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What happened in 21 years since GM crops were 1st planted in Spain (gene engineering)

#1
C C Offline
https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-what...d-in-spain

EXCERPT: Despite being grown and consumed for over two decades, there's still a huge amount of misinformation and confusion that surrounds genetically modified (GM) foods. Researchers tell us to ignore the myths about GM foods, given the overwhelming scientific consensus that GM crops are safe to eat and deliver huge benefits in farming. While the evidence keeps stacking up, the controversy over genetically modified organisms remains slow to fade away, even if the advantages of GM crops are getting harder to deny all the time.

On that front, a recent economic analysis of the history of genetically modified insect-resistant (IR) maize (aka corn) in Spain and Portugal provides a new long-term view of just how broadly genetically modified organisms can benefit crop farming. Agricultural economist Graham Brookes analysed the use of IR maize in the Iberian Peninsula over the course of 21 years since the modified seeds were first introduced to Spain in 1998 [...] later being adopted by Portugal in 1999.

[...] Ultimately, these positive results seen in the Iberian Peninsula aren't enjoyed everywhere else in Europe. At least 18 members of the EU – along with regions including Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales – have banned the cultivation of GM IR maize. In Spain and Portugal, though, it's a very different story, with pesticide use slashed and fossil fuel emissions lowered. (MORE - details)
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#2
confused2 Offline
For the first time I see a possible problem with GM crops. I don't know what is going on. If a crop is 'insect resistant' and you don't have to apply insecticides would that be because the crop has been engineered to produce its own insecticide? My mother told me to wash vegetables to get the pesticides off - if the pesticide is inside the vegetable it is no longer practical to remove the pesticide. CC has (elsewhere) drawn attention to the four horsemen of unreproduceable results. I'm not suggesting that GM crops are responsible for the rash of asthma and allergies in the UK (and the US) just that the four horsemen of unreproduceable results wouldn't care if they were. The classic argument for GM crops is 'Round-Up' where 'Round-Up' GM crops are resistant to a weedkiller that kills most weeds. I can see a strong possibility that plants that are resistance to a weedkiller may well be edible. Plants that contain an insecticide I am not so sure about. Genes that do one thing in the Mediterranean might well do more (or less) in a different climate. Wherever the truth lies we go with "..pesticide use slashed and fossil fuel emissions lowered.".
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#4
C C Offline
(Jun 14, 2019 12:14 AM)confused2 Wrote: For the first time I see a possible problem with GM crops. I don't know what is going on. If a crop is 'insect resistant' and you don't have to apply insecticides would that be because the crop has been engineered to produce its own insecticide? My mother told me to wash vegetables to get the pesticides off - if the pesticide is inside the vegetable it is no longer practical to remove the pesticide. CC has (elsewhere) drawn attention to the four horsemen of unreproduceable  results.  I'm not suggesting that GM crops are responsible for the rash of asthma and allergies in the UK (and the US) just that the four horsemen of unreproduceable  results wouldn't care if they were. The classic argument for GM crops is 'Round-Up' where 'Round-Up' GM crops are resistant to a weedkiller that kills most weeds. I can see a strong possibility that plants that are resistance to a weedkiller may well be edible. Plants that contain an insecticide I am not so sure about. Genes that do one thing in the Mediterranean might well do more (or less) in a different climate.  Wherever the truth lies we go  with "..pesticide use slashed and fossil fuel emissions lowered.".


How do GMOs affect insects? (video at bottom)
https://ag.purdue.edu/GMOs/Pages/GMOsandInsects.aspx

"How do you make a crop pest-resistant? Scientists were able to modify the plant’s protein manufacturing system so that it now makes a protein that wasn’t previously present. This carefully selected protein is one that is toxic to certain insects. Basically, they eat it and their stomach ruptures. This protein is so specifically targeted towards certain pests that it doesn’t affect other insects, animals or humans that eat it. In fact, it is so specific that it doesn’t even impact 'good' bugs, like bees or butterflies."

But the herbicide resistance does accordingly encourage farmers to use more herbicide for killing weeds. Which in turn over time evolves super-weeds that adapt to herbicides.

You'd think food crops would be engineered that could hardily overcome the unwanted vegetation itself, in addition to thriving in poor waste soil as easily as weeds. But that would undermine the cautions taken to ensure that GMO products don't become feral and invasively expand beyond the fields they're planted in. The seeds are also patented, so that farmers are dependent upon the company -- the former are warned of being sued if they try to save seeds on their own rather than buying. Thus the last thing the inventors want is a product that's so weed-like robust that it can spread wild anywhere for people to freely procure.

The replication crisis does bleed into biomedical sciences, though it's often the social and psychological sciences that grab much of headlines in that regard. Hard physical science disciplines can cross paths with items like funding problems and the "either qualify to get published or perish" situation, too, but at least the research arguably has higher standards and is potentially less open to interpretation. With fewer human self-interests in general coming into play in that realm (if not business), including political beliefs slash sentiments of individual scientists leading to biases in data analysis, experiment pre-setup, and the latter's results.


https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/5rseU5hc52w
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