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  • From: David <david@h4c.org>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] [Fwd: Nonchemical Way to Control Mosquitoes]
  • Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:58:19 -0800


Lawrence,

Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:
That's one of the scariest articles I've seen since the one about much of Mexico's 150 species of corn being wiped out by GMO corn pollen that rendered them all sterile.

Thanks for your comments, Cecile.

Did this really happen?
This is not my area of expertise, and likely there are folks on-list who could give a better answer, including almost anyone who can type and chew gum, but the story as I understand it, based mostly on several viewings of "The Future of Food", is that GMO corn was shipped to Mexico for food, and some farmers grew it. It cross-pollinated with native species, producing a hybrid. The problem is that it takes a lab to tell whether the corn that is growing-- regardless of how it looks-- has GMO genes in it, so it has definitely "polluted" some otherwise genetically pristine corn growing in Mexico, and elsewhere.

Some GMO corn-- not all-- has also had a "suicide gene" inserted in it. That gene was put there to make the corn sterile or give it very poor germination, second generation, so that seed savers will be thwarted. Obviously if corn with this gene crosses with native species, or the gene hops across some other way (plasmids, viruses, ??) then the native corn can be rendered sterile.

To emphasize, however, not all native corns have been polluted with GMO of any stripe, and I have not heard of any instance of the suicide gene having crossed to native stock.


d.

--
David William House
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"The Complete Biogas Handbook" www.completebiogas.com

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