esbuck wrote: >It is my understanding that most of the foods we eat are genetically >modified, but the mods. were made millenia ago. Corn (maise) cannot >reproduce without >human help, since the kernels, seeds, stick to the cob. Obviously, corn is >genetically different than wild maise. similarly with wheat. I believe >domestic wheat has many more genes than the wild variety, emmer. >Civilization would >not exist, except for genetic modifications. Anyone out there prepared to >expand on that?
It's completely wrong. Natural selection and the selective breeding practised by the many generations of careful and wise peasant farmers who've developed our food crops through the millenia have NEVER used genes from OTHER species to do so, and that's the basis of what's called Genetic Engineering and Genetically Modified Organisms. >Myth No. 1: Genetic engineering (GE) is not new. It is just the same >as speeded-up selective breeding. > >FACT: Genetic engineering (GE) and conventional breeding are worlds >apart. Breeding does not manipulate genes; it involves crossing of >selected parents of the same or closely related species. In >contrast, GE involves extracting selected genes from one organism >(e.g. animals, plants, insects, bacteria) and/or viruses, or >synthesising copies, and artificially inserting them into another >completely different organism (eg. food crops). GE usually employs >virus genes to smuggle in and promote the inserted genes, and >antibiotic resistance genes to act as markers. All these inserted >genes are present in every cell of the plant. http://prorev.com/genetic.htm Thirteen myths about genetic engineering Basic but a useful document. More: http://www.plant.uoguelph.ca/research/homepages/eclark/10reasons.htm Ten Reasons why farmers should think twice before growing GE crops http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1999Q4/myths.html "Biotechnology Will Feed the World" and Other Myths http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Genetically-Modified-Foods-are-Inheren tly-Unsafe.php?menu1_id=9&menu2_id=1 Genetically Modified Foods are Inherently Unsafe ESB, your level of information on GMOs is in a parlous state. Please see the GMO refs I provided in the post you've responded to (but snipped): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/32240/ It's something you need to know about if you're interested in biofuels - you'd be wrong to think that biodiesel derived from GMO soy monocrops or ethanol from GMO maize monocrops were necessarily environmentally friendly. At the tailpipe maybe, but not far beyond that. It's something you need to know anyway. Best Keith ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
