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[Lulu_Jane]

You guys do realize that we've been eating "genetically modified" food for hundreds of years, and well before that since we first domesticated plants such as wheat and pulses right? You guys wouldn't even recognize an old "wild" banana, seriously.

As much as I agree that rushing into to something is not a good idea and there are risks with gm food, some of the reasons listed there are a bit insane. It reminds me a bit of the Hadron Collider BLACK HOLES WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE SCIENCE IS SCARY thing.

We have the luxury of plentiful foods, famine stuck countries that could benefit from drought and various diseas resistant crops etc. do not.

EDIT: It's worth noting that our selective breeding of bananas over 10,000 years caused it's sterility in the first place, and modern genetic modification techniques could be what saves it.

[_r.u.s.s.]

of course, but the petition is about having a proper research done before the gm foods are being produced

[Lulu_Jane]

When is enough research enough? It's been 12 years since the last vote or whatever according to the petition.

[Scatty]

While it is true that plants have been changed by human hand through selective culture, tampering with the genetical code is a different thing entirely.
Plants developed through culture grew, though pointed into desired direction, more or less naturally with core differences being handled naturally by the plants themselves. Changing the genetic code however is an unequally more complicated matter and the chance to bugger something up is very high. Eventhough the scientifical knowledge is good today and experiments with genetic code were going on already for years, we're nothing more than children playing with a hand grenade, thinking it is a simpe toy and handling it as one.

[Lulu_Jane]

Selective breeding does "tamper with the genetic code." Just continuing with the banana example, here's some links

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0719-02.htm
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9152-a-future-with-no-bananas.html

[pietry]

Great!!!

[arete]

This thread is dead, let's not resurrect it

[_r.u.s.s.]

obviously, it's not

[Professor Oak]

Originally Posted by Lulu_Jane

Selective breeding does "tamper with the genetic code." Just continuing with the banana example, here's some links

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0719-02.htm
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9152-a-future-with-no-bananas.html

The second link needs fixing.

[Lulu_Jane]

Ooops. Here's the second link -
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...o-bananas.html