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Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by tptacek on Wednesday March 28, 2018 @07:50PM (#16703208)
That's not a fair description of what GMO herbicide resistance means. The other way to frame it is: GMOs allow you to make use of simpler, broad-spectrum herbicides with fewer known health impacts on animal life, as opposed to selective grass- and broadleaf-targeting herbicides that have known, proven human health risks but no PR due to a lack of connection to GMOs.

Unless you're paying $3/# for carrots, herbicides are in the mix one way or the other. GMOs allow us to be pickier about which herbicides we're exposed to.

Regarding IPR issues: you're referring to Monsanto lawsuits. Monsanto enforced its IPR against people who not only planted Roundup-ready crops, but then used Roundup on them --- in other words, people who took advantage of the IPR itself, not merely people who happened to plant Roundup-ready seeds unknowingly. Farmers don't accidentally spray their crops with Glyphosate.

Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by Retric on Wednesday March 28, 2018 @08:44PM (#16703556)
We are at the point where vast stretches of land are used to grow food that's turned into fuel because we don't have any other real use for it. People don't see benefit from increased farming efficiency at this point, they just get stuck with the risks.

15.1 billion bushels of corn... wasted.

Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by Fins on Wednesday March 28, 2018 @10:01PM (#16703967)
Doesn't that have something to do with government mandates and subsidies for adding ethanol to fuel? It could have been well used for something more important.
Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by PatchMonkey on Wednesday March 28, 2018 @09:48PM (#16703904)
Roundup causes some serious cancer.

Maybe its not directly toxic like agent orange, but these chemicals are still dangerous.

Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by thaumaturgy on Wednesday March 28, 2018 @09:53PM (#16703926)
This is reminiscent of the "debate" over cellular radiation causing cancer. How much Roundup do I have to drink to increase my cancer risk by a percentage point?
Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by tptacek on Wednesday March 28, 2018 @09:59PM (#16703958)
So do potatoes; in fact, the link between cooked potatoes and cancer is far stronger than any documented link for glyphosate.
Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by SlowBro on Wednesday March 28, 2018 @11:09PM (#16704237)
In March 2015 the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic in humans" (category 2A) based on epidemiological studies, animal studies, and in vitro studies.[1]

[1] http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-20...

Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by tptacek on Wednesday March 28, 2018 @11:48PM (#16704370)
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/who-iarc...

To say that IARC 2A classification is controversial would be understating.

Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by SlowBro on Wednesday March 28, 2018 @11:59PM (#16704409)
Controversy != wrong.
Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by tptacek on Thursday March 29, 2018 @12:23AM (#16704475)
It doesn't mean "right" either. Meanwhile, acrylamide is an example of an IARC 2A compound where there's little controversy: it causes stomach cancer and lymphoma. And yet we keep eating potato chips and grilling meat.
Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by SlowBro on Thursday March 29, 2018 @08:14AM (#16706328)
Just because we keep doing something does it make it safe?

I’m inclined to agree with the WHO because I can’t see how they could profit from having the results be the way they are, if you believe the conspiracy theories. The old adage, “follow the money” still holds true; so if there is a conspiracy where is the money for calling RoundUp harmful?

That Reuters article is loaded with conspiracy. No actual evidence of wrongdoing, unless I just missed it.

Honest question: If glycosate is safe couldn’t you drink it? Why then did this Monsanto lobbyist refuse to drink it? Honest question. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ovKw6YjqSfM

Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by tptacek on Thursday March 29, 2018 @11:14AM (#16707683)
No offense --- I don't know you or anything about you --- but this comment is like the Triple Crown of dumb GMO arguments.

1. That's a dude who was asked by Canal+ to give an interview about Golden Rice, a product that has nothing to do with herbicides, and is at the end of the interview asked to drink a glass of herbicide.

2. That dude doesn't work for Monsanto, isn't a "Monsanto lobbyist", and has never taken a dollar from Monsanto.

3. I don't need to watch Canal+ stunt interviews to know how dangerous glyphosate is, because there's something called "the medical literature", which documents people having drunk a half liter of the stuff with no effect.

4. But drinking a half liter of glyphosate-based herbicide is an extremely bad plan, because glyphosate isn't the only thing in glyphosate herbicide. Lots of routinely-used fungicides are extremely toxic to humans and found commonly in households.

5. Even if drinking a half liter of random herbicide was completely safe, I'd be upset if you demanded I drink it, for the same reason I'd be upset if you asked me to drink a glass of grapeseed oil or of human urine.

6. All of this drastically misses the point of glyphosate, which is that it's a very simple, broad-spectrum herbicide that is better understood than the selective herbicides farmers use for non-GMO crops. Glyphosate targets a metabolic pathway present in plants and fungus that isn't present in animals. That's not true of selective (grass- or broadleaf- targeting) herbicides. "Conventional" weed control programs are known to be dangerous to humans, rather than the targets of FUD campaigns.

7. If you're "inclined to agree with IARC" about glyphosate, unlike a significant number of scientists, I have bad news for you about cooking food --- meat or vegetables --- which is also 2A-carcinogenic.

Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by SlowBro on Thursday March 29, 2018 @11:29AM (#16707824)
> this comment is like the Triple Crown of dumb GMO arguments

Regarding points 1-5, did you miss that I said it was an honest question? I clearly did not say that it was an argument. I asked precisely because I knew there might be facts I am not aware of. Thank you for filling me in.

> 6. All of this drastically misses the point of glyphosate, which is that it's a very simple, broad-spectrum herbicide that is better understood than the selective herbicides farmers use for non-GMO crops. Glyphosate targets a metabolic pathway present in plants and fungus that isn't present in animals. That's not true of selective (grass- or broadleaf- targeting) herbicides. "Conventional" weed control programs are known to be dangerous to humans, rather than the targets of FUD campaigns.

And this addresses the concern that it may be a carcinogen... how?

> 7. If you're "inclined to agree with IARC" about glyphosate, unlike a significant number of scientists, I have bad news for you about cooking food --- meat or vegetables --- which is also 2A-carcinogenic.

And that also is not an argument for rejecting 2A carcinogenic labeling on glyphosate.

So I ask again: This addresses the concern that it may be a carcinogen... how?

Well, I ask rhetorically. Apparently an answer will not be given, only misdirection.

Sorry but I don't have the energy to debate with people who won't read carefully or provide answers that are not misdirecting. You may have the last word. Good day and God bless.

P.S., "a significant number of scientists" is a fallacious appeal to authority. A significant number of scientists is not the same as having a majority of consensus.

Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by sampo on Thursday March 29, 2018 @04:36PM (#16710812)
> I’m inclined to agree with the WHO

IARC works under WHO, but WHO itself doesn't think glyphosate poses a cancer threat:

http://www.who.int/foodsafety/jmprsummary2016.pdf

Re:Why I’m quitting GMO research by boogerbear on Thursday March 29, 2018 @10:32AM (#16707340)
I have never heard that cooked potatoes cause cancer. Do you mean fried / browned potatoes (acrylamide)?