I understand the economic drive for GMO foods, but honestly, nothing tastes quite like a home-grown tomato.  
I have a different and somewhat personal concern regarding GMOs, one that I have not seen addressed.  I don't suppose there are too many geneticists on TechNet that specialize in this area.  My concern is prion diseases.   

Mad Cow disease, or  Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE - not back-scattered electrons) transmits into humans as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).  BSE took off in the early 90's in the UK when cows were given feed containing contaminated sheep brains as a protein supplement (yes, zombie cows).  

CJD can stay dormant for decades: undetectable with no symptoms.  There are thousands of deaths from CJD every year and the UK meat scare seems to be a main source.  The Red Cross recognizes this risk.  I served Uncle Sam in the early 90s.  I was stationed in the glorious UK during the Mad Cow Disease outbreak.  Because I lived in England during this time, I can never again donate blood or worse, I could start mooing and die.

So what...

BSE and CJD are prion diseases.  There are others like scrapie and kuru.  These are mostly transmitted through eating meats contaminated with the prion proteins.  There are others, like Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Disease (GSS) which is an inherited disease.  All of these diseases can lay dormant for very long times.  How many of them can be passed on? I don't know.

Prion diseases are mutations in how certain proteins are folded.  Proteins get their structural instructions directly from our RNA and DNA.  Genetically modified foods are essentially engineered DNA with the sole purpose of crafting and creating new protein structures that don't otherwise exist in nature.   The food we eat does imprint onto our genetic make-up.  The natural proteins that we normally consume fit perfectly onto our natural chromosomes.  How do genetically modified proteins fit?  Probably not like the natural proteins.  
 
Yes, GMOs like round-up ready corn have been around for about 20 years.  For the longest time, GMO foods were restricted to experimental and animal feed grains, not for direct human consumption.  Now, it hasn't been ten years since the flood gates have been opened and anything goes.  Consider other dietary trends.. For many decades, people believed margarine was so much healthier than butter before we learned that to be false.

Do we really know what the long term effects are?  There are two ways to look at it: (A) nobody is doing the research or (B) EVERYBODY is part of the research.  Considering the dormancy of prion diseases, this should be alarming.  
In fact, it is alarming.  I hear the alarm bells.  It makes me mad.  MAD.  I hear the bells.  They're.... Cow bells..  I am Mad...Maaaad.... Mooood.....  Moooooo .... MOOOOOOO!

Best Regards,
Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dwight Mattix
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 5:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] NTC - I believe ... (my credo)

At 02:23 PM 8/26/2014, Yuan-chia Joyce Koo wrote:
>regarding food: (1) GMO as long as bug resistance, not the excessive 
>growth type, no problem.  (2) better use organic food, with less qty 
>but more quality - not big orange full of water, with no taste... (3) 
>population and body size control.  my 2cents... hard to do with a slap 
>meat in front of me... (half rack of rib is not enough... corn?
>1 is more than enough - with butter please...;-).


one leaves you satiated because of the good healthy animal fat. the other spikes your blood sugar and leaves you wanting to eat more in a couple hours.


baconnnnnnn. more bacon for world peace.  ;)


>                 jk
>On Aug 26, 2014, at 12:26 PM, Karen Tellefsen wrote:
>
>>I don't completely understand the anti-GMO stuff.  To me, GMO food is 
>>just as good for humans eat as non-GMO food, in some cases better, as 
>>with golden rice.  I can understand the crop diversity and possible 
>>unforeseen environmental effects arguments, but they need to be 
>>substantiated with data.
>>
>>Karen Tellefsen - Electrical Testing
>>Alpha / 109 Corporate Blvd./ S. Plainfield, NJ 07080 
>>[log in to unmask]
>>908-791-3069
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>From:   Ahne Oosterhof <[log in to unmask]>
>>To:     <[log in to unmask]>,
>>Date:   08/26/2014 11:24 AM
>>Subject:        Re: [TN] NTC - I believe ... (my credo)
>>Sent by:        TechNet <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>>
>>
>>Ha, ha. Recently I asked an anti-GMO signature collector if he would 
>>eat corn. Of course he would.
>>Then I pointed out that corn is GMO, starting as grass. He walked 
>>away.
>>
>>Ahne.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dwight Mattix
>>Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 7:28 AM
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: [TN] NTC - I believe ... (my credo)
>>
>>corn is grass.
>>
>>
>>"Grass is what my food eats."   Ron Swanson
>>
>>
>>At 07:11 AM 8/26/2014, Pete wrote:
>>>Some good answers here, led me to do some more research
>>>
>>>About 1/3 of the US corn crop goes towards livestock feed.
>>>13% is exported.
>>>40% is used for ethanol production
>>>That leaves 14% for food and beverage (including oils, syrups,
>>>sugars)
>>>
>>>Ethanol is being used in some cases to replace MTBE, to increase 
>>>octane rating.  Why?  Because of it's resistance to ignition.  This 
>>>is  very tiny percentage of the gasoline blend.  E10 and E85 are 
>>>ethanol as an attempt to replace fossil fuels.  However, that 
>>>resistance to ignition, when used at 10% or 86% is what makes it an 
>>>inefficient fuel, increasing consumption by 3% or 25% respectively.  
>>>It takes one unit of fossil fuel to generate 1.3 units of (less 
>>>efficient) ethanol fuel.
>>>
>>>Since 1980, the ethanol industry has received $45B in government
>>subsidies.
>>>
>>>The windmills don't seem so bad anymore.
>>>
>>>Pete
>>
>>
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