test tube meat?

[Calamity Jane]

holee fack...let's get drunk (NOT on "American Poo and Chemicals", though I have heard it's simply Zingy!) and come up with more of these!!!

thank god for humour...laughing in the face of the apocalypse, to paraphrase Bruce Cockburn

[Im going home Donny]

in.

[StaggerLee]

FYI terminator seeds are not part of the "Green Revolution", they are more a product of biotech, and have been miss construed by most people. Currently farmers plant 95% hybrid seeds that require them to by new seeds every year any way. Terrminator seeds if ever developed (no sucessful attempts to date, monsanto has even abandoned the technology) would be a efective way to prevent gene flow into non target species. If we had terminator seeds for canola the chance of random herbicid tollerent weeds and volonterrs (plants that come up the next year in a new rotated crop) would be solved. We all eat GM foods on a regular basis 70% of soy, 60% of yellow corn and 50% of the cotton underwear youve got on.

Terminator seeds are not a product of the Green Revolution historically speaking, however, I think it's fair to consider their development to be a product of Green Revolution thinking. Monsanto gave up on developing Terminator seeds because of enormous public opposition -- they realized no one would want to buy the seeds. Monsanto still holds patents on the technology and licences other companies to pursue it's development for non-food crops such as cotton. Research continues on Terminator technology and on "Traitor" technology which would link gene expression to an outside chemical catalyst. With Traitor seeds the seed would still be viable, but would not display the characteristics it is marketed for unless the appropriate catalyst were applied.

Hybrid seeds are certainly very popular in some crops, and should be bought every year for produce a uniform crop exhibiting hybrid vigor; but 95% of all seeds is a huge overstatement. Hybrid breeding is only done with certain cross-pollinated crops. There are many crops where hybrid breeding is not practical or not possible. Terminator seeds would clearly be in the interest of Monsanto for all the non-hybrid crops, or even for hybrid crops -- after all, saving seed from a hybrid crop is not advisable in most situations as the resulting crop will have wide genetic variability and will lack the vigor of the hybrid parents, but the seed is still viable and may produce a crop worth growing, it's just a bit of a gamble.

Terminator seeds might be able to help somewhat with volunteer problems and the dissemination of GMO genes in the field, but the major problem with gene contamination so far has been a result of handling errors. It would not be long before Terminator seeds were inadvertently mixed with non-GMO seeds and sold to some unsuspecting farmer. This problem is so bad that some people in agriculture believe the EU ban on GMO food will eventually fall in court on the arguement that so much genetic contamination is taking place and the ban is so ineffective that it constitutes an unfair trade barrier.

it's ironic that the terminator concept, which in a natural context is pretty abhorrent, seems to have been meant to address gene drift while at the same time creating lifelong monsanto customers

The development of Terminator seeds was meant to protect patents from "unscrupulous" farmers and farmers in countries where legal means of protecting patents is limited. Monsanto was pretty upfront about this.

I read something just a few days ago about the UN recently reaffirming the moratorium on Terminator seeds, but apparently the wording is such that it is unclear if non-food crops would be covered by the moratorium. According to the article, there was also considerable pressure to consider Terminator technology on a case by case basis, but this notion will likely be rejected.

[tribalstar]

to be quite honest...I didn't read the article...or any of the threads..I just let my imagination guide me and this is what I have come up with...

test tube meat...ahem....

spam tubes...like those yogurt things kids love...

mini cows forced to grow in jars like that cat scam on the net

this is something that I will find very difficult to make gourmet in my profession...

Like really...

[AbeLincoln]

Its not the test tube meat I'd worry about, its the friggin' infomercials...

As for your watery worries, I think that a viewing of Ice Pirates should quiet any of your concerns!

[Bennyd]

FYI terminator seeds are not part of the "Green Revolution"' date=' they are more a product of biotech, and have been miss construed by most people. Currently farmers plant 95% hybrid seeds that require them to by new seeds every year any way. Terrminator seeds if ever developed (no sucessful attempts to date, monsanto has even abandoned the technology) would be a efective way to prevent gene flow into non target species. If we had terminator seeds for canola the chance of random herbicid tollerent weeds and volonterrs (plants that come up the next year in a new rotated crop) would be solved. We all eat GM foods on a regular basis 70% of soy, 60% of yellow corn and 50% of the cotton underwear youve got on. [/quote']

Terminator seeds are not a product of the Green Revolution historically speaking, however, I think it's fair to consider their development to be a product of Green Revolution thinking. Monsanto gave up on developing Terminator seeds because of enormous public opposition -- they realized no one would want to buy the seeds. Monsanto still holds patents on the technology and licences other companies to pursue it's development for non-food crops such as cotton. Research continues on Terminator technology and on "Traitor" technology which would link gene expression to an outside chemical catalyst. With Traitor seeds the seed would still be viable, but would not display the characteristics it is marketed for unless the appropriate catalyst were applied.

Hybrid seeds are certainly very popular in some crops, and should be bought every year for produce a uniform crop exhibiting hybrid vigor; but 95% of all seeds is a huge overstatement. Hybrid breeding is only done with certain cross-pollinated crops. There are many crops where hybrid breeding is not practical or not possible. Terminator seeds would clearly be in the interest of Monsanto for all the non-hybrid crops, or even for hybrid crops -- after all, saving seed from a hybrid crop is not advisable in most situations as the resulting crop will have wide genetic variability and will lack the vigor of the hybrid parents, but the seed is still viable and may produce a crop worth growing, it's just a bit of a gamble.

Terminator seeds might be able to help somewhat with volunteer problems and the dissemination of GMO genes in the field, but the major problem with gene contamination so far has been a result of handling errors. It would not be long before Terminator seeds were inadvertently mixed with non-GMO seeds and sold to some unsuspecting farmer. This problem is so bad that some people in agriculture believe the EU ban on GMO food will eventually fall in court on the arguement that so much genetic contamination is taking place and the ban is so ineffective that it constitutes an unfair trade barrier.

it's ironic that the terminator concept, which in a natural context is pretty abhorrent, seems to have been meant to address gene drift while at the same time creating lifelong monsanto customers

The development of Terminator seeds was meant to protect patents from "unscrupulous" farmers and farmers in countries where legal means of protecting patents is limited. Monsanto was pretty upfront about this.

I read something just a few days ago about the UN recently reaffirming the moratorium on Terminator seeds, but apparently the wording is such that it is unclear if non-food crops would be covered by the moratorium. According to the article, there was also considerable pressure to consider Terminator technology on a case by case basis, but this notion will likely be rejected.

well put Staggerlee, however the abandonment of GURT (genetic use restriction technology) as my scientific knowledge is concerned is more related to the problems in developing 100% sterility. Most of the greenhouse trials approved by APHIS have only reached a high of about 98%. while this may seem high enough it only takes a few plants to pollinate the whole batch(wind pollinated crops of course). And for this reason field trials have yet to be conducted.

your mention of inducible restriction is of specific interest to me (as it is what I study and work to advance) You might also look into R.B.G.U.R.T (reversible block Genetic Usage restriction technology) and T.G.U.R.T. (trait specific genetic usage........)for further info on this interesting topic.

Also, mention of Monsanto policy to curb unauthorized use in countries where intellectual property rights are not protected is an entirely valid argument in my opinion. You mention India, and there is a terrific example where black market BollGuard Cotton seed is sold in massive quantities where in some cases (Not that of small family farms) where agricultural production has been maximized by larger firms within India Large companies have benefited without proper compensation to those responsible for the technology. Without this framework no one can expect these farmers to abide by standards put in place by the companies to prevent insect resistance (refuge crops to promote susceptible alleles in insect populations ect...)

Finally, I too await the final ruling on the ban in Europe, However preliminary hearings in this matter expect the ban to be found unjust according to the WTO agreements made by the US, Canada, and Europe.