permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <hemenway@jeffnet.org>]

Former geneticist here: I'm in general agreement with Mark's reply to Gene's
question. Organic is defined as GMO free, and there are many simple DNA,
RNA, and protein assays that can detect either the glyphosate resistance or
Bt gene/protein in GMO food, no matter how it was grown. Organic certifiers
need to be equipped to do these tests, or should hire them out.

We've gone round a few times on the glyphosate issue here. Glyphosate is
probably the least-toxic general purpose herbicide around, but there are
plenty of data to show it doesn't break down as fast in soil (or in lake and
river bottoms, in particular) as it does in lab tests, that it kills soil
life, kills fish and their eggs, makes farm workers sick, blah blah blah, on
and on. The surfactants used to spread it are also very toxic. National
Coalition Against Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP) web site has the data; I
forget the URL. Glyphosate is a pesticide, and promotes the pesticide
mentality. Is it easier on the environment than tillage? Could be. It's
different, that's for sure. But there's nothing very easy on the environment
about large-scale monoculture, no matter how it's done.

Like Mark, though, I'm more concerned about Bt-GMOs, dumping huge amounts of
Bt toxin into our food, water, and soil. Bt resistance will appear quickly
(Monsanto's chemists openly admit they figure on 5-10 years of "useful
product life" before resistance eliminates Bt's usefulness; thanks for being
so socially responsible, Monsanto!). Another issue is, the natural form of
Bt protein is non-toxic until enzymes in the caterpillar's gut convert it to
a toxin, whereas Monsanto, for some perverse reason, engineered the
already-toxic form into their Bt products. It did not need to be as toxic as
they made it.

I've got no problem with genetic engineering as a technique; I did it for
years to develop naturally based cancer and arthritis drugs. But how the
techniques are being applied, particularly in agriculture, is venal, stupid,
and irresponsible.

Toby