Fur Farms and Banana Rice Pudding
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 07. 9.07
Researching on one of our primary technical sources, Ebay, we discovered evidence of a long abandoned effort at genetic engineering. Apparently some frankenfarmer long ago came up with way to grow fur in rows...like plants. Kidding. But, no joke, researchers have actually found a way to insert rice genes into bananas to fend off a plant disease, eliminating the need for a nasty fungicide. 'Without genetic modification, the main food source of many tropical countries is likely to die off, impacting the diet of hundreds of millions more poor people from Brazil to Indonesia.' "...all bananas come from mutant plants discovered some 8,000 years ago, probably in Papua New Guinea. They have been grafted, or cloned, ever since, and developed into dozens of varieties, colors, and sizes."
"Led by Rony Swennen, a team discovered that inserting a gene from rice provides significant protection for the banana with apparently no danger to either humans or the environment. Because the banana is sterile, it can't get loose in the environment, nor is there a seed allowing Monsanto or other corporations to sell it." For his trouble in writing about this, blogger David Ewing Duncan has taken personal criticism. See for yourself. Via:: Techology Review, David Ewing Duncan's Blog Image credit:: Ebay, sign for sale, anon.
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I love when people bely their ignorance of even the basic points of the thousands-of-years history of genetic modification and attack anything that has that scariest of phrases, "genetic modification". It's actually quite sad to find out that education is failing students in this regard. I for one say modify on! It's the only true organic farming!
While I agree that "Genetically Modified" isn't inherently evil, I am always cautious when I hear it. In this case it seems like a good idea. However, there are plenty of other cases that I hold concern about. I would rather be non-organic than modify the evolutionary process sufficiently to wipe out whole species who depend on a plant's "weakness".
While that represents the worst-case scenario (and an unlikely scenario at that), it is definitely a real risk. Like all aspects of modern technology, GM needs to be applied with caution and moderation until we gain a more complete understanding of the ramifications of our actions.