"Do you find it credible that of the rape seed sold to farmers between 1% and 2% of a
Genetically Modified variety were mixed in "accidentally”?

I do not.

 Do you trust the politicians who refused to act on this knowledge until after the great
majority of the crop had flowered, spreading the pollen?

I certainly do not.

Do you believe that someone, somewhere, was paid a substantial amount of money to
"accidentally" mix the GM seeds with the natural seeds?

 I do, (although I daresay it'll never be proven).

The genie is now irrevocably out of the bottle, and we have absolutely no way of
putting him back.

Of course, it may turn out that those meretricious and most contemptible of men,
the  "Government scientists", are right, and that there will be no undesirableside effects.
They will have been extremely lucky, if so."

 Curmudgeon

As you say Curmudgeon, 'The genie is now out of the bottle', for good or bad, only time
will tell.

Perhaps after intensive farming, GM is the next logical step and may be the only way to
feed the world's ever increasing population. We have been genetically modifying plants for
many years now through simple crude crossing techniques and no one has questioned this.

Could it be that after nuclear power, AIDS, the hole in the ozone layer and global warming,
GM has become the latest in a long line of buzzwords that we assume mean death and destruction?

In the field of medical research, breakthroughs in the genetic basis of disease are
welcomed and it would seem we have no objection to tampering with our own genes
but not those of plants!

I wonder why?

Like yourself I don't believe the GM seeds were 'released' accidentally and as usual the
handling of the whole affair by the Government has been abysmal and does nothing to inspire
confidence in the concept.

It is contemptible how these issues, which affect our fundamental well being, are used for
cheap political point scoring but what else can you expect when the lunatics are in charge?

 Besom

Well now, Besom, as you might expect, I don't agree with all you say here.

Intensive Farming:- It is the decline of bio-diversification in many Third World countries,
which is directly responsible for the malnutrition being suffered in many. This decline was
the price they paid for embracing monoculture, not in the hope of being better able to feed
their own populations, but because they wanted to earn foreign currency
(frequently to support corrupt political regimes by buying armaments). Next time you shop,
just have a look at where some of the out-of-season produce was grown.

The populations of many of these countries were adequately nourished before
bio-diversity was abandoned in favour of monoculture. Now, however, because of the
widespread rejection of GM foodstuffs in the developed world, they have no buyers for
their produce and are refusing to grow GM crops. This, I think you would agree, speaks
volumes about their concern to feed their own populations.

You say "We have been genetically modifying plants for many years now through
simple crude crossing techniques and no-one has questioned this" and this is true. The
difference is that this has succeeded only in those crosses with a natural predisposition to
the acceptance of different genes.

Now, however, we are forcing 'square pegs into round holes' in the hope of
achieving improvements in specific characteristics of a plant, but without taking into
account the possible repercussions in the plant's many other characteristics or of possible
'knock on' effects in the biosphere at large.

Although we are being 'sold' (and are buying) the line that this is to 'feed the
world', in fact this is being done purely in the interests of profit.

As to your concern about the readiness with which we accept tinkering with human
genes, I suspect that this has something to with the fact that, here, we are seeking to
cure existing diseases and abnormalities, as against potentially creating new ones by
meddling with the genetic makeup of the food we eat.

It may be that genetic modification of crops will prove to be safe, but the
point is that nobody knows, and that no one with a vested interest cares.

Because we have been lied to so often by 'Government Scientists' we no longer
trust a word they say. Worryingly, this has bred a generally undeserved, but widespread,
mistrust of Science and Scientists.

Curmudgeon