I’ve Looked At GMOs From Both Sides Now

The ping pong match continues.  Or maybe its more like a boxing match?  If so, we’re at round, oh, I don’t know, about 125 now?  Those that see GMOs or transgenic technology as a necessary and valuable tool to steward us onward and forward into our food future versus those who won’t have any of it because they are either scared to death of GMOs or trying very hard to be what they perceive to be politically correct.

For me, the back and forth, the backhands, the punches, have become a bit of a spectacle to take in and yes, at times be quite entertained by.

But it is so much more than entertainment.  Our global food future really is at stake here.  No matter which side you’re on, this thing must be resolved.  While we spar over the issues – all opinionated-and-well-fed-like, people who don’t have the opportunity for an  opinion and just want to eat are already starving or are grossly malnourished.  While we march against Big Ag, multi-national corporations with deep pockets are crowding out some of the most innovative smaller biotech companies.  While we quibble about labeling, poorly designed and conducted studies set out to prove GMOs aren’t safe, one after the other.  And through it all, well-meaning activists continue to crowd around this single tree in the park.  There are many other trees in the park but there is a special one around which the crowd has gathered.  Concerned about their families, they are out to save the world, and they continue to bark.

But I ask you, what if it is the wrong tree?

So I decided to make my own ping pong or boxing “match” and watch the topspins and chop blocks whiz by, or the left hooks and jabs, whichever match you prefer.

Granted, my position is on the side of transgenics, or GMOs,  because I do feel it is a viable technology that has the potential to help humankind in a myriad of ways.  That doesn’t mean I think it is the “go to” technology for every agricultural situation.  It is not.

I’m not a corporate shill, a Monsanto shill, a biotech shill or any kind of shill.  I am in fact a musician and teacher with a keen interest in health, technology and the future.  I think independently and no one pays me to do so.

Below, I present links to some of the most common titles circulated by anti-GMO proponents.  These titles include articles, questions and answers, books or videos, and studies. I then present at least one if not several links to articles or studies that offer an opposing point of view based on widely respected scientific evidence, not fear or prejudice.

These links are by no means comprehensive for either side.  This is  simply a venue whereby opposing views and the reasons for said opposing views.

Forehand ~ Backhand ~ Punch ~ Counterpunch

1.  If you have read GMO Myths & Truths/Earth Open Source, please also read Response To GM Food Myths/AgBioWorld.

2.  If you have read the book or seen the documentary Genetic Roulette/Jeffrey Smith, please also read 20 Questions on Genetically Modified foods/World Health Organization (WHO) or Top 20 Urban Myths about GM Crops/Academics Review or Effects of genetically modified T2A-1 rice on the GI health of rats after 90-day supplement/Scientific Reports or The 35S Promoter Has Been Thoroughly Researched/Academics Review.

3.  If you have read the study A Long Term Toxicology Study On Pigs Fed Combined GM Soy & GM Maize Diet/Carman, Vlieger et al, please also read Fate of transgenic DNA and protein in pigs fed genetically modified Bt maize and effects on growth and health /Ph.D. Thesis or The Effect of Feeding Bt Maize to Pigs for 110 Days on Intestinal Microbiota /Plos One or Lack of care when choosing grain invalidates pig feed study /Biofortified or Nine recent publications on feeding GM maize to pigs,/GMO Pundit (his list of nine includes two of the studies I already listed)

4.  If you have read GMO Feed Turns Pig Stomachs to Mush/Natural News or New GMO Study Raises Health Concerns/Rodale News, or Proof of GMO Harm/Zen Honeycutt of Moms Across America, please also read the following blog posts:  GMO Pigs Study – More Junk Science/Mark Lynas, From ‘I smell a rat’ to ‘when pigs fly’, bad science makes its rounds/Cami Ryan, The Evidence of GMO Harm in Pig Study is pretty flimsy/Control Freaks, More Bad Science in the Service of anti-GMO Activism/Science Based Medicine, The New Pig Study Gets An “F” In Science/Sleuth4Health, When the Science Sucks, You Can Have it Both Ways!/Illumination, Pigs, GMOs, & Bullshit/Random Rationality

5.  If you’ve read Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome:  Pathways to Modern Diseases/Samsel & Seneff, please also read Safety Evaluation and Risk Assessment of the Herbicide Roundup and Its Active Ingredient, Glyphosate, For Humans/Pubmed.

6.  If you’ve read the Stunning Corn Comparison/Moms Across America with Howard Vlieger, the Illumination post mentioned in number four above serves to counter at least some aspects of the corn comparison.

If you have additional counters to offer, or counters to my counters, or just want to put forth a comment of any kind, please feel free.  I welcome all relevant comments, whether you agree with me or not!

~Julee K @ Sleuth4health

email:  sleuth4health@gmail.com

This article was updated at 10:28, PST.