Is genetically modified food a threat to mankind?

[Gwizz]

A long-term feeding study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety confirms (GM) corn seriously affects reproductive health in mice.

Non-GMO advocates, who have warned about this infertility link along with other health risks, now seek an immediate ban of all GM foods and GM crops to protect the health of humankind and the fertility of women around the world.

Feeding mice with genetically modified corn developed by the US-based Monsanto Corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to the study conducted by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Lead author of the study Professor Zentek said there was a direct link between the decrease in fertility and the GM diet, and that mice fed with non-GE corn reproduced more efficiently.

Other studies have also found that offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce.

Sources:

Institute for Responsible Technology November 13, 2008

[thomasjordan]

Gwizz:

Eat any corn lately?  It's genetically modified from the weed that grew in north Central America in prehistoric times.  Man genetically modified it by selective breeding over thousands of years.

Do you have a pet dog?  It's been genetically modified from a wolf over thousands of years of selective breeding.

There are things I do not like about biochemical genetic modification (read Next, by the M. Crichton), but speeding up the process that man has been using for thousands of years isn't one of them.

[Gwizz]

I think I like the slow method best.  It was done by taking a few plants that mutated and propagating them with others of the same or similar kind.  Now big companies mix the genes of plants with other very different types of plant genes and/or animal genes.  I guess I just don't trust a research companies need for profit, with little regard for the consumer.

I planted the seeds of small cherry tomato's last year and those seeds grew very small clumps of string beans, about one inch long.

This year I planted the seeds from big beef tomato's in my sun room.  The plants are now about 2 inches high.  I'll see what they produce.  At least I didn't have to dry the seeds first.  They seem to jump out of the soil,

I read an article about our government buying up large amounts of store-able foods.  An Oregon fast freeze dry pack company is over a year behind filling their orders of mostly #10 cans of products.

Our government last year bought a years production of bullets those mostly used by hunters.  Those bullets are now in short supply. 

It makes a person wonder why this storage of supplies is being put together.

Are we preparing for some kind of conflict on US soil?

I think I will start armor plating my RT2 locomotives.   ::)

Woops, I hit the wrong modify button.  Nothing was changed on your post.

[thomasjordan]

Gwizz:

One of the outcomes of Katrina was the failure of government at all levels to be adequately prepared for a disaster of that magnitude.  This year, about 2 million people were evacuated from Louisiana alone (plus more from Mississippi and eastern Texas) during the approach of Ike.  Most of those people ended up in shelters of some type.  FEMA has indeed begun stockpiling food and bottled water for just such emergencies.  Much of it is stored as Meals Ready to Eat (MREs, modern military rations).

As for the ammunition, two things are in play.  It is a tightly regulated industry, and the same couple of firms that make sporting ammunition are the same couple of firms that make military ammunition.  They are busy cranking out a lot of military ammunition for Iraq and Afghanistan, so that reduces the amount of time available for the firms to produce sporting ammunition.

Second, it wouldn't surprise me if the people who believe that people should not own guns have come up with a way to effectively neutralize gun ownership.  What good is a gun if you don't have ammunition for it?  Quietly buying up all of the ammunition would limit the ability of people like you and me to purchase more ammunition.  As sporting ammunition, it has little or no value to the military, as most of it is not compatible with military weapons.

[Hawk]

Second, it wouldn't surprise me if the people who believe that people should not own guns have come up with a way to effectively neutralize gun ownership.  What good is a gun if you don't have ammunition for it?  Quietly buying up all of the ammunition would limit the ability of people like you and me to purchase more ammunition.  As sporting ammunition, it has little or no value to the military, as most of it is not compatible with military weapons.

That was the first thought that came to my mind when I read Gwizz's post.  ::)