Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => Fishing-related Issues & News => Topic started by: Sandy on June 08, 2012, 05:17:40 PM

Title: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Sandy on June 08, 2012, 05:17:40 PM
What do you say folks? at one time I never gave it any thought, now I'm getting concerned enough to read more on it.
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Dr. Backlash on June 08, 2012, 06:37:36 PM
GMF's scare the crap out of me!  I only eat natural foods, aka "Real Food"; you know, the type of food we were born to eat.  Not chemically altered garbage made by Nestle & Kraft among others.  Frankly, I can't believe our government allows this sh_t in farmers crops! 
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: zabber on June 09, 2012, 05:15:36 PM
I can't see them being a direct health hazard; generally they insert a gene or something into a foodstuff that causes that product to grow twice as fast (or something like that). At a molecular level it's just extra DNA, protein, etc. that you're consuming; your gut breaks these macromolecules down into their constituent parts and they get absorbed into your bloodstream where they can go on to be utilized, stored, etc.

The idea that GMO foods can wreak ecological havoc (due to genes "escaping," etc.) seems to have merit and is more concerning to me than the fact that there is a lack of long term studies on how these products may affect our health.
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Fillibert on June 09, 2012, 06:54:22 PM
I heard that canola plants (for oil) are fairly weak on their own so it's genetically modified using rat dna so that they become more resilient. The problem with that is that our body gets confused as to how to process it because it has both plant and animal dna
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: zabber on June 09, 2012, 11:14:00 PM
our body gets confused as to how to process it because it has both plant and animal dna

Lol, not sure how that would work; for example, if you a eat a steak, potatoes, and veggies your meal contains both plant and animal DNA -- albeit, not in the same strand -- and your body will process it; DNases and RNases in the small intestine will chop up the genetic material found in these foods into mono- and dinucleotides, which are then absorbed (IIRC).

I'm pretty sure intestinal enzymes catabolize DNA & RNA irrespective of it's source and any bits too large to be absorbed are defecated.

Of course, I am far from an expert in physiology & biochem...
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: kosanin kosher salt on June 10, 2012, 12:43:28 AM
canola oil today is genetically modified already
 it stands for CANADA OIL LOW ACID  , because the real natural canola flowers are poisonous and very high in acid
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Nina on June 10, 2012, 11:44:02 AM
There is absolutely no danger in eating GMO. Where the danger lies is with the environmental hazards, for instance, if a foreign gene from a GMO plant gets spread to the natural variant of that species.
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Sandy on June 10, 2012, 06:34:18 PM
Nina this is happening all across the plains and prairies. Farmers are being sued and bankrupted due to GMO plants being found on his fields or within what he thought was non modified crops.
They have to pay a premium to use patented seeds , some choose not use use those seeds yet somehow they find their crop is contaminated with GMO plants and worse still they are forced by courts to pay the patent owner damages for illegally using their grain.

The real concern is going to be with meats or Animal products. Nina is there any potential of genes crossing over or down the food chain?

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8148

http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/
http://grist.org/sustainable-food/2011-03-31-reversing-roles-organic-farmers-sue-monsanto-over-gmo-seeds/

http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/ViewPage.aspx?pageId=125
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Nina on June 11, 2012, 08:26:36 AM
Nina is there any potential of genes crossing over or down the food chain?

If by crossing over you mean a gene crossing over to humans or animals and somehow lodging intself in the genome, then no, that is not possible. Genes are made up of the same stuff (4 bases and some phosphate and sugar) regardless of where they are from and the body digests it, metabolizes it and gets rid of what it doesn't need. You are not gonna turn into a carrot by eating a carrot. Like I said, the danger lies in cross pollination and the lack of control of these genes in the natural environment. You can look at it as with invasive species; in this case we might end up with invasive genes.

I am not for or against GMO. GMO definitely has potential to do a lot of good, but it should be very strictly regulated in order to avoid any unforeseen natural catastrophes.
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: BentRodsGuiding on June 11, 2012, 11:30:36 AM
Genetically modified foods are almost as scary as Monsanto, the corrupt company doing alot of the modifying.

Why do you suppose has the worlds largest independant police force?.

They are directly related to thousands upon thousands of suicides by farmers worldwide.

I just started my own garden this weekend, now I will have my own lamb meat my own Chicken eggs and vegtables as well.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Sandy on June 11, 2012, 01:58:42 PM
Genetically modified foods are almost as scary as Monsanto, the corrupt company doing alot of the modifying.

Why do you suppose has the worlds largest independent police force?.

They are directly related to thousands upon thousands of suicides by farmers worldwide.

I just started my own garden this weekend, now I will have my own lamb meat my own Chicken eggs and vegetables as well.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html

I'm jealous as hell, could do to be a twenty acre land barron myself; just might still do it should my situation change.   Spuds, Lamb root veg and mint sauce ,YUM Sheep milk cheese yum! matured and smoked Yummier. more or less raised on a small holding. Ate just about everything we grew or raised ( except the kids)

if you can find it, there is great book called " self sufficiency on five acres" cull out the hippy spiritual stuff ( if you wish) lot's of good info.

Nina, I understand your point, i think that most who start to read about GM foods etc. are shocked at the total lack of controls, when questioned the producers always claim that it is good for the "world" .My concern is the seemingly lack of controls, how do we know that is or is not good for us? Theory is one thing ,practice is another. Look at it this way , Nobody, or had they? ::) foresaw the effects of DDT. Could we in some cases, be seeing this in the future?

GM Animals for human transplants, it's happening ! good or bad ? good for the poor soul that needed the transplant/treatment, providing it works, now what happens if that person then becomes a parent ? Was the GM genes dormant, dead or are they active and transferable, so on and so forth or they thought it was :-\.

Lot's of questions , no education ,therefore may ask stupid questions to get answers.
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Noahs Arc on June 11, 2012, 08:20:58 PM
Mmmmmmmmm moose :)
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Sandy on June 11, 2012, 10:26:09 PM
Mmmmmmmmm moose :)

Elk!!!
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: alwaysfishn on June 12, 2012, 07:51:19 AM
Elk!!!

Bear!
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: Nina on June 12, 2012, 12:04:57 PM
I'm jealous as hell, could do to be a twenty acre land barron myself; just might still do it should my situation change.   Spuds, Lamb root veg and mint sauce ,YUM Sheep milk cheese yum! matured and smoked Yummier. more or less raised on a small holding. Ate just about everything we grew or raised ( except the kids)

if you can find it, there is great book called " self sufficiency on five acres" cull out the hippy spiritual stuff ( if you wish) lot's of good info.

Nina, I understand your point, i think that most who start to read about GM foods etc. are shocked at the total lack of controls, when questioned the producers always claim that it is good for the "world" .My concern is the seemingly lack of controls, how do we know that is or is not good for us? Theory is one thing ,practice is another. Look at it this way , Nobody, or had they? ::) foresaw the effects of DDT. Could we in some cases, be seeing this in the future?

GM Animals for human transplants, it's happening ! good or bad ? good for the poor soul that needed the transplant/treatment, providing it works, now what happens if that person then becomes a parent ? Was the GM genes dormant, dead or are they active and transferable, so on and so forth or they thought it was :-\.

Lot's of questions , no education ,therefore may ask stupid questions to get answers.

There is no such thing as stupid questions, only stupid answers. I find in general that consumer awareness and protection is very low in north America compared to northern Europe, and asking these questions is therefore very important. In Danmark, for instance, GMO products have to be marked so consumers have a choice. Due to my background I am mostly focused on the plant GMO and know hardly anything about animal GMOs. In general though, if the inserted gene is not in the gametes (such as sperm and egg in mammals) the gene would have no way to be transferred to the offsprings. A gene from a transplanted organ would therefore stay put.
Title: Re: Genetically Modified Foods
Post by: zabber on June 12, 2012, 12:45:41 PM
In Danmark, for instance, GMO products have to be marked so consumers have a choice.

I've seen products in Save-On marked as GMO (e.g. red seedless grapes); is it company choice in Canada to mark food as such?

My concern is the seemingly lack of controls, how do we know that is or is not good for us? Theory is one thing ,practice is another. Look at it this way , Nobody, or had they? ::) foresaw the effects of DDT. Could we in some cases, be seeing this in the future?

As far as I know, it's the job of Health Canada, the FDA, etc. to decide what is(n't) safe for us. They don't always get it right right away (e.g. thalidomide), and sometimes things slip through the system (e.g. lead jewellery) but I'm sure they do their best to protect the health of Canadians & Americans, despite what the Splenda activists would have you believe. Perhaps that is why they are yet to approve AquaBounty's super salmon and why they are so quick to jump on banning bath salts? Nina suggests these regulatory bodies are relatively mediocre, so she may know more about them than I do. Perhaps they are underfunded, which is why they are less involved than in Europe; though, I've also heard that Canadians like choice, which may explain some of any laxity.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that GMO food consumption will result in negative health effects (and that is being conservative); they aren't adding untested, synthetic chemicals such as DDT to the food (well, not to modify it anyway).

With that said, it's worth mentioning that "natural" or "organic" doesn't always mean safe, or healthy. This applies more to herbs but it could apply to animal products as well; eat too much organ meat and you'll probably develop gout, eat some poorly cut fugu and it's lights out.

Due to my background I am mostly focused on the plant GMO and know hardly anything about animal GMOs. In general though, if the inserted gene is not in the gametes (such as sperm and egg in mammals) the gene would have no way to be transferred to the offsprings. A gene from a transplanted organ would therefore stay put.

I know that "jumping genes" exist. IIRC, they can be a result of viral infection. Thus, I think that -- theoretically -- animal genes could find their way into human genomes as a result of such transplants. Though, I think they can do so already; again, due to transfer via viral vectors. The odds of it happening and causing problems, though are probably very low and I imagine most people would opt for the transplant after weighing the risks and benefits.

asking these questions is therefore very important

Yes, good on ya for making an effort to make informed decisions :)