Squabbles over end of GM moratorium

Can they make a turnip that looks like a thingy?

let the market decide.

label the products clearly as GM, like they do with ciggarettes.

if people buy them, then our arguments are moot. we shouldnt decide others fates for them.

if people dont buy them, then they wont be sold and all this hand wringing is moot.

They certainly put something in there! …did I mention I was at Woden plaza when the noises occurred?

Berlina: I’m sure they put some bean genes into the fish.

Hmmm…Singing Trout?! That would explain those funny noises the morning after I eat fish for dinner…

Slight fact correction:

The ACT GM Commercial Crop moratorium doesn’t expire. But after June 17 it can be lifted.

Ari: Yes. That’s true. However adequate labeling should be a must. Someone with a fish allergy shouldn’t be eating fishy wheat… And if you follow through with that down to restaurants, you see that it might be impossible to do.

PS. Say no to genetic experiments in humans!!!
http://tinyurl.com/jy828

Ari: Your statement is entirely true. However bits and bytes can be good (The Slayer CD that I’m listening to at the moment – or RiotACT) or bad (the computer virus you catch when you surf for porn in the internet).

That’s my point. The “Frankenstein” term is meaningless. It doesn’t matter where the genes come from, just how they are used.

Berlina: The ACT Government should provide free egg-goats for all. After all, we live in a nanny state.

Ah, Thumper: Here’a s pickle for you
http://images.quizilla.com/S/Skazygoose/1038649397_yRoomst452.jpg

Berlina: It works if you do a crop rotation with the Singing Trout(tm) that produce Aspirin.

I’d like to grow some more of those goats that lay eggs. Apparently you have to plant them in early Autumn, though, or they won’t flower.

Big Al: I presume as a non-idiot you hold a relevant degree in Biology, Chemistry, Agronomy or NRM? If not – shut up, if yes – who gave it to you???

Ari: Your statement is entirely true. However bits and bytes can be good (The Slayer CD that I’m listening to at the moment – or RiotACT) or bad (the computer virus you catch when you surf for porn in the internet). In the same vein both the Gene therapy injection that cures a cancer is as much DNA as an asian bird flu virus.

There’s two issues with GM crops.
First, if they had the same stringent clinical trials for GM crops than they had for pharmaceuticals, they would possibly become uneconomical. Dear Big Al, I would really like to feed you the GM modified peas that caused lung damage in mice. This was not a Deb Foskey conspiracy, but a CSIRO study
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8347
The CSIRO dudes reckon ” “If it had been a private company doing this, it might never have seen the light of day.”

Second, I (for once) agree with johnboy. The way GM cropping works, is that you can bring out a ton of RoundUp(tm), which basically sterilizes your field from all other plants, apart from the crop. Couple of issues here:
-Runoff can be humongous and have significant effects on primary production in rivers, with a decline in fish populations
-Often, wiping all weeds can promote pest damage in the crop. Instead of on the weed, the li’l fuckers start to niblle on the crop.
-It also prevents modern farming techniques like intercopping (different crops at the same time) and multi-cropping (multiple crops in one season), which boost yield AND conserve soil for the long-term. Important in Australia’s nutrient poor soils.

Amen!

Rambo was never six foot… five nine, tops

I thought I saw one of them gherkins once. But it was just a Rambo movie.

I tend to agree with Dr Foskey on this issue. The development scientists and genetic engineers who run the facilities that do the development work have the ideals of feeding the world, healthier and more disease resistant plants and so on. I’m not worried about them and applaud their efforts.

It’s the guys who pay the bills that concern me. The ones who are interested in money and making money and with a “devil may care” attitude about what is released into the world as long as the bottom line keeps growing. Standards slip, ideals collapse and corners are cut and risks are taken and it’s usually then, when accidents happen.

What do you have to do to make a gherkin angry?

Genes are simply packets of information, like bits and bytes.

They are not imbued with any innate ethical and moral dimension.

Ralph, presumably you are saying they are genetically modified due to breeding programs to select the best genetic characteristics. That’s true, but at least they have reached that stage by selecting only that plant’s own DNA. What the GM people are doing is introducing DNA from other organisms, including fish and animals, which is a quite different kettle of, well, Frankenstein.

The other reality that this debate seems to forget about goes beyond the science, but concerns the market. The Europeans and many Asians, particularly the Japanese, have voted with their wallets against GM food. If Australia wishes to retain its markets, and move into those where the Yanks have fouled their own nests, we need to maintain our clean, green, safe non-GMO marketing advantage.

Most of the fresh produce we buy is actually already genetically modified food. Think about it.

The world breaks down into two basic types of people – the first group believe that genetically modified foods are the fundamental root of all that is evil in western society – that they will destroy nature, poison the water table, lead to mutations in our children and oppress the hungry and the poor. The other group are, on the other hand, not idiots.

It seems to me both sides are missing the point.

pesticide resistant crops encourage more poison being spread over the land and should be discouraged regardless of their provenance.