Europe Bans GM Food

As I understand it, the basic fear behind genetically modified foods (as opposed to the crops themselves) is that when we change the DNA, it's not so much a process of finesse as it is sticking the whole thing in a blender and seeing what pops out.

Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But, when we've made genetic modifications to animals, they're not even close. And by not even close I mean they're extremely close to being perfect, but some tiny percentage off. That tiny percentage can be quite worrying, given that we're bound to create food that not only simply isn't edible, but food that could be far more dangerous than anything we can conceive of.

Don't ask me for any examples; apparently I can't conceive of them.

Apparently, there's also fear of how the DNA is altered in the first place. We change plant genes the nasty way: give them a virus that alters their DNA to what we want it to be. Now, when you ingest that food, the theory is that some of that virus is going to get by, and some of the DNA might as well.

Given, I don't know how valid any of these arguments to it are, exactly, but they're ones I've heard. I don't know if I personally give them much weight.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I think they were talking about genetically modified foods, not crops.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

And yet there's a difference. Crops aren't always grown in the country in which they're consumed, for one.

Let's make an analogy. Underage consumption of alcohol, and purchasing alcohol for a minor. Would you agree that these are two (related, but) different topics?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Kilroy

I don't know much about biology, but I really don't think that's an issue. Is gene swapping a normal occurence in nature?

I believe the biologically educated amongst us refer to it as "reproduction".

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?