tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53332596817992137002024-02-07T06:04:53.014+00:00GM-free ScotlandWe want safe, natural foodGM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.comBlogger856125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-73568560514771417542022-09-05T12:00:00.001+01:002022-09-05T12:00:00.157+01:00Evolutionary breeding, just like weedsSeptember 2022Despite all the toxins, genetic devices, and shear physical destruction we throw at them, pests of all kinds continue to thrive in our fields. As climate change imposes all manner of unusual stresses on the environment, farmers and their crops struggle, while pests go from strength to strength. It's not too difficult to see why. For one thing, heat speeds up the metabolism of GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-18433864821882910582022-08-23T12:00:00.001+01:002022-08-23T12:00:00.183+01:00The patent mania of big proteinAugust 2022 There's a new concentration of power looming in the food system: Big Protein. The bulk of our protein needs comes from animals, but apparently "animals have just been the technology we have used up until now to produce meat ... What consumers value about meat has nothing to do with how it's made. They just live with the fact that it's made from animals." (Impossible Foods CEO). Now, GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-29183130757799078862022-08-16T15:38:00.000+01:002022-08-16T15:38:26.291+01:00Fake meat: real pressure on governmentAugust 2022Make no mistake, your government will be under a lot of pressure to jump on the fake real 'cultured' meat bandwagon [1]. Westminster won't risk being seen as an old-fashioned, backward-looking government, scared to grasp the lab-meat nettle while other governments race ahead. Fake real meat is being presented as inevitable by companies planning to market it. GOOD Meat, for example, isGM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-20444937268098625252022-08-06T13:22:00.001+01:002022-08-06T13:22:36.602+01:00Who benefits from alternative proteins?August 2022What problem is the burgeoning market for alternative proteins from plant-based meat [1] and cell-based meat [2] trying to solve?Manufacturers of imitation meat stress that their product is one we can "feel good about". It's healthier, it will solve the rising protein needs of our increasing global population, and it will save the planet from the crippling effects of our unsustainableGM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-44128196868323138792022-08-01T12:00:00.001+01:002022-08-01T12:00:00.157+01:00Fake real meat - or a bunch of hooey?August 2022The latest food-like substance trying to transition from the laboratory to the factory, and hence to our dinner-plates, is fake real meat. That is, real animal cells, whose many-times-great grandparents were part of a real animal and which have been persuaded to multiply themselves in a great big tank, are squished together to make pretend mince-meat. A better class of fake requires GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-34379610549220890022022-07-18T12:00:00.001+01:002022-07-18T12:00:00.163+01:00Government public relations drive on gene edited foodJuly2022AnalysisWestminster is pulling out all the stops to force gene-edited foods down UK throats. Its tactics are very reminiscent of those employed a quarter-of-a-century ago, when first-generation GM foods were imminent. However, a couple of lessons have been learned from that first PR disaster.Using confusing and inaccurate terminology to massage the negative connotations is still very GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-64184608954930468092022-07-13T15:25:00.000+01:002022-07-13T15:25:40.221+01:00Gene-edited tomatoesJuly 2022According to media headlines, the UK government has declared gene-edited tomatoes could be in our supermarkets in 2023.The novel tomatoes it has in mind could include GABA tomatoes from Japan [1] and, very likely, vitamin D-generating tomatoes which are being developed by the UK's John Innes Centre (JIC) with international collaboration. The JIC tomatoes have been edited to disable a GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-80488582787831542092022-07-13T15:08:00.000+01:002022-07-13T15:08:26.361+01:00Gene-edited mushroomsJuly 2022In 1932, a legal issue which started with a tenacious Scottish single-parent shop-assistant, who took exception to being served up a decomposing snail in her ice-cream float and pursued her complaint all the way to the House of Lords, ended with the creation of a consumer rights law which became established throughout the world.The significance of this case is that manufacturers of "GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-48608603540146441332022-07-04T15:18:00.002+01:002022-07-04T15:18:32.703+01:00Natural gene editing just doesn't happenJuly2022Under intense industry lobbying, regulators around the world are being persuaded to by-pass safety testing of gene-edited foods [1]. The main argument for ignoring such a basic safeguard of human health is that the genome changes inflicted "could happen in Nature".This claim is based on a century-old theory that genetic mutations are 'normal', ongoing, random mistakes arising in the GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-86936009997885113632022-07-04T14:34:00.000+01:002022-07-04T14:34:33.339+01:00Gene-edited crops: controlling, unjustifiable and unnecessaryJuly 2022Governments are being persuasively lobbied by the biotech industry to rubber-stamp gene-edited crops with claims that they are democratising, sustainable and necessary.Democratising?The inventor of the most popular gene-editing device, 'CRISPR' [1], described it as a 'democratising' tool because it's cheap and easy to use. In theory, this makes it accessible to any researcher or GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-33400683450032775572022-06-27T12:00:00.001+01:002022-06-27T12:00:00.164+01:00Herbicide tolerant GM soya is insecticidal tooJune 2022Glyphosate-tolerant GM crops aren't something that usually
bring insecticides to mind.
Indeed, historically, US soyabeans were only sporadically challenged by
insect pests. Things changed around 2000
with the arrival of the soybean aphid which can only be controlled by foliar
spraying. Hot on the heels of this pest
invasion came dramatic increases in bean leaf beetle GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-63637021438949015062022-06-20T12:00:00.001+01:002022-06-20T12:00:00.166+01:00GM crops adding to ecosystem collapseJune 2022A key selling-point for 'Bt' insecticide-generating GM crops is that they reduce the need to spray chemical pesticides on the crop. It is claimed this makes them 'environmentally-friendly'.Indeed, a study published in 2014, which combined data from 147 studies world-wide, showed a significant 42% reduction in the quantity of pesticide applied on Bt crops compared to conventional ones. GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-18630981272810364462022-06-13T12:00:00.001+01:002022-06-13T12:00:00.162+01:00Microbes on the chopping blockJune 2022It's being increasingly recognised that the diversity and stability of the microbial community in our gut (our gut microbiome) are closely linked to health [1]. For example, some bugs create important nutrients from our food, while others detoxify undesirable elements in our food: both are necessary for our health. "... reductions in microbial diversity are directly associated with GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-59060013649602826162022-06-06T12:00:00.001+01:002022-06-06T12:00:00.162+01:00Universal microbiome declineJune 2022" ... there is a microbial component inherent to all known systems on Earth with cumulative evidence supporting that niche-adapted microbial communities ('microbiomes') play unequivocally important roles in total ecosystem functioning ... Emerging ideologies such as "Planetary Health" and "OneHealth" emphasize these fundamental roles of microbial metabolic processes in supporting GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-68797806745086988652022-05-23T12:00:00.001+01:002022-05-23T12:00:00.167+01:00GM - an unsustainable, pro-rich technologyMay 2022Indian farmers first embraced GM cotton in 2002. 'Bollgard' cotton with its very own 'Bt' insecticide-generating gene, was heralded as a sustainable, pro-poor technology which would provide substantial benefits to smallholders. It promised reduced pest-damage, reduced chemical treatments, and increased yields.In a country which contributes a quarter of global cotton, and has seven GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-60455657234584655962022-05-16T12:00:00.001+01:002022-05-16T12:00:00.171+01:00Breeding Bt crops breeds healthy pestsMay 2022In the first decade of 'Bt' insecticidal GM maize growing, it was noted that aphids unexpectedly thrived on them. Aphids are sap-sucking insects which can reproduce prodigiously under the right conditions, but don't usually cause economic damage to maize crops. It was suggested that these overwhelmingly 'right conditions' in the Bt maize plants might be their slight, but significantly, GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-69116391774624779882022-05-09T12:00:00.001+01:002022-05-09T12:00:00.193+01:00Weak skinned Bt plants with Bt unfriendly virusesMay 2022'Bt' insecticide-generating GM crops are sold as a major weapon in the battle against key species of pest without the need for chemical applications.The initial benefits of Bt are eroded within a few years, not only by the evolution of resistance in the target pests, but by Bt-resistant non-target pests which are happy to fill the vacant seat at the monoculture banquet.Early on, we had GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-46544353501795375412022-05-02T12:00:00.001+01:002022-05-02T12:00:00.171+01:00Super toxic Bt cowpeasMay 2022In 1990, Monsanto scientists published their latest discovery about the new 'Bt' insecticides generated by GM crops which were soon to become every farmers 'must-have'.Their exciting finding, with an "immediate commercial implication" was that the insecticidal power of Bt could be increased many fold if its degradation was prevented by the plant itself. Many plants produce substances GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-50317816361365362252022-04-12T10:33:00.002+01:002022-04-12T10:33:35.537+01:00Self spreading virusesApril 2022Is there any such thing as a non-self-spreading virus? Or, to re-phrase the question using some of the alternative, interchangeable, technical terms which pop up: is there any such thing as a non-transmissible, non-self-disseminating, non-contagious, non-horizontally-transferable virus? The answer is no. Viruses only exist by hijacking living cells and forcing them to churn out viralGM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-50054297516171879362022-04-12T10:22:00.002+01:002022-04-12T10:22:59.902+01:00COVID theories - part 3April 2022COVID theories part III - The origin of Covid-19 better explainedA year on from the start of the pandemic there was still, by all accounts, a near-consensus view among scientists that the causative agent of Covid-19 lay in natural animals, but some free-thinkers were beginning to explore the unfashionable alternative: the laboratory-escape hypothesis.Further analysis of the Covid-19 GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-89030638227671117012022-04-12T10:18:00.000+01:002022-04-12T10:18:36.938+01:00COVID theories - part 2April 2022Part II - Some key players in the Covid-19 dramaPresident of Ecohealth Alliance, Dr Peter Daszak, who worked closely with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) for 15 years, declared long ago that "Most pandemics ... originate in animals". Since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak he has claimed any suggestions that the virus might have come from a lab are "preposterous", "baseless"GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-71692034713722248282022-04-12T10:14:00.000+01:002022-04-12T10:14:28.143+01:00COVID theories - part 1April 2022Part I - The source of Covid-19: was it animals or scientists?Ever since the first reports of a coronavirus outbreak in December 2019 in the Chinese megacity of Wuhan, the origins of Covid-19 have been steeped in controversy. Did the virus just pop out of nature by chance? Or, was it a human creation now running amok? The answer is vital to ensure controls are put in place to reduce GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-31460145360046907402022-03-24T12:00:00.001+00:002022-03-24T12:00:00.158+00:00Gene escape is seriously bad newsMarch 2022In 2005 the scientific view was that "... the movement of transgenes beyond their intended destinations is a virtual certainty" (quoted in Ellstrand)Gene escape from GM crops is something environmental activists have done a lot of shouting about. However, although regulatory lip-service is paid to it in risk assessments, the consequences of walk-about genes seem to be swept under the GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-84745946117067703022022-03-17T11:47:00.000+00:002022-03-17T11:47:05.082+00:00Indirectly GM bees March 2022"Even with the complete genetic information of a synthetic micro-organism, it is beyond the capacity of any existent bioinformatic analysis to fully predict the capability of a synthetic organism to survive, colonise and interact with other organisms under natural conditions, given the uncountable diversity of potential microhabitats and their temporal variability." (European FoodGM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333259681799213700.post-67190088535502595302022-03-07T12:00:00.001+00:002022-03-07T12:00:00.164+00:00Caddisfly non-science nonsenseMarch 2022The industry-friendly notion that the by-products of GM crops would somehow remain harmlessly in the fields was proved wrong in 2007 when a team of American biologists went out and did some science. For starters, their investigations confirmed that streams originating adjacent to fields are indeed recipients of both pollen and crop debris deposited by wind and water. Once there, GM-free Scotlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17882864138655171683noreply@blogger.com0