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Scientists fight natural selection with flightless mosquitoes.

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Scientists fight natural selection with flightless mosquitoes.

Postby faninor » 2/22/2010, 6:39 pm

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Postby MindsOnLoan » 2/22/2010, 7:03 pm

That's pretty weird.. but good.

Still. Science scares me.
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Postby Joe Cooler » 2/22/2010, 7:18 pm

Genetically modifying plants/animals usually occurs with the best of intentions but unfortunately has some rather startling consequences. Attached to each modification is a patent and that patent is of course, owned by a company. Monsanto for instance, has a virtual monopoly on the seed market right now. Currently, 95% of soybeans and nearly 80% of all corn grown in the United States are Monsanto seeds. These seeds are genetically modified and patented. Anyone who buys Monsanto product does so under contract. You cannot collect seeds from your product to use next year. Rather, you are required to buy new seeds as saving seeds would violate the patent. This may not be much of a problem in North America but it sure is in third world countries. Monsanto has even patented something called a terminator seed which does not reproduce itself. Third world farmers must then continually buy new seed from Monsanto. Further still, there have been a number of cases in which Monsanto has sued other farmers because Monsanto pollen has blown over into another field and fertilized the plants of farmers who will not use Monsanto seed. Because that crop would then produce Monsanto genetically modified crop, Monsanto sues because the farmer does not "pay for it."

Basically Monsanto is evil incarnate.
I hate the idea that life itself can be owned by a company, whether it be a mosquito or a mouse, or a seed. In fact, Canada is the only first world country in the world that will not allow complex life forms to be patented. However, everything else, including the human genome, can be patented (and are).
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