There's all sorts of sci-fi hysteric stories about what GMO food does and who knows how much of it is actually true. There is some secondary concern regarding genetic diversity but most of the noise comes from Jennifer Lawrence types about GMO poisoning us, attracting goblins, or who knows what. It doesn't accomplish much.
The Truth About Bananas
I just wanted to see how sexy that would be for a title.
(Ed: not much)
Right, matey. Nevertheless, there is a truth about bananas many don't know and CNN wrote of it this morning: Why bananas as we know them might go extinct (again)
The article is not hyperbole since one cultivar went 'extinct' in 1965 and that wiped out most of the world's banana plantations. The solution was to plant an alternate cultivar ... but ... the owners of the plantations did exactly as before and the world's plantations again grow almost unanimously the alternate cultivar.
The alternate cultivar was selected because it was resistant to the Panama Disease which is what wiped out the previous cultivar. Now there is a new variety of the Panama Disease which does affect the alternate cultivar and it's already started wiping out banana plantations in Africa. It's not hyperbole to project it may take out all the world's plantations because that's what happened the last time.
The above cultivars are not GMO but they show well the peril in commitment to any cultivar which has GMO modification in it because of the reduction in genetic diversity to that species if only a single cultivar dominates. Even if there is no other flaw in GMO food, that one remains a peril because over-commitment of any cultivar, regardless of GMO changes, results in the same thing, as we have seen and are seeing again with bananas.
It's conceivable a whizkid scientist comes up with the idea, well, let's do some GMO with bananas and give them a resistance to the new variant of the Panama Disease. They could probably even do it but the consequence remains the same. Even if it does solve this problem, it's still just as imperiled by over-commitment as the cultivar they are trying to save.
Genetic diversity is the same reason you have been seeing for some years the screaming in the EU because of attempted regulations on the availability of various strains of tomatoes. As such strains are restricted so genetic diversity is reduced. This results in greater vulnerability within the tomato industry as a whole and significantly less choice for the grower and the consumer. For example, Russian tomatoes are desirable because of their ability to withstand cold and other traits. This sort of variety is crucial for the survival of any species and you see in the examples of what has come with bananas for the proof it.
The Truth About Bananas
I just wanted to see how sexy that would be for a title.
(Ed: not much)
Right, matey. Nevertheless, there is a truth about bananas many don't know and CNN wrote of it this morning: Why bananas as we know them might go extinct (again)
The article is not hyperbole since one cultivar went 'extinct' in 1965 and that wiped out most of the world's banana plantations. The solution was to plant an alternate cultivar ... but ... the owners of the plantations did exactly as before and the world's plantations again grow almost unanimously the alternate cultivar.
The alternate cultivar was selected because it was resistant to the Panama Disease which is what wiped out the previous cultivar. Now there is a new variety of the Panama Disease which does affect the alternate cultivar and it's already started wiping out banana plantations in Africa. It's not hyperbole to project it may take out all the world's plantations because that's what happened the last time.
The above cultivars are not GMO but they show well the peril in commitment to any cultivar which has GMO modification in it because of the reduction in genetic diversity to that species if only a single cultivar dominates. Even if there is no other flaw in GMO food, that one remains a peril because over-commitment of any cultivar, regardless of GMO changes, results in the same thing, as we have seen and are seeing again with bananas.
It's conceivable a whizkid scientist comes up with the idea, well, let's do some GMO with bananas and give them a resistance to the new variant of the Panama Disease. They could probably even do it but the consequence remains the same. Even if it does solve this problem, it's still just as imperiled by over-commitment as the cultivar they are trying to save.
Genetic diversity is the same reason you have been seeing for some years the screaming in the EU because of attempted regulations on the availability of various strains of tomatoes. As such strains are restricted so genetic diversity is reduced. This results in greater vulnerability within the tomato industry as a whole and significantly less choice for the grower and the consumer. For example, Russian tomatoes are desirable because of their ability to withstand cold and other traits. This sort of variety is crucial for the survival of any species and you see in the examples of what has come with bananas for the proof it.
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