Denying Science- Lecture

[parsley]

You'll be more comfortable with "hormone-enriched" beef and pork? Language is soooooo important. LOL.

Wouldn't you prefer promoting/eating pork/beef that is gentically modified instead, with that little magic growth-hormone gene supplanting all the tedious menial work done in the pens zapping each hide?

Of course, you are completely, 100% satisfied/secure with the science? LOL Pars

[FarmRanger]

Facts are facts, fiction is fiction, and politics is
bull$/!&. Problems arise when people confuse
fiction and/or politics with facts. Most of the anti
GMO rhetoric I've heard is some combination of
fiction and politics, and very short on facts.

[parsley]

Two questions for you then, non-political, and within your comfort zone:

1. The nutrients you add to your soil....where do they come from? (Not considering Nitrogen of course which is in the air) And is that nutrient supply that farms depend upon, sustainable? Will phosphorous/selenium/etc ever be depleted, for example?

2. Dogs. Do you support genetically modifying dog breeding stock, by inserting a chemical gene that kills fleas, so that they don't have to wear a mite/flea/bug/lice collar? Just curious.

[FarmRanger]

1. The nutrients you add to your soil....where do they come from? And is that nutrient supply that farms depend upon, sustainable?

Those nutrients are being mined somewhere else, and this is not sustainable. Eventually we are going to have to start recycling nutrients. This will happen when the cheap sources run out.
 
2. Dogs. Do you support genetically modifying dog breeding stock?

Sure, why not? As long as there is due diligence to ensure those modifications aren't harmful in other ways. The key is due diligence, which should always be a part of good science.

[Fransisco]

Yes, I am 100% comfortable with trying stuff out, seeing if it works, and changing it when it doesn't. As opposed to not trying anything, not caring if it works, and not ever changing anything no matter what.

[Fransisco]

And I believe genetically modified cats and dogs are now available that are hypoallergenic. They're not cheap but if you've got allergies and really, really want a pet now you can have one.

There are also all sorts of GM mice out there right now. They've been modified for all sorts of research purposes. There's one line that's been modified to get cancer which is a boon to researchers trying to cure the disease. Others have been modified to model other diseases. I was just reading about one modification that results in mice living 20% longer than normal.

Yup, pure evil this technology is. Kid's with allergies should be happy with a fish and everyone else is living too long already anyways.

[parsley]

"Those nutrients are being mined somewhere else, and this is not sustainable. Eventually we are going to have to start recycling nutrients. This will happen when the cheap sources run out"



Indeed.

[parsley]

"They're not cheap but if you've got allergies and really, really want a pet now you can have one."


Indeed.

[Fransisco]

Let me guess suddenly you're opposed to selling a premium product for a premium price.

[charliep]

Curious is what is one of the ways to dealing with potential nutrient shortages is improving plant ability to use existing resources/be more efficient in the nutrients it does have access too? Again I note the comment that the organic industry will be one of the areas that has the most to benefit from biotechnology. Seeking alternatives outside the traditional way of just adding more chemicals.

Way off topic but I note USDA has dedicated $25 mln to research into organic farming and improving agronomics. Outside conventional research and farm level activities, are there any dedicated programs in Canada?