On Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:14:28 -0700, Arri London >
wrote:

>
>
>"modom (palindrome guy)" wrote:
>>
>> Brief descriptions, too.
>> http://webecoist.com/2009/02/19/gene...ts-vegetables/
>>
>> I'd like to taste a lemato, I think.
>> --
>>
>> modom
>
>
>Interesting page.
>All the foodstuffs we eat are genetically modified. Sometimes that
>modification took place centuries ago. Other modifications are more
>modern.
>Simple hybridisation (pollen transfer by insects, wind or humans) is
>genetic modification. The insulin gene put into the lettuce required
>more than pollen transfer
>Carrots naturally come in many colours; the orange sort has become the
>most common in parts of the world.

I had a protracted (and rather boring) argument on this topic with
Michel Boucher a while back. But here goes...

In my estimation, breeding hybrids isn't in the same class as
injecting genetic material from one organism into another. Pollen
from one variety of corn can fertilize the seeds of another, to be
sure. But injecting genes from the insecticidal microbe Bacillus
thuringiensis into food crops like corn and potatoes -- which has been
done -- is not of a kind with breeding. Bacteria do not breed with
tubers or grains.

There is a difference in kind between the two practices.
--

modom