Keeping control

August 2012

Image by HenriBlock on Flickr

In 2009, Caitlin Smith, a widely published science writer with a Ph.D. in neuroscience, quietly suggested

“Having only recently begun to map genomes of whole organisms, now we need to systematically keep tabs on all the alterations to these original maps - and their intended, and unintended, consequences”. 

If this doesn't happen, 'science' will become impossible because we will no longer have anything natural or safe with which to compare our latest living invention.

The official line on GM food safety is that GMO food poses no more risk than eating conventionally farmed food. Is that because GM is safe? Or, is it because the modern 'conventionally' farmed food we're comparing it to isn't safe either?

If this suggestion seems outrageous, be aware that all chronic diseases have increased exponentially since the end of World War II when random, gene-scrambling breeding techniques, chemical fertilizers and artificial pest-control began to be used as standard. And the level of ill-health continues to rise.

In 2012, increasingly 'clever' technologies are being sprung on us and our food chain. This makes the need to preserve a record of what we have changed ever more urgent. Check out SMART BREEDING TOOL - August 2012, XNA - EXPANDING PROBLEMS - July 2012, and CRAIG VENTER'S WEIRD WORLD - July 2012.

SOURCE:

• Caitlin Smith, GMO Technology: A Research Tool Becomes An Ethical Debate, Biocompare Buyers Guide Editorial Article, 26.10.09