Unapproved GMO Wheat Found Growing Wild In Oregon

[Greg Bernhardt]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...fe7abe-c95e-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html

Japan, the largest market for U.S. wheat exports, suspended imports from the United States and canceled a major purchase of white wheat on Thursday after the recent discovery of unapproved genetically modified wheat in an 80-acre field in Oregon.

How the altered crop made its way to the Oregon field remains a mystery. The strain was developed by Monsanto to make wheat resistant to the company’s own industry-leading weed killer. Monsanto tested the type of altered seed in more than a dozen states, including Oregon, between 1994 and 2005, but it was never approved for commercial use.

How safe is GMO if you can't control it? What if the strain was dangerous for consumption or dangerous to the eco system.

 

[turbo]

How safe is GMO if you can't control it? What if the strain was dangerous for consumption or dangerous to the eco system.

It's hard to tell. The main organic farmers' group here in Maine is trying to restrict the use of GMO crops, because if it's impossible to prevent cross-pollination many of their crops will be lost. These are the farmers that supply seeds to your favorite seed/gardening outlets. Search on MOFGA for more information. If we can't have access to non-GMO seeds, we will have suffered a terrible loss.

 

[aquitaine]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...fe7abe-c95e-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html



How safe is GMO if you can't control it? What if the strain was dangerous for consumption or dangerous to the eco system.

We can control it with this. Problem is, the anti-GMOers don't like it. Then again the anti-GMOers will oppose any and all development of the technology because it doesn't fit with their reactionary view of "natural purity".

 

[Monique]

We can control it with this. Problem is, the anti-GMOers don't like it. Then again the anti-GMOers will oppose any and all development of the technology because it doesn't fit with their reactionary view of "natural purity".

Crop growers already use that a lot right? That the second generation is not fertile? Otherwise they would be out of business when people can harvest their own seeds. The use of a terminator gene might not be optimal, since when it cross-pollinates it will kill entire fields of crop? It's better to stop reproduction before that happens.

I've heard that there is a Nature publication that showed GMO crops elicit an immune response, something that I'd doubt a lot, does someone know about this?

 

[russ_watters]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...fe7abe-c95e-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html

How safe is GMO if you can't control it? What if the strain was dangerous for consumption or dangerous to the eco system.

That's certainly a bizarre story, but I'm not sure I'm seeing a connection in your two sentences. Or rather, a relevant connection: If the strain is dangerous, it would be bad to not be able to control it. But has there ever been a "dangerous" strain? Is a unique danger (as opposed to a normal danger) even possible?

Most of the real dangers with GMOs are "normal" dangers, such as food allergies. There's not a lot of practical difference between making sure your cake wasn't baked with a peanut extract and making sure the wheat that went into the flour doesn't have any peanut genes in it. Now I suppose if it was spreading undetected that would be a unique danger, but on the other hand, who in their right mind would introduce a potential/known allergen into an unrelated product in the first place?

The angles of this story I'd like to learn more about are:
1. Why was the application for FDA approval withdrawn?
2. Does this accidental release mean that the product is now in the public domain and un-patentable?

Speculative, but:
If there was a desire by Monsanto to eventually patent/market this but they decided to delay because the political climate wasn't right and/or they wanted to focus on maximizing profits for other products before those patents ran out and they lose the patent by accidentally releasing it into the public domain, that could be a $100 billion mistake.

 

[russ_watters]

Crop growers already use that a lot right? That the second generation is not fertile? Otherwise they would be out of business when people can harvest their own seeds.

They do, but they also have protections that make it illegal to use the seeds you harvest, so the pharma companies are covered either way.

 

[FlexGunship]

It's hard to tell. The main organic farmers' group here in Maine is trying to restrict the use of GMO crops, because if it's impossible to prevent cross-pollination many of their crops will be lost. These are the farmers that supply seeds to your favorite seed/gardening outlets. Search on MOFGA for more information. If we can't have access to non-GMO seeds, we will have suffered a terrible loss.

[I think] Your last sentence seems like a bit of a non-sequitur. [I think] It's essentially guaranteed in the future that all of our food will be genetically modified in some way. Norman Borlaug famously said "we will have to double the world food supply by 2050." And added that 85% of that growth would have to come from existing farmland. (http://blog.chron.com//sciguy/2008/07/norman-borlaug-genetic-modification-can-feed-the-world/)

[I think] Non-GMO foods are quickly becoming a novelty. [In my opinion] It's a bit of a painful fact that we've outgrown out planet (and that we continue to outgrow it carelessly). [In my opinion] We should be cautiously optimistic about genetically enhanced foods transitioning into the wilderness. I can certainly understand the fear... especially in the case of an uncertified food crop. But, realistically, isn't this bound to happen in the very near future?

 

[Monique]

They do, but they also have protections that make it illegal to use the seeds you harvest, so the pharma companies are covered either way.

Then how does a genetically modified crop end up in the open field? I've worked with genetically modified nematodes and fruit flies and the regulations are very strict. The nematodes were not allowed to come near concrete, the GMO inspector was afraid they would start living in the porous material (how??). The fruit fly larvae cut open and pinned down are not allowed to be transported outside GMO-assigned locations, because they might reproduce (how??).

 

[Evo]

I've worked with genetically modified nematodes and fruit flies and the regulations are very strict. The nematodes were not allowed to come near concrete, the GMO inspector was afraid they would start living in the porous material (how??). The fruit fly larvae cut open and pinned down are not allowed to be transported outside GMO-assigned locations, because they might reproduce (how??).

What it boils down to, IMO, is that people fear what they don't understand, so they make irrational decisions.

 

[turbo]

This is not a case of ignorance and fear. Come to a MOFGA get-together and find out how peoples' livelihoods are being threatened. GMO can cross-pollinate and ruin some of the most valuable sources of seeds in our country.

 

[edward]

Monsanto had test fields of the wheat in Oregon. It is really no big surprise to me that it popped up. It had probably been growing there all along. It doesn't look any different than regular wheat.

It is no surprise then that the company was keen to develop wheat that would thrive in fields sprayed with Roundup. Between 1998 and 2005, it field trialed such resistant seeds in 16 states, including Oregon. (Reuters reports that there were eight field trials of Monsanto’s GMO wheat in Oregon from 1999 to 2001.)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaar...at-found-in-oregon-farm-should-we-be-worried/

Farmers do save part of their crop for the next year when it isn't covered by a patent.

Monsanto had a GMO potato that they also dropped when the fast food restaurants refused to buy them.

 

[edward]

GMO drastically reduces biodiversity in our crops. IMHO I see nothing wrong with GMO crops themselves. What the farmers are allowed to spray on them is another story.

More and more studies are showing POEA, the surfactant used in roundup is more toxic than the roundup.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=weed-whacking-herbicide-p

The whole roundup safety question will soon be a moot point. Weeds have become resistant to Roundup. Cut worms have become resistant to bt corn that produces it's own pesticide. The roundup ready patents expire in 2014.

Monsanto, Bayer, and Dow are all coming out with new GMO crops that can withstand being sprayed with new herbicides and combinations of herbicides.

2.4.D isn't exactly new by a far shot.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/10/us-usa-gmo-idUSBRE9490N220130510?goback=%2Egde_1807778_member_240465256

BTW I provided links for most of the above in a thread that was closed.

Late edit to add link

 

[edward]

That's certainly a bizarre story, but I'm not sure I'm seeing a connection in your two sentences. Or rather, a relevant connection: If the strain is dangerous, it would be bad to not be able to control it. But has there ever been a "dangerous" strain? Is a unique danger (as opposed to a normal danger) even possible?

Most of the real dangers with GMOs are "normal" dangers, such as food allergies. There's not a lot of practical difference between making sure your cake wasn't baked with a peanut extract and making sure the wheat that went into the flour doesn't have any peanut genes in it. Now I suppose if it was spreading undetected that would be a unique danger, but on the other hand, who in their right mind would introduce a potential/known allergen into an unrelated product in the first place?

The angles of this story I'd like to learn more about are:
1. Why was the application for FDA approval withdrawn?
2. Does this accidental release mean that the product is now in the public domain and un-patentable?

Speculative, but:
If there was a desire by Monsanto to eventually patent/market this but they decided to delay because the political climate wasn't right and/or they wanted to focus on maximizing profits for other products before those patents ran out and they lose the patent by accidentally releasing it into the public domain, that could be a $100 billion mistake.

Monsanto dropped the GMO wheat at the time because a lot of wheat is exported and farmers were afraid it might lead to a price drop.

Nonetheless, Monsanto did not pursue the GM wheat project and didn’t seek approval to commercialize the seeds. In part, this was because of opposition from American farmers who were concerned that it would adversely affect global wheat exports since there is widespread global resistance to GM cereals.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaar...at-found-in-oregon-farm-should-we-be-worried/

 

[aquitaine]

This is not a case of ignorance and fear. Come to a MOFGA get-together and find out how peoples' livelihoods are being threatened. GMO can cross-pollinate and ruin some of the most valuable sources of seeds in our country.

You mean like how the Luddite's livelihoods were threatened by mechanization? From that and various other anti-GMO statements, I would very much say that this is a case of ignorance and fear.

 

[turbo]

You mean like how the Luddite's livelihoods were threatened by mechanization? From that and various other anti-GMO statements, I would very much say that this is a case of ignorance and fear.

If you will come out and figure out where your nation's seed-stock originates, you might discover that much of the diversity of plant-life that you rely on originates from places that you least expect. Check the mofga site for more information. I don't have the time nor motivation to try to educate you.

 

[Office_Shredder]

If you will come out and figure out where your nation's seed-stock originates, you might discover that much of the diversity of plant-life that you rely on originates from places that you least expect. Check the mofga site for more information. I don't have the time nor motivation to try to educate you.

If it's too hard for someone who supposedly knows where the information is to go and find a link, how can someone who doesn't know where that information is be expected to find it?

 

[edward]

The plot thickens:

Zementa is the farmer. He did not intend to plant this year and he sprayed what he thought was volunteer plants from the previous years crop.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/29/us-wheat-monsanto-idUSBRE94S1GD20130529

Zemetra said Monsanto had been field-testing spring wheat, while the "volunteer" plants discovered in the eastern Oregon field were winter wheat. The two varieties pollinate at different times, making it unlikely for the GMO traits to have been carried into the field by wind.

Bold mine.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/30/us-wheat-asia-idUSBRE94T0JA20130530

 

[OmCheeto]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...fe7abe-c95e-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html

How safe is GMO if you can't control it?
What if the strain was dangerous for consumption or dangerous to the eco system.

I've yet to run across a legitimate article on GMO's being unsafe for consumption. Though consumption is not the only factor in whether or not something is safe.

We were discussing this at work following the news broadcast. I told people it reminded me of the movie "Andromeda Strain". But as I've said before, I've had a personal experience with GMO's which makes me very suspicious of them in general.*

Unfortunately, the wheat crops of Oregon and Washington, worth $1.5 billion annually, have lost their markets in Japan and Korea, perhaps due to a similar fear.

June 22, 2013 in Opinion
Editorial: Explanation needed for find in field of GMO wheat

...
Those two nations account for one-half of the $1 billion-plus sales of Washington wheat last year.

But the Japanese are not buying now. Nor are the Koreans. The discovery of genetically modified wheat in a single field in eastern Oregon has cut Northwest farmers off from much of the export market where they sell 90 percent of their crop.

Prices traditionally fall this time of year, but the trend has been worse than usual because many buyers are on the sideline.

I suppose it's fine and dandy to call people stupid who have a fear of GMO's based on news reports, but I applaud the farmers that have started suing Monsanto.

Monsanto hit with class action lawsuits in mystery GMO wheat case

And what does Monsanto have to say about it?

...sabotage...

Ref
*It involved the genetic modification of a tree to make it survive outside of it's normal climate. Unfortunately, an infectious disease is suspected of making the trip with the trees. So although the trees won't kill you, the disease can. And like "The Andromeda Strain", this pathogen is mutating, as it moves down the west coast of North America. <insert twilight zone music>

 

[SteamKing]

Crops like wheat and corn have been genetically modified for ages, but by farmers and others who do their own cross pollination of the plants. You can still see examples of maize raised in pre-columbian North America, you know, the stuff that looks like corn but has all of these crazy-colored kernels which are not yellow. Of the two kinds of wild wheat, emmer and einkorn, emmer itself appears to be a natural hybrid of two wild grass species, neither of which appears to exist today. There are other examples of wheat which have naturally hybridized. The Japanese themselves are not unsullied in the hybrid wheat business, having produced a 'short-stalked' wheat which was part of the 'Green Revolution' of the TwenCen.

It's a hoot that the Japanese won't touch GM wheat, but they'll regularly sit down to a meal which, if not prepared properly, could kill you (that's right fugu, I mean you). I'll bet they weren't as choosy while they were waiting to see if Fukushima was going to make central Japan a glow-in-the-dark no man's land.

 

[OmCheeto]

Crops like wheat and corn have been genetically modified for ages, but by farmers and others who do their own cross pollination of the plants. You can still see examples of maize raised in pre-columbian North America, you know, the stuff that looks like corn but has all of these crazy-colored kernels which are not yellow. Of the two kinds of wild wheat, emmer and einkorn, emmer itself appears to be a natural hybrid of two wild grass species, neither of which appears to exist today. There are other examples of wheat which have naturally hybridized. The Japanese themselves are not unsullied in the hybrid wheat business, having produced a 'short-stalked' wheat which was part of the 'Green Revolution' of the TwenCen.

It's a hoot that the Japanese won't touch GM wheat, but they'll regularly sit down to a meal which, if not prepared properly, could kill you (that's right fugu, I mean you). I'll bet they weren't as choosy while they were waiting to see if Fukushima was going to make central Japan a glow-in-the-dark no man's land.

Speaking of glow in the dark, I think there's a difference between cross pollination, and having fish that glow in the dark.

Genetically modified pet fish worries Florida environmentalists

In February, Yorktown introduced the Electric Green Tetra, a genetically modified black tetra fish. Like its zebra fish cousin, the GM tetra is a small freshwater fish that includes genetic material from a fluorescent coral that makes it neon-bright. Under a black light, it glows in the dark.

I once took my goldfish for a walk in our local river. I thought it was completely safe, as her body shape, transformed over centuries of selective breeding, made her little more than a wiggling oddity in my living room, and if she escaped, in my mind, she'd soon be eaten, by the local Barracuda like Pike fish.

But once released, she swam like a freakin' salmon!

Crossbreeding two strains of wheat is natural.

Crossing fish with coral creates a mythological chimera.

Monsanto, and their ilk, can ...

 

[edward]

Crops like wheat and corn have been genetically modified for ages, but by farmers and others who do their own cross pollination of the plants. You can still see examples of maize raised in pre-columbian North America, you know, the stuff that looks like corn but has all of these crazy-colored kernels which are not yellow. Of the two kinds of wild wheat, emmer and einkorn, emmer itself appears to be a natural hybrid of two wild grass species, neither of which appears to exist today. There are other examples of wheat which have naturally hybridized. The Japanese themselves are not unsullied in the hybrid wheat business, having produced a 'short-stalked' wheat which was part of the 'Green Revolution' of the TwenCen.

It's a hoot that the Japanese won't touch GM wheat, but they'll regularly sit down to a meal which, if not prepared properly, could kill you (that's right fugu, I mean you). I'll bet they weren't as choosy while they were waiting to see if Fukushima was going to make central Japan a glow-in-the-dark no man's land.

There is a big difference between a hybrid of two existing stains of a crop and GMO. I personally think that it is the fact that the GMO crops have genes spliced into their DNA that does not come from plant sources.

Roundup Ready Soy GMO has genes from bacteria spliced into the DNA.

Your reference to Fukushima is totally irrelevant.

 

[edward]

More recently GMO sugar beets in Oregon have been destroyed. The resistance to GMO crops in Oregon has just stepped up to involve illegal activity.

PORTLAND -- Genetically modified sugar beets growing in two fields in Southern Oregon's Jackson County were destroyed this month in what the FBI called "economic sabotage."

The agency said in a statement that about 1,000 sugar beet plants were destroyed on June 8, and more than 5,000 plants were destroyed on a different plot three nights later.

Both are owned by a Swiss-based company, Sygenta, the agency said. Calls to the company were not immediately returned.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/jun/23/gmo-sugar-beet-plants-sabotaged-in-ore-fields/

 

[aquitaine]

More recently GMO sugar beets in Oregon have been destroyed. The resistance to GMO crops in Oregon has just stepped up to involve illegal activity.



http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/jun/23/gmo-sugar-beet-plants-sabotaged-in-ore-fields/

It's terrorism. The opposition has no scientific merits, so like any other psuedoscience they make up their own "facts" to drum up massive hysteria. In addition, they can't tolerate anyone not agreeing with the groupthink, for the sake of Gaia this blasphemy must be stopped by any means necessary.

 

[Synaptic]

Some risks are required for innovation. And with our growing world population and the fixed amount of farming land, Monsanto is taking the right direction in trying to increase crop yield and efficiency.

 

[Cowpoke]

I don't see much wrong with the idea of producing what Monsanto had originally marketed as 'Round-up Ready' crops. As long as other pesticides are able to be used for containment. If this is ever perfected it would be an ideal agricultural aid. Preventing immunity in non-beneficial vegetation is a further challenge, however. If foreign countries are opting out, it is their loss, I wish them luck in growing as much as Oregon. Is it not wrong to throttle technological advancement in any field due to superstitions? I have used round-up on weeds and miracle grow on vegetables for over 20 years, and have had no noticeable adverse affects. To me, Nitrogen is Nitrogen, be it from manure, decomposition, or a chemical plant. I obviously have nothing against organic techniques as well, but I feel it is wrong to impose legislation upon those who choose to use synthetic growing methods. Perhaps stricter labeling so the consumer is better informed of the source could be in order, but I think punishment is a bit overboard.