Obama signs Monsanto Protection Act

[strigori]

think about if Obama did the right thing by letting it slide...

 

It got a 75% vote in senate and 61% vote in the House. Not signing it wouldn't have accomplished anything.

Unless the house could come up with another 5% it would have killed it. Overrides need 2/3 majority.

[strigori]

In related Monsanto news,

 

Heavy use of the world's most popular herbicide, Roundup, could be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including Parkinson's, infertility and cancers, according to a new study.

The peer-reviewed report, published last week in the scientific journal Entropy, said evidence indicates that residues of "glyphosate," the chief ingredient in Roundup weed killer, which is sprayed over millions of acres of crops, has been found in food

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/25/roundup-health-study-idUSL2N0DC22F20130425?feedType=RSS&feedName=marketsNews&rpc=43

 

Imagine that. A chemical that kills something might not be healthy for another living thing.

[tschu]

Wow I just skimmed this thread

 

As a biologist, this is a lot of uninformed whistle-blowing by people who have no idea what they're talking about and are just looking for any excuse to blast Obama

[Count 'Bility]

Wow I just skimmed this thread

 

As a biologist, this is a lot of uninformed whistle-blowing by people who have no idea what they're talking about and are just looking for any excuse to blast Obama

[tschu]

I'm here all week

[BigRedBuster]

Wow I just skimmed this thread

 

As a biologist, this is a lot of uninformed whistle-blowing by people who have no idea what they're talking about and are just looking for any excuse to blast Obama

 

And Monsanto.

[beanman]

In related Monsanto news,

 

Heavy use of the world's most popular herbicide, Roundup, could be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including Parkinson's, infertility and cancers, according to a new study.

The peer-reviewed report, published last week in the scientific journal Entropy, said evidence indicates that residues of "glyphosate," the chief ingredient in Roundup weed killer, which is sprayed over millions of acres of crops, has been found in food

 

 

http://www.reuters.c...ketsNews&rpc=43

 

Imagine that. A chemical that kills something might not be healthy for another living thing.

 

This is nothing new. There have been studies linking lawn fertilizers/pesticides to Leukemia as well.

[strigori]

In related Monsanto news,

 

Heavy use of the world's most popular herbicide, Roundup, could be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including Parkinson's, infertility and cancers, according to a new study.

The peer-reviewed report, published last week in the scientific journal Entropy, said evidence indicates that residues of "glyphosate," the chief ingredient in Roundup weed killer, which is sprayed over millions of acres of crops, has been found in food

 

 

http://www.reuters.c...ketsNews&rpc=43

 

Imagine that. A chemical that kills something might not be healthy for another living thing.

 

This is nothing new. There have been studies linking lawn fertilizers/pesticides to Leukemia as well.

And there are many pesticides that are now illegal. Like DDT. Companies will cover up harmful effects to keep a product on the market as long as possible. As a country we use too many pesticides and herbicides.

[beanman]

In related Monsanto news,

 

Heavy use of the world's most popular herbicide, Roundup, could be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including Parkinson's, infertility and cancers, according to a new study.

The peer-reviewed report, published last week in the scientific journal Entropy, said evidence indicates that residues of "glyphosate," the chief ingredient in Roundup weed killer, which is sprayed over millions of acres of crops, has been found in food

 

 

http://www.reuters.c...ketsNews&rpc=43

 

Imagine that. A chemical that kills something might not be healthy for another living thing.

 

This is nothing new. There have been studies linking lawn fertilizers/pesticides to Leukemia as well.

And there are many pesticides that are now illegal. Like DDT. Companies will cover up harmful effects to keep a product on the market as long as possible. As a country we use too many pesticides and herbicides.

Can't argue with that

[BigRedBuster]

In related Monsanto news,

 

Heavy use of the world's most popular herbicide, Roundup, could be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including Parkinson's, infertility and cancers, according to a new study.

The peer-reviewed report, published last week in the scientific journal Entropy, said evidence indicates that residues of "glyphosate," the chief ingredient in Roundup weed killer, which is sprayed over millions of acres of crops, has been found in food

 

 

http://www.reuters.c...ketsNews&rpc=43

 

Imagine that. A chemical that kills something might not be healthy for another living thing.

 

This is nothing new. There have been studies linking lawn fertilizers/pesticides to Leukemia as well.

And there are many pesticides that are now illegal. Like DDT. Companies will cover up harmful effects to keep a product on the market as long as possible. As a country we use too many pesticides and herbicides.

Can't argue with that

 

 

There is always room for improvement but we use one hell of a lot less now than we used to. New technology is being worked on all the time to keep improving that.

[Junior]

http://www.nature.com/news/transgenic-salmon-nears-approval-1.12903

 

Last week marked the end of the public’s opportunity to weigh in on a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) draft assessment of the salmon. Genetically engineered to grow twice as fast as their unaltered brethren, the fish pose no significant environmental threat to the United States when grown in landlocked tanks, says the FDA. The agency needs only to finalize that assessment before deciding whether to approve the fish for human consumption. The number of opportunities for a surprise delay — a recurring theme in the history of these salmon — is dwindling (see ‘Against the current’).

 

 

...

For the firm that developed the fish, AquaBounty Technologies of Maynard, Massachusetts, those 100 tonnes are a hard-won prize. In 1989, the salmon were engineered to overexpress a growth-hormone gene. The result: ‘AquAdvantage’ fish that grew to full size in around 18 months rather than the usual 3 years. The company applied for FDA approval in 1995 and has been stuck in regulatory limbo ever since. AquaBounty has had to demonstrate the food’s safety, and gauge the environmental risk of the sterile fish escaping its tanks and successfully mating with wild salmon. By contrast, the FDA approved the first GM crop for human consumption — the Flavr Savr tomato — after just three years of regulatory consideration.

[Junior]

An excellent article on GMO crops, as well as the need for increasing production on less farm land (emphasis mine):

 

 

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/08/11/genetically-engineered-crops/?WT.mc_id=SA_sharetool_Twitter

 

These and other recent reports conclude that the processes of genetic engineering and conventional breeding are no different in terms of unintended consequences to human health and the environment (European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 2010). This is not to say that every new variety will be as benign as the crops currently on the market. This is because each new plant variety (whether it is developed through genetic engineering or conventional approaches of genetic modification) carries a risk of unintended consequences. Whereas each new genetically engineered crop variety is assessed on a case-bycase basis by three governmental agencies, conventional crops are not regulated by these agencies.

 

Still, to date, compounds with harmful effects on humans or animals have been documented only in foods developed through conventional breeding approaches. For example, conventional breeders selected a celery variety with relatively high amounts of psoralens to deter insect predators that damage the plant. Some farm workers who harvested such celery developed a severe skin rash—an unintended consequence of this breeding strategy (Committee on Identifying and Assessing Unintended Effects of Genetically Engineered Foods on Human Health and National Research Council 2004)