Monday, June 17, 2013

Oops . . .

— Hybrid Sons of Tifton 85 —

THE INQUISITR has an article you should check out: Genetically Modified Grass Begins Releasing Cyanide, Kills Texas Cattle. Really.  That bears repeating,

Genetically Modified Grass
   Begins Releasing Cyanide,
   Kills Texas Cattle”

8 comments:

Holly Stick said...

The story is a year old, and apparently the grass was not GMO and the phenomenon has been documented and has other causes such as drought:

http://grist.org/news/no-genetically-modified-grass-isnt-killing-cows-with-cyanide/

Edstock said...

Um, I'm sorry I didn't make that clear, but the danger is from a hybrid cross of a GMO with a wild strain with a mutation that makes it produce cyanide.

Thus the danger of GMO genomes being released into the wild. Putting DNA that never existed before in Nature into Nature — and it's all going to be fine because some "guesswork in a lab coat" says so?

It is AD 2013, but it is only ADNA 60 since its discovery, and we are at Wright Bros.-level in terms of understanding and control.

Thus GMO-aggressive tinkering, like making plants RoundUp-Ready can have unpleasant consequences.

At this rate, Monsanto will be offering Triffids before the end of the decade. Should be fun, as long as you're not blind.

Steve said...

No way, its perfectly safe. No one could have expected side effects,

Renter said...

Sorry Edstock, Holly Stick is correct. Tifton 85 is a hybrid strain of Bermuda grass. It is not - repeat, NOT - a GMO. The original article you linked to even has an update at the end to that effect. But google has more to say on it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tifton_85
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tifton+85#

Edstock said...

Well, thanks for the correction, all of you; this is how I learn, sometimes.

Let's hope that GMO DNA at work in the wild as time goes by doesn't bring forth some unpleasant surprises. Right now, it's Monsanto's RoundUp that seems to be the biggest threat. Time will tell, as it always does, eventually.

Steve said...

GMO foods are not worth the risk. Every free lunch science has marketed has had a bill more expensive than paying up front.

Purple library guy said...

GM crops are not about science. Science is great. Researching genetic modification, for that matter, is just fine.
Monsanto isn't interested in any of that shit, Monsanto just wants to own the seeds so they can force farmers to buy them from Monsanto and only Monsanto and make sure they're not allowed to save seed from their crops to plant again so they'll have to buy the seed from Monsanto every year. And they'd be happier if the seed makes the farmers dependent on more and more herbicides and pesticides which they will need to buy from Monsanto or their friends.

Science, and for that matter effectiveness, are way beside the point. As with the F-35, who cares if it works? The point is to get all those little farmers right where you want 'em, under your thumb and in debt.

Renter said...

Oh hell yes, I think we all agree that Monsanto and their ilk are Evil.

I can't, however, get behind the idea that all GMO is evil. For example, golden rice is a non-profit GMO meant to eradicate vitamin deficiencies in poor countries where rice is a staple. They're not out to gouge anyone, they haven't created terminator seeds, and they're making them very affordable to small farmers. (Industrial farms in Asia have to pay much more, but as long as you earn less than $10,000 US/year, you can get the seeds for free.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rice

http://www.goldenrice.org/