Environment Forum
Global environmental challenges
Genetically engineered fish, anyone?
Would you eat a genetically modified fish? What about pork from a pig with mouse genes? Beef from cattle with genes spliced to resist “mad cow” disease?
These are questions Americans may soon have to answer for themselves if the U.S. health regulators allow the sale of a genetically engineered salmon. The company that makes it, Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc <ABTX.L>, expects an agency decision by year’s end.
The biotech says its Atlantic salmon grows nearly twice as fast as normal salmon and could help Americans get more locally farmed fish. That could cut down on U.S. imports of roughly $1.4 billion a year in Atlantic salmon from other countries such as Chile while also easing pressure on wild Atlantic salmon in the nation’s Northeast.
But environmentalists and consumer advocates are concerned about what could happen if such altered fish were to escape or be released in rivers or off-shore salmon farms. They also worry about the health effects of eating such modified fish.
The Food and Drug Administration takes up the issue starting Sept. 19 as part of a three-day public hearing on whether to allow the genetically altered salmon on the U.S. market.
For more on the salmon situation, click here. For other genetically engineered food animals that aren’t far behind, click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Victor Ruiz Caballero (Workers process farmed salmon at a plant in Chile. The fish shown in the photo are not genetically modified.)
Global plantings of biotech crops
(Reuters) – Led by U.S. producers, 14 million farmers in 25 countries planted genetically modified crops in 2009, increasing planted biotech cropland by 7 percent, even as biotech crop use declined in Europe, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), a pro-biotech crop group.
Biotech soybeans made up more than three-quarters of global soybean plantings; biotech cotton was nearly half of global cotton, and biotech maize accounted for more than one-quarter of global maize land.
The following is a list of 15 countries that planted at least 100,000 hectares in 2009 to genetically modified corn, soybeans, cotton and other crops, according to ISAAA. Ten countries planted less than 100,000 hectares.
(acres is hectares x 2.47)
(million hectares)
Ten countries planting less than 100,000 hectares Chile Colombia Honduras Czech Republic Portugal Romania Poland Costa Rica Egypt Slovakia
Source: ISAAA (Reporting by Carey Gillam)
The topic of discussion – should we or shouldn’t we develop, grow, and eat GMO plants, fish, animals, or yeast, bacteria, etc. – is the same as if the world scientists would start debating whether should we reshape the shape of planet Earth, change its atmosphere, or use human “a..” instead of brain for thinking process. I apologize for this very rude three-letter word.
There are millions of people in the United States alone who do not want to eat or wear GMO. Our talking here will never stop the research, development, and production of GMO unless each single GMO or partially-containing GMO product will be labeled as such and very precisely. Any agencies that will be in charge of such a labeling have to be equipped with the most high-tech equipment capable of detecting even 1% of such GMO parts in food and also be independent (of Monsanto or other GMO-producing, or benefiting from it) companies.
USA produces GMO crops 3-100 times more than other countries in the world now. Why? Because other countries are not that much advanced to understand that GMO is great for humankind and planet? No, it’s just quite opposite – they do know it would bring our planet to its death. It’s a cave-man mentality and lack of education here in the United States to imagine that the GMO objects could be safe.
Not a single gene or any bio object on this planet can be altered by splicing genes and changing it by any means without an immediate domino-effect interference with the millions of other parts of Earth biosphere – bacteria and any microorganisms, fungi, trees, plants, and water, air, and animals including humans.
Throughout millions of years of our planet’s history no so much damage was created to our planet and to humans as in the last 100 years, and it becomes worse each next decade in the geometrical progression, owing to “bright” and greedy man’s in biotechnology.
If labeling of our food and clothes as “GMO” or “Contains GMO”, or “10% GMO” – exists today, on every single chocolate bar sold daily because it contains soy – we could VOTE against such product by never buying it. Once never sold, it would be out of production.
All GMO food produced by now has to become the ONLY food for its producers-geniuses and its advocates who will become guinea pigs for GMO.
We have already a multitude of data now that are alarming about evil things are going on in human health, which could not be associated with anything but man-made food messed up with chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, artificially developed substances allowed to be called “food”, and with the most dangerous – GMO foods.
Acting now and voting now for a must GMO labels will save our grandchildren lives if we start it immediately with no delay. If it’s said GMO papaya, we won’t buy it, but if it’s said Hawaiian papaya – they do not know much about it. The true FREEDOM is the freedom to choose what to eat, not just freedom to talk about not being able to find a “human” food with ease!
- Commented by a nutrition counselor.
from India Insight:
Why let a debate determine the fate of GM foods?
There's nothing Indians like better than a good debate.
So when Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh announced last month that he would hold public debates to decide the commercial fate of genetically modified brinjal (eggplant), there were hopes these would provide a chance for all stakeholders to be heard.
But the debates, in seven cities including Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, were chaotic, nothing more than acrimonious shouting matches between environmental activists and scientists, who say they were not given a fair chance to voice their opinion.
One scientist said he had his hand raised for more than half an hour, but was not allowed to speak. Another said he was told he could make a presentation, but was again not allowed to. Others were not even permitted to enter the premises.
So are townhalls such as these the best way to discuss matters of serious scientific weight?
Sure, the decision affects farmers who grow brinjal and people who cook it in their homes everyday. And a decision to let them speak is a laudable one.
But perhaps a better idea would have been separate discussion forums for scientists, NGOs and the public.
Bloggers sound off on GMO foods
Kenyan blogger Juliana Rotich is the editor of Green Global Voices, which monitors citizen media in the developing world, and is a regular contributor to this page. Thomson Reuters is not responsible for the content – the views are the author’s alone.
Genetically Modified foods have been a concern for many environment bloggers in South Africa and other parts of Africa. On this post we check in a handful of bloggers who’ve recently written about genetically modified (GMO) foods and seed.
UrbanSprout points to a report in Mail Online article that indicates lower fertility in mice fed on GM (Genetically Modified) maize.
Dr Jurgen Zentek, Professor for Veterinary Medicine at the University of Vienna and lead author of the study, said a GM diet affected the fertility of mice. One of the studies was a reproductive assessment by continuous breeding (RACB) trial, in which the same parent generation gave birth to several litters of baby mice. The parents were fed either with a diet containing 33per cent of GM maize, a hybrid of Monsanto’s MON 810 and another variety, and a normal feed mix. The team found changes that were ‘statistically significant’ in the third and fourth litters produced by the mice given a GM diet. There were fewer offspring, while the young mice were smaller.
Prof Zentek said there was a direct link between the changes seen and the GM diet.
Regarding Monsanto (a major producer of GMO seed) UrbanSprout deadpans…
Perhaps this is the environmentally friendly benefit of using GM seed that Monsanto has been touting – they’re unwittingly helping to reduce population growth!
I read a comment somewhere that Canadian farmers wished they had never heard of GM products, as it failed to give them the increases in food production it was touted to, and will take many years to eradicate the effects from their soil, and as the chemicals are killing bees amongst other polinating insects, how long does Monsanto give before we will not be able to grow fruit or vines etc. I heard it was about 2020, should we stop them NOW before they damage the world any further.
