CGI's Lymerick: Geneticist David Suzuki Says Humans “Are
Part Of A Massive Experiment”
Posted By: Susoni [Send E-Mail]
Date: Wednesday, 27-Nov-2013 12:42:07
November 25, 2013 by Arjun Walia.
|
We are doing our part to try and spread the word about GMOs, (genetically
modified organisms) but we’re not the only ones. Multiple public figures,
scientists and researchers have been speaking out about GMOs for a number of
years. For example, not long ago a former Canadian Government Scientist at
Agriculture Canada, Dr. Thierry Vrain (one of many) spoke out against GMOs.
Another prominent public figure, Geneticist David Suzuki has been a long time
advocate against GMOs, and has been speaking out about how they can be
hazardous to human health as well as the environment. Below, I’ve provided a
video example of Suzuki explaining why he feels the way he does about GMOs.
Public figures with a wide audience can have a great impact on the
consciousness of the masses, they are great ‘tools’ for waking more people up
to the reality that GMOs can be harmful to human health as well as the
environment. It’s time to pay attention, do your own research and to question
what you’ve been told. We can no longer trust branches of the government that
deal with food and health, we must not take their word for it, it’s better if
you actually look into it yourself rather than blindly believing what your are
told.
It doesn’t seem to be much of a debate anymore, it’s clear that GMOs can
indeed be harmful to human health. There is a reason why a majority of
countries around the world have permanently banned GMOs, so what’s taking North
America so long? One reason might be the fact that biotech corporations like
Monsanto seem to be above the government and influence policy, but thankfully
these things are changing. Big Island, Hawaii has recently banned all GMO
products and bio-tech company products. Various bills calling for moratoria on
GE food include Vermont, North Dakota, Boulder, Colorado, San Francisco and
more.
This large movement against GMOs is not based on belief, multiple
researchers and scientists all around the world have shown that GMOs can be
harmful. Here is a study that shows how Bt toxins found in Monsanto crops can
be damaging to red blood cells, and potentially cause leukemia. Here is another
one that shows how GMO animal feed caused severe stomach inflammation and
enlarged uteri in pigs. There have been multiple studies linking GMOs to
cancer, and a range of other diseases. Scientists all over the world have come
together to show their support for the ban of GMOs.
Along with GMOs come the pesticides, which have been linked to cancer,
parkinson’s, autism and alzheimer’s, to name a few.
As you can see, alternative media outlets are not the only ones doing their
research. Most who investigate this topic, and do the research for themselves
will come to the same conclusions. This is what David Suzuki and many others
have done as well.
By slipping it into our food without our knowledge, without any indication
that there are genetically modified organisms in our food, we are now
unwittingly part of a massive experiment.
The FDA has said that genetically modified organisms are not much different
from regular food, so they’ll be treated in the same way. The problem is this,
geneticists follow the inheritance of genes, what biotechnology allows us to do
is to take this organism, and move it horizontally into a totally unrelated
species. Now David Suzuki doesn’t normally mate with a carrot and exchange
genes, what biotechnology allows us to do is to switch genes from one to the
other without regard to the biological constraints. It’s very very bad science,
we assume that the principals governing the inheritance of genes vertically,
applies when you move genes laterally or horizontally. There’s absolutely no
reason to make that conclusion.
Below is an article written by David Suzuki and Faisal Moola. At the
beginning concerns with the 210 release of the super-genetically modified corn
called ‘SmartStax,’ are mentioned which has now shown to be harmful to human
health and banned all over the world. This article was written in 2009, but
still has some good information.
By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola
In gearing up for the 2010 release of its super-genetically modified corn
called ‘SmartStax’, agricultural-biotechnology giant Monsanto is using an
advertising slogan that asks, ‘Wouldn’t it be better?’ But can we do better
than nature, which has taken millennia to develop the plants we use for food?
We don’t really know. And that in itself is a problem. The corn, developed
by Monsanto with Dow AgroSciences, “stacks” eight genetically engineered
traits, six that allow it to ward off insects and two to make it resistant to
weed-killing chemicals, many of which are also trademarked by Monsanto. It’s
the first time a genetically engineered (GE) product has been marketed with
more than three traits.
Canada approved the corn without assessing it for human health or
environmental risk, claiming that the eight traits have already been cleared in
other crop seeds — even though international food-safety guidelines that Canada
helped develop state that stacked traits should be subject to a full safety
assessment as they can lead to unintended consequences.
One problem is that we don’t know the unintended consequences of genetically
engineered or genetically modified (GM) foods. Scientists may share consensus
about issues like human-caused global warming, but they don’t have the same
level of certainty about the effects of genetically modified organisms on
environmental and human health!
A review of the science conducted under the International Assessment of
Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development in 2008
concluded that “there are a limited number of properly designed and
independently peer-reviewed studies on human health” and that this and other
observations “create concern about the adequacy of testing methodologies for
commercial GM plants.”
Some have argued that we’ve been eating GM foods for years with few
observable negative consequences, but as we’ve seen with things like trans
fats, if often takes a while for us to recognize the health impacts. With GM foods,
concerns have been raised about possible effects on stomach bacteria and
resistance to antibiotics, as well as their role in allergic reactions. We also
need to understand more about their impact on other plants and animals.
Of course, these aren’t the only issues with GM crops. Allowing
agro-chemical companies to create GM seeds with few restrictions means these
companies could soon have a monopoly over agricultural production. And by
introducing SmartStax, we are giving agro-chemical companies the green light
not just to sell and expand the use of their “super crops” but also to sell and
expand the use of the pesticides these crops are designed to resist.
A continued reliance on these crops could also reduce the variety of foods
available, as well as the nutritive value of the foods themselves.
There’s also a reason nature produces a variety of any kind of plant
species. It ensures that if disease or insects attack a plant, other plant
varieties will survive and evolve in its place. This is called biodiversity.
Because we aren’t certain about the effects of GMOs, we must consider one of
the guiding principles in science, the precautionary principle. Under this
principle, if a policy or action could harm human health or the environment, we
must not proceed until we know for sure what the impact will be. And it is up
to those proposing the action or policy to prove that it is not harmful.
That’s not to say that research into altering the genes in plants that we
use for food should be banned or that GM foods might not someday be part of the
solution to our food needs. We live in an age when our technologies allow us to
“bypass” the many steps taken by nature over millennia to create food crops to
now produce “super crops” that are meant to keep up with an ever-changing
human-centred environment.
A rapidly growing human population and deteriorating health of our planet
because of climate change and a rising number of natural catastrophes, among
other threats, are driving the way we target our efforts and funding in plant,
agricultural, and food sciences, often resulting in new GM foods.
But we need more thorough scientific study on the impacts of such crops on
our environment and our health, through proper peer-reviewing and unbiased
processes. We must also demand that our governments become more transparent
when it comes to monitoring new GM crops that will eventually find their ways
in our bellies through the food chain.
Sources:
http://davidsuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2009/09/more-science-needed-on-effects-of-genetically-modifying-food-crops/
- See more at:
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/11/25/geneticist-david-suzuki-says-humans-are-part-of-a-massive-genetic-experiment/#sthash.PbehTkwB.dpuf
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/11/25/geneticist-david-suzuki-says-humans-are-part-of-a-massive-genetic-experiment/l
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=293002
