyone on the islands likes the GMO papayas. Search for "GMO papayas Hawaii destroyed" and see that not all residents are pleased with the program.

Trust me I am more than aware of it, living in the main papaya producing area in the state. There are lots of anti-science kooks out there, and that's who most of the displeased are. The organic growers have a small complaint in that about 1% of organic papaya gets cross contaminated, but it impacts the seeds and is not in the fruit itself, but these growers should get seed from controlled sources anyway because the seeds from any papaya aren't necessarily true to type. They recently put forth legislation that would imprison anyone who grew these transgenic papaya. It only got 1 vote from the nut who introduced it. Oh, and Roseanne Barr is against it too in case you're wondering, lol. There's an interesting read on it here. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/us/on-hawaii-a-lonely-quest-for-facts-about-gmos.html

It's now the law here that even if TR4 Panama Disease gets here one would face heavy fines for growing a GM banana even if it simply had genes from another naturally resistant banana. Anti-science lunacy at its worst. 2 lawsuits have been filed against our County to overturn the law.

The papaya contains parts of the ringspot virus rendering it immune to the virus itself, much like a vaccine. Anyone consuming non-GMO papaya is also consuming ringspot virus, but the whole virus, not just the bits incorporated into the papaya's genome. Even anti-GMO Michael Pollan has conceded there is nothing wrong with it during a recent debate at UC Berkeley. There is a very large paranoid conspiracy theorist contingent in this part of the state. They conflate the GMO papaya with Monsanto and other companies, even though none of those companies have or have ever expressed any interest in setting up so much as an office on the Big Island.

Kat2
06-18-2014, 08:59 PM
Hey, I'm not saying GMO is bad and haven't. Just mentioning that there are detractors where it was taxpayer sanctioned. Carry on! (I can't sing the Star Spangled Banner either; I cast no stones.)

robguz24
06-18-2014, 10:57 PM
Hey, I'm not saying GMO is bad and haven't. Just mentioning that there are detractors where it was taxpayer sanctioned. Carry on! (I can't sing the Star Spangled Banner either; I cast no stones.)
Sorry, my crabbiness wasn't directed at you, and sorry if it came off that way. :)

I just constantly read about this issue locally and almost never hear an intelligent argument from those opposed to the papaya.

Kat2
06-19-2014, 01:54 AM
Sorry, my crabbiness wasn't directed at you, and sorry if it came off that way. :)
Golly, gee, I didn't take it that way at all. I'm sure it's a very emotional issue there and, since that's your home, you have a dog in this fight or at the least an opinion. Which I don't.

trebor
06-19-2014, 09:22 AM
LOOK in two days on this forum we find a alternative to GMO bananas in Africa .Sweet potato. Without any animosity towards the people who grow and sell GMO banana plants you guys figured it out.

PR-Giants
06-19-2014, 10:03 AM
LOOK in two days on this forum we find a alternative to GMO bananas in Africa .Sweet potato. Without any animosity towards the people who grow and sell GMO banana plants you guys figured it out.



Africa - Vitamin A Deficiency (http://www.ajol.info/index.php/index/search/google?search=vitamin A deficiency=0&y=0)

Kat2
06-19-2014, 10:16 AM
I'm not a pill person but in this case it might make sense.

Supplementation: Current international recommendations call for high-dose vitamin A supplementation every four to six months, targeted to all children between the ages of 6 to 59 months living in affected areas. Providing young children with two high-dose vitamin A capsules a year is a safe, cost-effective, efficient strategy for eliminating vitamin A deficiency and improving child survival. Giving vitamin A to new mothers who are breastfeeding helps protect their children during the first months of life and helps replenish the mother's stores of vitamin A, which are depleted during pregnancy and lactation. Childinfo.org: Statistics by Area - Vitamin A deficiency - The challenge (http://www.childinfo.org/vitamina.html)

neferset
06-19-2014, 01:22 PM
If this works and if it's done as a humanitarian aid type thing and if the plant isn't dependent on fertilizers that the recipients must buy and if they accept it, it could be a good thing. I seem to remember programs like this existing since the 1970s (not GMO, at least not in the sense of anything more than breeding a different strain), though, and the problems getting people to adopt a new variety, the need for petrochemical fertilizers, etc etc. It's tricky when you don't work with native plants and unaltered plants, on an anthropological level.

Hammocked Banana
06-19-2014, 05:03 PM
Rob, it's very interesting to hear your opinion on GMO being from Hawaii. Roseanne Barr was on Howard Stern last week and she mentioned that they had banned GMOs on the big island and all I could think about was the papayas. She also believes in MK Ultra (gov't mind control bs) so what's that tell you. I agree 100% Genetic Engineering is a very misunderstood issue that is very hard to talk about with people. Firstly every one confuses Genetic Modification with Genetic engineering. GM is the modification of the genetic material in any way, including through natural breeding. Pancrazio made the argument that most frustrates me: that GMOs (GEOs***) are "bad for your health." This is a very ignorant blanket statement (sorry to point you out but its the perfect example). Let me ask the question, what makes it bad for your health? The plain and simple answer is nothing. I can assure you, nobody is using genetic engineering to insert genes into the plant that will make a human sick. What is the difference if the plant is bred naturally, requiring vast amounts of time and space, or simply bred in a lab by just inserting the gene of interest? The only difference to the plant that was GE'ed is that one gene to resist pests, drought, improve yield, etc. There is nothing in there to make you sick, or any cancer causing agents, etc. What is worse, a non-GEO plant that is sprayed with gallons of pesticide, hormones and other chemicals in order to get a successful crop, or a GEO that has the genes to naturally resist disease, crop failure due to drought, etc that does not need to be sprayed with artificial poisons? I am a person who grows entirely organic at my house, but I am also entirely for the use of science. Science is not our enemy.

Pancrazio
06-19-2014, 08:40 PM
Pancrazio made the argument that most frustrates me: that GMOs (GEOs***) are "bad for your health."

Honestly, I tried to say the opposite. This is what I referred to, when i said that evidently I can't express properly in English. Probably with a longer explanation i could have expressed better my thoughts. When i quote "because they are dangerous to human health" I quote one of the most abused argument against GMO, which i don't agree to (not totally, at least).

My point is that even if they are healthy, the way the are marketed now, is by itself a problem. So i don't even want to consider the health aspect because honestly, is a mess.

(The biggest problem with health issues is that you can, scientifically prove that something exists, but you can't prove that something doesn't exists. So it's easy to show when a product is unhealthy, it's impossible to demonstrate that something is harmless - here the reasonable frustration of gmo enthusiast which can't show conclusive prove that gmo are harmless for human consumption - even if they were! But even here the problem is complex: since we have let companies put their funds in scientific research, how can we be sure that scientific research is still impartial? Scientists are men, not saints.)

However, even if we agree on this point (that the health discussion shouldn't be started) there are a couple of things worth saying, just to enrich the topic, and i hope we can agree on them too.
Some GMO products are made to actually be able to use more chemicals. Take as example the soy beans roundup-ready. Is that desirable? In this regard they are worse than organic foods.
And again: how we can be certain that genetic material introduced in a specie won't end in another specie trough horizontal gene transfer?
And I'm still awaiting an explanation on how we can deal with patent issues, loss of biodiversity, companies monopolizing crucial sector of a society and so on...

I don't see myself as a fanatic, but i don't think that GMO should adopted light heartedly. Sort of "last resort" when everything else has failed (EVERYTHING). And I do firmly believe that often the hard way is the right one; and GMO are the easy way. When i see people in Africa with vit A deficiency I'm more inclined to think that they maybe need some more favorable commercial treaty with EU or USA (like, for instance, no foreign banana company harvesting their bananas) to increase their income (and allow them to access food richer in vit A), way more than a GMO banana.

Ciao is about my limit in Italian. All romance languages get jumbled with what little French and Spanish I remember from school. Abiento and merci come to mind most frequently. De nada seems like a very thankless thank you to me.

Romance language are a nightmare. Being italian hasn't many upsides, but at least you haven't to learn italian, never ever. I pity the one which have to study it, along with spanish french and so on. I still have chills from the days I've had to study latin.

Hammocked Banana
06-20-2014, 05:30 AM
Like I said sorry to point u out, but it was right there. Your last post was also fantastic, u covered how I feel also. It is essentially impossible to prove something is healthy, which is a big issue. Also agree 100% about the roud-up ready soy beans. This is what im opposed to, not the GEO aspect but the spraying of poisons. Your post expressed my views better than my post did. Like I said it is a very difficult issue to talk about. Also your English is not that bad at all.