Thinking about the future which is happening right now.
I'm all for Frankenfoods as I'm pro-progress. Sure there's plenty of Science Fiction doom of the earth plots that can be speculated about as tampering with God's creation brings the wrath of the OmniDeath, but that's pretty darn unlikely.
Will there be negative side effects from some of these new developments? Absolutely, but diphtheria didn't exist before the industrial revolution changed our world, and how often do you hear about people catching that now? Eggs and omelets and all that. Problems breed innovation which creates a better world. I like the idea of blight resistant potatoes, and Grapples that aren't just apples soaked in grape extract. I'm also fond of the idea of growing meat-fruit to appease my vegi friends, which isn't so far fetched now that we can lab grow pork ( cool daily show clip about it - http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/12/jon-stewart-on-lab-grown-meat/).
The problem I do have with GMO is more a problem with the corporate stewardship of these innovations. GMO's are often patented, copyrighted, trademarked, and branded as corporate IP in effective perpetuity by the companies that develop them. This creates a culture of corporate controlled agriculture where derivative crops and innovation become increasing difficult due to overlapping fields of interest. There's also problems with the less than exemplary behavior of various national patent offices, such as the major Enola bean controversy here in the US (http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/articles/2002dltr0008.html).
It's a science fiction future were heading towards filled with Bio piracy, Corporate Embezzlement of Space Age Super Seeds, and monkeys that produce king crab meat (maybe?), which is scary to some people, but super cool to me.
Will there be negative side effects from some of these new developments? Absolutely, but diphtheria didn't exist before the industrial revolution changed our world, and how often do you hear about people catching that now? Eggs and omelets and all that. Problems breed innovation which creates a better world. I like the idea of blight resistant potatoes, and Grapples that aren't just apples soaked in grape extract. I'm also fond of the idea of growing meat-fruit to appease my vegi friends, which isn't so far fetched now that we can lab grow pork ( cool daily show clip about it - http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/12/jon-stewart-on-lab-grown-meat/).
The problem I do have with GMO is more a problem with the corporate stewardship of these innovations. GMO's are often patented, copyrighted, trademarked, and branded as corporate IP in effective perpetuity by the companies that develop them. This creates a culture of corporate controlled agriculture where derivative crops and innovation become increasing difficult due to overlapping fields of interest. There's also problems with the less than exemplary behavior of various national patent offices, such as the major Enola bean controversy here in the US (http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/articles/2002dltr0008.html).
It's a science fiction future were heading towards filled with Bio piracy, Corporate Embezzlement of Space Age Super Seeds, and monkeys that produce king crab meat (maybe?), which is scary to some people, but super cool to me.