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Date: | Mon, 6 Feb 2012 15:48:56 -0500 |
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A GMO bee does not have to be a pesticide resistant bee; nor is this the
first time the idea of a GMO bee has surfaced. Years ago, when Charles
Milne showed up at WSU, he talked about making a GMO bee, with some varroa
genetic material inserted into the bee. His concept was that the mite could
be fooled into thinking the bee was in essence itself (varroa) - with the
assumption that a predacious pest wouldn't feed on itself. I wasn't sure
whether he was serious or not; and I may be misquoting him; but that was what I
got out of the conversation.
I don't have a problem with GMO per se. We've sometimes got ourselves in
trouble by narrowing gene pools through conventional hybridization of plants
and other organisms. I remember a period some years back when a disease
of corn went through the US - the hybrid corn had apparently lost
resistance; and the corn breeders and researchers were searching for older maize
stock to try to get back the resistance.
GMO seems to me to be a way of going into a very Rapid Fast Forward
production mode, much quicker than conventional hybridization. However, problems
may pop up just as quickly.
When GMO plants with improved resistance to pest insects first hit, I had a
long talk with EPA in DC. I asked why the pesticide label registration
requirements weren't being modified to address possible hazards from GMO
plants. The short answer from EPA - they expected GMO stock to be a moving
target, constantly being improved upon and changed, since GMO by definition
allowed for rapid modification of the organism. As such, EPA's implied
position was that if a problem did occur, it was likely that a replacement GMO
organism was going to be in place or on the way - so problem solved.
Seemed at the time to be head in the sand logic.
I'm much less concerned about GMO in terms of natural versus human
selection/modification, then I am about how fast things could go wrong.
Personally, I don't worry about eating GMO corn anymore than hybridized corn. I'll
use canola oil - wouldn't want to use the natural oil from rape seed, its
got some toxic compounds that I'd just as soon avoid ingesting.
On the flip side, I am beginning to be more and more concerned about what
hybridization and/or GMO may be doing in terms of floral attractiveness to
insect pollinators, and the food quality, especially pollen protein
content. Over past couple of years, I've become much more aware that the focus on
improving plant production may have lost sight of those aspects of the
plant that are critical to the pollinator.
Jerry
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