Hacker News Reader

Comment by anfilt | Hacker News Reader

What's the big deal? It's a plant. Plants spread seed and grow?

I don't understand why GE food works people up?

Some people are concerned about the health effects. Others are concerned about the behemoth megacorps who own the patents for these genes may be litigious about who/where they grow.

What health effects?

Celiac may be? Or sensitivity to gluten. These cases are on the rise and it is possible that it is related to modern wheat crop.

One concern is the possibility of being sued by Monsanto. Monsanto has promised on its website not to sue farmers if there is inadvertent contamination in their crops. OTOH Monsanto has aggressively sued farmers in other cases. So I guess if you are a farmer and there is contamination happening on your fields, it would be wise to be at least a little scared. (source: https://www.cnbc.com/id/100804327)

They only sue people using their product without a license. They don't sue for natural contamination.

You might not be aware but there is a large anti-GMO conspiracy promoting the idea Monsanto sues farmers for accidental contamination. Even a little bit of research shows it’s mostly if not totally fake.

Would it bother you if someone generically engineered wild animals as they pleased and released them to procreate? Could you imagine any possible negative consequences?

Having said that I would purchase GE bananas and tomatoes that had a longer shelf life.

> Having said that I would purchase GE bananas and tomatoes

you already do

It doesn't seem to be working for me...

Not even close to the same. Wheat is not native to the US, so GE or not, it is technically 'invasive' to the natural ecosystem.

So are pythons in the everglades. Can I modify those?

In the biohacker community they are trying to build a legal framework for allowing genetic modification on a personal basis. Right now they get a lot of government heat even doing private research. I think, like the majority of the HN community it seems, you don't have a very good grasp on genetic engineering or the laws around it.

Depends. How cool is your supervillain lair?

Sure, but good luck catching them.

If licensed seeds accidentally spread and grow in your farm, you get sued. That's why GMO patents are the worst. Also because they are mostly engineered for resisting their awful pesticides and herbicides instead of health and nutrition.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com