I see issues #3 (evolution of superweeds/superpests resistant to existing mitigation techniques) and #4 as the most real. 1 & 2 are entirely manageable, #3 seems anti science in a sense (we created a super food, but can't figure out how to handle a superweed that we don't know whether it will actually materialize or not). #4 is speculative too but one I'd be worried about as a non-scientist, but we've altered biodiversity a million ways and continue to do so, aren't "we" (humans) part of this ecosystem and our behavior part of this dynamic model? If so, then not an issue that should stop feeding poor people throughout the world. #5 is very manageable.RedFromMI wrote: ↑Fri Feb 12, 2021 4:17 pmBiggest issues of GMOs seem to be (from the perspective of family farms):Farfromgeneva wrote: ↑Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:21 pm I would encourage folks to check in general chatter about the 3D printed house. This technology, 3D printing, has the potential to be a Kondriatiev wave level innovation for all of society IMO.
Conceptually similar innovation, this may bleed into other thread topics, but what is the argument against GMOs? Particularly when I've read we can create superfoods such as tomatoes which provide a full days nutrients for a person. If it's the "unkown" of science, that doesn't seem very "progressive" to me. Strikes me, raw meat for the hardcore right, that it's an anachronistic concept on the left which has some abtract devotion to food coming from the ground regardless of net contribution to humankind. But there's a few scientists poking around here, so maybe they can enlighten me on some risk or downside I am not aware of.
Concentration of corporate power - rapid consolidation of seed industry for crops, in particular.
Contamination of non-GMO crops (pollination from GMO crops modifying non-GMO crops
(this also leads to inability of those farms to export to places that ban GMO crops).
Evolution of superweeds/superpests that are resistant to control measures.
Lowering of biodiversity (endangering crops by making them more susceptible to above).
Patents lead to large licensing costs - making seeds much more expensive.
Appreciate it, have seen some of these arguments. But do they outweight the ability to, for example, extend the average age in Ghana by 10 years or reduce the infant mortality rate by some meaningful % across the LDC universe? This may be one of those "check our morality at the border" issues like human rights globally but we need to reduce trade and keep jobs here no matter what.