Comments on: Seeds of Discontent http://scienceprogress.org/2008/08/seeds-of-discontent/ Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:59:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Donna http://scienceprogress.org/2008/08/seeds-of-discontent/comment-page-1/#comment-3908 Donna Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:27:27 +0000 http://www.scienceprogress.org/2008/08/seeds-of-discontent/#comment-3908 The problem is not with GMO. The problem is with BAD GMO. Far too many people don't understand the difference. Golden rice? Good GMO. Round-up Ready Soybeans? Bad GMO. The reason why golden rice isn't out there saving lives? Bad POLITICS. Genetic engineering can put back some of the nutrients that have been stripped from conventional crops by selective breeding for taste and size only. It can give us a carrot with twice the beta carotene. With humans living longer, our susceptability to diseases with aging as a risk factor has increased exponentially, and many of those diseases can be thwarted by a proper diet. In reality, indoor factory farming and monoculture crops raised with pesticides and herbicides do not provide anything like a proper diet. GMOs do not "encourage" these practices--PEOPLE do. We don't need a vegetable that produces its own insecticide, we need one that resists insect damage by being vigorous, fast-growing, and hardy. And genetic engineering can give us exactly that. Don't blame the entire science for the mistakes of greedy corporations--blanket rejection of GMO only makes people look like irrational extremists. Give credit where it is due for truly GOOD GMO, and support the creation of more like it. The problem is not with GMO. The problem is with BAD GMO. Far too many people don’t understand the difference. Golden rice? Good GMO. Round-up Ready Soybeans? Bad GMO.

The reason why golden rice isn’t out there saving lives? Bad POLITICS.

Genetic engineering can put back some of the nutrients that have been stripped from conventional crops by selective breeding for taste and size only. It can give us a carrot with twice the beta carotene. With humans living longer, our susceptability to diseases with aging as a risk factor has increased exponentially, and many of those diseases can be thwarted by a proper diet. In reality, indoor factory farming and monoculture crops raised with pesticides and herbicides do not provide anything like a proper diet.

GMOs do not “encourage” these practices–PEOPLE do.

We don’t need a vegetable that produces its own insecticide, we need one that resists insect damage by being vigorous, fast-growing, and hardy. And genetic engineering can give us exactly that.

Don’t blame the entire science for the mistakes of greedy corporations–blanket rejection of GMO only makes people look like irrational extremists. Give credit where it is due for truly GOOD GMO, and support the creation of more like it.

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