I posted the below in a response to an article posted on GMOs. I thought perhaps it deserved its own post.
https://steemit.com/homesteadersonline/@soulturtle/the-issues-with-gmos-and-could-they-be-beneficial
On the surface this seems like a fair article. However it is subtly deceptive. It has a couple of earmarks from the pro GMO propaganda. This is not to say the author purposely was trying to deceive. Perhaps this author just doesn’t realize it or actually believes it. This is fairly common even among anti-GMO folks.
Ok I’ll get to it. The first one is that selective breeding or hybrid plants have nothing in common with GMO franken-fruits the propagandists are trying to tell us are safe. You can’t selectively breed fish genes into a tomato! This is what they are doing. They are splicing genes from incompatible species into fruits and vegetables to get the desired effects.
Second and more important is they use viruses to insert these genes into the cells. Because a virus is the only thing that can penetrate the cell wall without the organism’s immune system killing it off. Viruses ALWAYS mutate. So they are introducing all sorts of new viruses into the dance of life with no clue as to the consequences they will have on the environment and us and our animals etc. Think about that my friends.
http://naturalsociety.com/safety-group-blows-lid-on-secret-virus-hidden-in-gmo-crops/
"For example, virus strains may be modified to carry genetic material into a plant cell, replicate,"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK215771/
Few people even among the anti-GMO folks know about the viruses being used to insert the genes. That is of course by design of the pro-gmo lobby. They have deep pockets and have convinced many farmers GMOs are better. However the stats do not bear that out. Production initially spikes but then tapers off and actually falls below what it once was.
The Pro GMO lobby has worked long and hard to convince folks Gene Splicing is the same as selective breeding so that it seems familiar and safe since selective breeding has been going on for centuries by humans and millennia by nature. IT’S NOT!!
Why does the GMO lobby fight so hard against labeling? Obviously they have something to hide. Do we not have a right to choose what we put into our bodies? Evidence is pretty conclusive now that GMO’s are harmful to the environment to animals and humans. I won’t belabor the point this is a polarizing subject unfortunately. I just emphasize to do your research. To many people have “beliefs” about GMOs without having done the research. It’s not a matter of belief its matter of facts and evidence. It’s available for those who want to know the truth.
The way forward is through Restoration Agriculture as per Mark Shepard and Permaculture as per Sepp Holzer and Geoff Lawton and many other lesser known pioneers in these areas. The earth has spent millions of years developing the fruits of the earth! Humans have been part of that too, we have much to learn from nature!
