My Space is a popular virtual center for my kids.
And they've gotten me on My Space too. I find that I'm not really interested in the ebb and flow of social exchange that is a highlight of My Space. I check in when one of the kids lets me know they've posted. Back onthe other side of the great divide, I find myself wondering how to propagate ideas. Ideas that would help us be ready for the future that's coming. And I'd like to think that electronic media help....but, as midnight has swept past once more, I am discouraged. Is anyone listening? Will I have to fight, old and crusty as I am, for my grandchildren's right to stand on this earth? I don't know but I worry. Truly. I worry.
GM Crops Out of Control?
Marcel Herbke
OhMyNews International (Independent)
Seoul, South Korea
March 14, 2006
A Maize field in Liechtenstein (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
It's been 10 years since commercial Genetically Modified (GM) crops were first introduced on a large scale in 1996. So what has been their effect? A report released this month by Greenpeace and GeneWatch U.K., titled "GM Contamination Report 2005" shows disturbing results.
Those who were skeptical about allowing GM crops to be commercially grown may now be witnessing the first realizations of their concerns. The report reveals 113 cases in which supposedly controlled GM crops have "leaked" into the natural environment. While this may not sound too ominous, these are the exact concerns that were voiced when GM crops were first proposed.
The problem lies in the fact that no studies can accurately forecast how these new organisms might alter the natural ecosystem of which we are all a part. Controlled tests in laboratories where the variables are known are a far cry from reality where a small mutation in a chain can produce magnified effect further down the line, sometimes in a seemingly unrelated area. In this way GM crops are an uncontrolled experiment with nature.
Some of the incidents identified were:
Pork meat from genetically engineered pigs being sold to consumers;
Ordinary crops being contaminated with GM crops containing pharmaceuticals;
Growing and international distribution of illegal antibiotic resistant Maize seeds;
Planting of outlawed GM crops which have been smuggled into countries;
Mixing of unapproved GM crops in food, including shipments of food aid;
Inadvertent mixing of different GM strains even in high-profile scientific field trials.
These and a catalog of other 113 incidents occurred in 39 countries — twice the number of countries even officially allowed to grow GM Crops. South Korea, China, Philippines, and Taiwan have all had one incident each in the ten-year period. Thailand has had two and Japan three. Meanwhile New Zealand, Australia, Germany, France, U.K., Canada, and America have all had five or more incidents, with America leading with nineteen.
GM Crops Out of Control?
Marcel Herbke
OhMyNews International (Independent)
Seoul, South Korea
March 14, 2006
A Maize field in Liechtenstein (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
It's been 10 years since commercial Genetically Modified (GM) crops were first introduced on a large scale in 1996. So what has been their effect? A report released this month by Greenpeace and GeneWatch U.K., titled "GM Contamination Report 2005" shows disturbing results.
Those who were skeptical about allowing GM crops to be commercially grown may now be witnessing the first realizations of their concerns. The report reveals 113 cases in which supposedly controlled GM crops have "leaked" into the natural environment. While this may not sound too ominous, these are the exact concerns that were voiced when GM crops were first proposed.
The problem lies in the fact that no studies can accurately forecast how these new organisms might alter the natural ecosystem of which we are all a part. Controlled tests in laboratories where the variables are known are a far cry from reality where a small mutation in a chain can produce magnified effect further down the line, sometimes in a seemingly unrelated area. In this way GM crops are an uncontrolled experiment with nature.
Some of the incidents identified were:
Pork meat from genetically engineered pigs being sold to consumers;
Ordinary crops being contaminated with GM crops containing pharmaceuticals;
Growing and international distribution of illegal antibiotic resistant Maize seeds;
Planting of outlawed GM crops which have been smuggled into countries;
Mixing of unapproved GM crops in food, including shipments of food aid;
Inadvertent mixing of different GM strains even in high-profile scientific field trials.
These and a catalog of other 113 incidents occurred in 39 countries — twice the number of countries even officially allowed to grow GM Crops. South Korea, China, Philippines, and Taiwan have all had one incident each in the ten-year period. Thailand has had two and Japan three. Meanwhile New Zealand, Australia, Germany, France, U.K., Canada, and America have all had five or more incidents, with America leading with nineteen.
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