GMO Rant

aFlyoverPerson

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Thursday May 23, 2013 · 8:51 PM PDT

2013/05/23 · 20:51

Sorry, my beloved lefty friends. I still love you but as a biologist/biochemist I can't hold it any longer. Many of your posts are well-intentioned but uninformed.

Labeling products as GMO only tells me the technique that was used to put the gene into the organism or get it out. It tells me nothing about what the gene does.

Yes, please do label GMOs. Then label it further to say what was done to modify the organism and why. The regulatory process should deal with these on a case-by-case basis, with consideration to the application, not a broad brush to ban the technique.

Why all the effort against the transgenic/knockout technique itself, which does some good (insulin production, getting rid of peanut allergens, reducing pesticide and herbicide use, etc.), when you could target the bad uses (putting Bacillus thuringiensis toxins into plant cells rather than an external application, for example)?

Some GMOs are health hazards, some are environmental hazards, some save our ass. Don't throw away the technology without regard to the benefits, while keeping an eye on the abuses.

Now pile on. I'll still love you.

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