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Genetically Modified Foods; Do you know you're eating GMO foods?
Topic Started: Feb 6 2010, 04:23 PM (3,265 Views)
Zechariah
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Zechariah
For those out there with common sense, this is what happens if you are found in possesion of those G.M. seeds and you haven't purchased the from Monsanto:

GM firm sues Canadian farmer

US biotechnology company Monsanto has taken a Canadian farmer to court, accusing him of illegally growing its genetically-modified (GM) crop.
The case could set legal precedents in the field of genetic modification - the technique of altering plant genes to make them resistant to pests and disease.

The defendant, Percy Schmeiser, owns a farm in Saskatchewan on the vast Canadian prairies.


In 1998, genetically-modified rape seed was found growing on his farm. He says he never planted it, never wanted it and suspects it blew onto his land uninvited.

BBC Vancouver correspondent Ian Gunn says this case is being closely watched by both sides of the international debate over GM organisms.

For supporters of GM technology, this is an important first step of genetic patent rights. For critics, the case might offer more evidence of the uncontrolled spread of GM crops. And for Canada it concerns the reputation of a major export.

'Out of control' seeds

Mr Schmeiser's lawyers say the case is evidence that GM crops are spreading unchecked across farmland.

"It was something that was unleashed into the environment and cannot be controlled," said Terry Zakreski, Mr Schmeiser's solicitor.

The defence will argue that Monsanto failed to instruct farmers properly on how to plant the genetically engineered rape seed and keep it from spreading to neighbouring fields.

Nature or nurture

As proceedings opened in the Canadian courtroom on Monday, Monsanto's lawyers said Mr Schmeiser's case was not about a few escaped plant seeds.

They say that 90% - more than 300 hectares - of the farmer's crop was grown from their GM product, and that nature simply cannot be blamed.


"Cross-pollination could not have caused this to happen. The crop is just too much," Monsanto lawyer Roger Hughes said in court on Monday.

Farmers who use the Monsanto product concerned can plant earlier and manage weeds more easily because the rape seed is engineered to survive powerful herbicides.

Experts disagree as to the likelihood of cross pollination is such cases. Some research has shown that rape seed flowers can spread their pollen over great distances by both wind and insects. Other research shows that most of the pollen falls to the ground within a few metres of the crop it comes from.

The UK case

The court proceedings come two weeks after news that farmers in the United Kingdom have unwittingly been growing GM rape seed for two years.

The crops were grown from seeds imported from Canada and taken from plants that had accidentally been exposed to GM material from nearby fields.

Despite the fact that it seems very unlikely that the Canadian seeds will affect native plants or insects in any noticeable way, the British Government has asked farmers to destroy the affected crop and the company that supplied the seeds is offering to compensate the farmers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/779265.stm
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The SOLE Controller
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...hmmmm...

So the Rainforests where the most-popular GMF products get their DNA from, is patented?? In terms of how these rules apply??

Or, is it true that any one can go to a 3rd-World Rainforest and gather those seeds (or ingredients or hydroponics) themselves??

I think you have confused the aspect of this process, being patented.








For instance, McDonalds only patents "The Big Mac" but they can't stop me from creating my own 2 all-beef patties with special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions and a sesame seed bun
Edited by The SOLE Controller, Sep 10 2012, 12:40 PM.
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Zechariah
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Zechariah
G.M. seeds cannot just be "found" in a rain forrest.

The 12,000-year-old practice in which farm families save their best seed from one year's harvest for the next season's planting may be coming to an end by the year 2000. In March 1998, Delta ~ Pine Land Co. arid the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced they had received a US patent on a new genetic technology designed to prevent unauthorized seed-saving by farmers.
The patented technology enables a seed company to genetically alter seed so that the plants that grow from it are sterile; farmers cannot use their seeds. The patent is broad applying to plants and seeds of all species including both transgenic (genetically engineered) and conventionally-bred seeds. The developers of the new technology say that their technique to prevent seed-saving is still in the product development stage, and is now being tested on cotton and tobacco. They hope to have a product on the market sometime after the year 2000.
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Zechariah
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Zechariah
That was 1998, today all G.M. seed is designed in this way, so as to cause you to purchase your seed each year. This makes you a virtual slave to the producer of these seeds, Monsanto!
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UTB

And these "seeds"?

http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/02/20/2229218/russian-scientists-revive-plant-from-30000-year-old-seeds
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The SOLE Controller
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Again, my friend. You can't patent developing nations, you can't patent their RainForests where the highest-demand for GMF Seeds or hydroponics derive from. You just, cant.

It's very simple for any one with resources, to bypass greedy-tyrannical supplier control high prices.
Edited by The SOLE Controller, Sep 10 2012, 12:47 PM.
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Zechariah
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Zechariah
UTB
Sep 10 2012, 12:46 PM
That's interesting, UTB, but as you know that is aside from the topic discussed here, and an altogether different thing. bit it's cool how science has given them the ability to do that.
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Zechariah
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Zechariah
P.O.A.S.S.A.
Sep 10 2012, 12:46 PM
Again, my friend. You can't patent developing nations, you can't patent their RainForests where the highest-demand for GMF Seeds or hydroponics derive from. You just, cant. <br /><br />It's very simple for any one with resources, to bypass greedy-tyrannical supplier control high prices.
I've already answered you.
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UTB

zecharia
Sep 10 2012, 12:49 PM
UTB
Sep 10 2012, 12:46 PM
That's interesting, UTB, but as you know that is aside from the topic discussed here, and an altogether different thing. bit it's cool how science has given them the ability to do that.
I was just wondering if the current climate s going affect how this plant grows.

How is the current atmosphere going to affect it's growth?

What about the nutrients present in the soil?

Will the current pollution affect it's growth?

Will the seed mutate into something else?

There are many questions, but few answers.
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The SOLE Controller
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No, you didn't answer me. If so, please explain how RainForests and their hydroponics, can be patented?? Please show me some laws that forbid me for going to any Rainforest/any developing nations and unfurling that GMF process, myself? Once I get pissed off about the suppliers dictating high prices??


I'll be waiting.
Edited by The SOLE Controller, Sep 10 2012, 12:58 PM.
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