China Pulls Plug On Genetically Modified Rice and Corn 152
sciencehabit writes China's Ministry of Agriculture has decided not to renew biosafety certificates that allowed research groups to grow genetically modified (GM) rice and corn. The permits, to grow two varieties of GM rice and one transgenic corn strain, expired on 17 August. The reasoning behind the move is not clear, and it has raised questions about the future of related research in China.
It means that China has their own version now (Score:5, Informative)
So get out, Monsanto, you dirty capitalist pigs!
Seriously, though, this means little. China will use their own knockoff version now and market it, as well.
Off topic (Score:3, Informative)
I don't want to be another complainer, but this site is begging me to stop visiting. I am not very happy.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Informative)
What an idiotic comment. The CPC didn't authorise putting melamine in milk or cadmium in toys. Both were illegal and the perpetrators of both were brought to justice. I don't know the details of cadmium laced toys, but the ring leaders of the melamine doped milk scandal were put to death.
Your comment is as stupid as blaming the US congress for the Union Carbide disaster.
Re:Nicatoids and bees (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wow (Score:3, Informative)
patented genes that spread to neighboring fields
All genes do. If you are referring to the 'people getting sued' over it thing, look into it further. No one has ever been sued for simply being cross pollinated, and give China's general stance on IP of any kind, I highly doubt any company would have a chance of successfully suing in China.
genes that provide restitence to weed-killers spreading to wild species
To my knowledge there has never been any documented example of the herbicide tolerant gene jumping between GMO crops and weeds. There has, however, been selective pressure on weed populations that has resulted in the emergence of herbicide tolerant lines (by for example having a mutation at the binding site of the enzyme the herbicide targets). The key context here is that, one, this is due to over-reliance on the glyphosate herbicide (the main one of the two herbicides that crops are resistant to) instead of using herbicides of multiple modes of action, two, the problem here is that these weeds will diminish the benefits already provided by herbicide tolerant crops. The ideal would be rotating through multiple modes of action to mitigate resistance, however, due to the benefits of these crops, there has been too much reliance on them, which is why there is now more of a push to diversify the herbicides, although no doubt in the future glyphosate will still be preferred. I also fee it must be said that herbicide resistant weeds predate GMO crops by a few decades; although the case with GMOs is particularly problematic due to the gains that are at risk, this is not a new problem. There's a lot of hatred for the herbicide tolerant crops, and on the surface that makes sense, but I find people rarely have the background context and complete story.
modifications that hinder the production of viable seeds, so the farmers have to buy new GM seed from the producers rather than growing part of their harvest on next year
That doesn't exist outside labs. Anti-GMO people love to talk about that one but they lie. What is out there is hybrid seed, which has been in use since the 30's, which has better yields, more hardy, ect. the first year but subsequent progeny is so genetically variable that it makes economic sense to continue to purchase hybrid seed. Think of it like this, you cross AA with BB to get AB, which could be the best, but when you cross the AB and AB offspring you get AA, AB, and BB, which doesn't work out so well. Corporations didn't do this, genetic engineering didn't do this, its just basic genetics.
I'm sure GM would be welcome in most countries if it was not for the companies producing them. Another thing is that the Chinese are fully capable of developing or buying the technology themselves - so why should they allow in American companies that are only intent on siphoning off as much profit as possible to their share holders?
Well, you're wrong. They are Chinese developed varieties, the rice developed by Huazhong Agricultural University and the corn was developed by Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Biotechnology Research Institute in Beijing. Contrary to popular believe, more than just corporations are using technology. They're just the only ones able to jump through the scientifically unjustifiable regulations. There's cool GE plants sitting in university labs around the world, but the agriculture and plant science departments just don't have the funding necessary to bring them to market like the big corporations do. And to give your notion that non-corporate GMOs would be welcome another counterpoint, note that China does not accept shipments of the Rainbow papaya, developed by the University of Hawai'i, not a corporation.
The movement against GMOs likes to hide behind anti-corporatism, but so much as scratch the surface and you'll find they are just anti-science. Look at the controversy over Golden Rice developed
Re: Could be the pesticide lobby which has killed (Score:0, Informative)
less pesticide b3cause its grown into the plant. mmmm sounds like its good for you if it kills bugs it will kill you. no they dont want gmo because look at India... what is it 80 something farmers a day commit suicide because they bought GMOs and the seeds die after one planting and it cost a fortune to keep buying these junk seeds, when the alternative is natural, where upon seeds are replenished. but once you buy GMO seeds once, monsanto can come after you if there is any remnants left next season IF you dont use their seeds.
Re:Better to starve I guess? (Score:5, Informative)
It produces Bt, which is toxic to certain orders of insects, not to humans. And before someone comes along and says that it is still toxic, remember that gapes and chocolate are toxic to dogs, and dogs are a lot more closely related to humans than lepidopterans.
Oh, and every plant produces insecticides anyway. It's only alarming if you don't know much about plant biochemistry. Give something that can't swat back at the trillions of things out there trying to eat them a few hundred million years to come up with defenses and they develop things chemical defenses, like caffeine (yep, it has insecticidal properties, ever wonder why coffee evolved to have it right in it's seeds?), piperine (a yummy insecticide, turns out black pepper's original plan was to not have things eat its offspring), maysin (found even in your non-GMO corn) solanine (tomatoes and potatoes, don't eat this) and falcarinol (found in carrot a neurotoxin in high enough quantities).
Re:Applaude (Score:5, Informative)
You mean like wheat, a hybrid of three species, and strawberries, another hybrid?
Or corn, bred to be so radically different from its ancestral teosinte that most people wouldn't even recognize it?
Or carrots, which were not orange until humans bred them to be that way?
Or cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, kale, and Brussel's sprouts, which are all the same species with various genetic mutations dramatically altering their form?
Or apples, which are selected from somatic mutations and grafted onto root stocks?
Or citrus, which is altered through selecting radiation induced mutations?
Or pluots, which had to have their embryos cut out of the parent plant and cultured in vitro because they would have never developed naturally?
Or seedless watermelons, which are bred from chemically induced chromosome doubled watermelons?
Or tomatoes, which have genes introgessed from other wild species?
Oh, you're just referring to the thing you knew was unnatural, not all the things you were utterly clueless about. Well, since it would be such a bother to admit your initial premise and driving belief are completely inane, I'll wait while you move the goalpost to attempt to justify your irrationality.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Informative)
It produces a poison in the same sense that chocolate and grapes are poisonous (don't feed those to your dog). The Bt protein has a very specific mode of action in certain insect pests, and does not impact humans. It is not a health concern, and has been used in organic food production for decades before suddenly becoming controversial once genetic engineering got involved.
Also, that a plant produces a poison is not an alarming thing. In fact, it is ubiquitous. Chemical defenses are found throughout the plant kingdom, including in crop plants. Things like solanine in potatoes, or glucosinolates in broccoli, or even caffeine in coffee and tea (note that they are produced respectively in the seeds and leaves, two things a plant might want to defend...that humans like them for it is kind of an evolutionary plot twist) all have insecticidal properties. Anti-GMO groups love to be alarmist over the fact that some GMOs produce an additional insecticide (yes, one more, even non-GMO corn is going to have things like maysin in it) but in and of itself is not alarming. It's just preying on the ignorance of those who do now know just how many natural pesticides we consume daily.
Re:Nicatoids and bees (Score:4, Informative)
Not every GMO contains nicatoids
No GMO crop is modified to produce neonicotinoids, although some anti-GMO people have tried to conflate these separate issues because GMO crops, like non-GMO crops, may be sprayed with them.
Monsanto deserves a firey death for setting back non-psychopathic GMO's by 30 years or more.
I do not believe this is Monsanto's fault. The mainstream opposition to genetic engineering started with the Flavr Savr tomato, which was released before Monsanto released any GE crops. The blame lies with activist/interest groups like Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Navdanya, Organic Consumer's Association, ect. and other groups that saw genetic engineering as an opportunity to further their own social, political, or financial interests. Those 'psychopathic' GMOs you mention are insect resistant crops (reduced insecticide use), herbicide tolerant (sounds bad, actually results in lower environmental impact via the substitution of harsher herbicides and the promotion of no-till agriculture) and virus resistant crops, with drought tolerant corn recently approved (no independent data on its impact yet though).
Consider this; do you really think the same people who lie about university, NGO, and publicly developed GE crops are going to be honest about Monsanto? These anti-GMO groups aren't just opposing Monsanto's crops, they're opposing, vandalizing, and slandering all GE crops. Golden Rice, BioCassava, Bangladeshi Bt eggplant, Rainbow papaya, HoneySweet plum, CSIRO's low GI wheat (destroyed by anti-science thugs), INRA's disease resistant grape rootstock (also destroyed), Rothamsted's insect repelling wheat, VIB's cisgenic potatoes (also destroyed), ect. All publicly developed, all opposed (or destroyed) by anti-GMO groups. Put Monsanto's blame where it is due, but this one is not on them.
Re:Nicatoids and bees (Score:4, Informative)
Golden rice is OPEN SOURCE. Monsanto and its lawyers are nowhere in sight. And no, golden rice has no magical effects on other species around it.
Re: Wow (Score:3, Informative)