JoeReal

This GMO topic is truly large, I am just presenting my current state of thought and summaries from years of studies by my friends directly working or even CEO's of some start-up biotech companies and I enjoy grilling them at times, over a couple of wines.

One of my major concern about GMO is that we don't have long term studies on the comprehensive effects of these brand new unnatural recombination (Direct Genetic Sequence Manipulation and cross species gene splicing) of DNA that will form new untested genes. For sure gene splicing and recombination is not new, it has been occuring in nature without human intervention. The gene splicing part is done by viral types. But we usually have several thousand years if not millions of years that the rest of nature reacts, adapts and equilibrate with these recombinations.

That is why with traditional plant breeding, those genes have already been tested through time and we are not concerned about these traditional methods. Unlike today, the biotech companies will short circuit the traditional plant breeding methods, cross transfering genes from various species, and not wait the comprehensive testing of thousands of years to make sure they are safe for nature and humans, perhaps we can cut this down to a lifetime test of 100 years, but surely not trust the currently very short tests on humans.

Even the sterile forms of GMO plants, these gene splices could be transferred by viral pathogens without pollination. How much more if these plants are pollenizers? In a similar way, with antibiotic chemicals that have been fed to healthy chickens, cows and swine, they are now found in our global water cycle, and most bacteria have spliced genes to counteract these antibiotics.

Which brings to my number two concern which is contamination. These companies owns the patent rights to these sequences of DNA and they will surely contaminate the gene pool of related species when planted out there. Do the current copyright and patent laws allow these companies to lay claim to the contaminated gene pool? Who would take the responsibility of preventing contamination and cleaning up of the gene pool? These same intellectual property owners should bear the sole responsibility if they were to reap the benefits.

No, I am not at all against GMO. For me, if the final product has no toxins, no chemicals that are harmful to mankind, no hormones that could alter mankind, why shouldn't it be safe to consume? Of course, that's just the eating part, we also have to look at how such new GMO species would impact nature in the long run, for we know they are bound to contaminate nature, and that would require thousands of years study to complete.

I have eaten a GMO tomato, the Flavr Savr out of curiosity, this is the one that prevents the rapid rotting away of tomato once it has ripened. And so I have become mortal and is bound to die. All Americans will die, and we will be dying like flies. And let me quote Jay Leno:

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks,"Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Now after taking out God, we will be splicing it with GMO and drug resistant microbes......