New genetically modified wheat

It's a difficult one, isn't it? Too many people on the planet and not enough food. What would the alternative be? To let people go hungry?

Many things are genetically modified without us know. Look at the fruit and vegetables in the supermarkets they have become tasteless. take grapes fro example. It's a fruit that should have a seed but it has been genetically modified so they can sell seedless grapes which in my opinion are totally tasteless also. I recently bought a white cabbage which lasted 4 weeks and it was still good to eat - really!, the only reason I kept it was because it got 'lost' in my fridge.

Newatthis

Many things are genetically modified without us know. Look at the fruit and vegetables in the supermarkets they have become tasteless. take grapes fro example. It's a fruit that should have a seed but it has been genetically modified so they can sell seedless grapes which in my opinion are totally tasteless also. I recently bought a white cabbage which lasted 4 weeks and it was still good to eat - really!, the only reason I kept it was because it got 'lost' in my fridge.

But that's not the result of genetic modification, but selective breeding, which isn't the same.

What are people's concerns about genetic modification, please?

I’m fearful of tampering with foodstuffs via the laboratory although I have little problem with selective breeding. Altering dna and letting the fruits of this living in the wild could unforeseen consequences. Even selective breeding in the case of dogs (bulldogs) and cats (Persian) can and do cause breathing and feeding difficulties.

It may just be me but tampering to this degree is rather worrying in the long term.

I remember in 2007 I was cooking in Turkey for a maritime archaeology dig. We had a mixture of Turkish, European and American archaeologists from Texas. The Americans were so sceptical about eating fruit and vegetables but commented on how much better they were than the produce available in the USA. Too much tapering alters the nature of natural produce and can also ‘infect’ organically grown produce.

ayse

I’m fearful of tampering with foodstuffs via the laboratory although I have little problem with selective breeding. Altering dna and letting the fruits of this living in the wild could unforeseen consequences. Even selective breeding in the case of dogs (bulldogs) and cats (Persian) can and do cause breathing and feeding difficulties.

It may just be me but tampering to this degree is rather worrying in the long term.

But why?

The crops we currently eat are unrecognisable from the original wild plants. GM and selective breeding essentially do the same thing.

ayse

I remember in 2007 I was cooking in Turkey for a maritime archaeology dig. We had a mixture of Turkish, European and American archaeologists from Texas. The Americans were so sceptical about eating fruit and vegetables but commented on how much better they were than the produce available in the USA. Too much tapering alters the nature of natural produce and can also ‘infect’ organically grown produce.

But that's because commercial concerns in the US (and elsewhere) sometimes override consumer preferences. That's usually been achieved by selective breeding, for example with strawberries which travel well, but might have lost some taste. Crops tend to be picked before they're ripe too. There's no reason why GM crops couldn't bred for taste as well as profitability.

There's been a lot of unscientific hocus pocus published about GM. My biggest concern is that farmers are tied into contracts for buying seeds from companies like Monsanto because they can't produce their own.

I am not a scientist so I do not know what the difference between genetically modified, selective breeding or altering DNA when it comes to foodstuff and anything I put inside me. I only wish that fruit and veg in particular tasted how it did before perfectly shaped apples, tomatoes etc, seedless grapes and the like were put on the shelves because of demand. In other countries, those that are more organic and grow locally, the fruit and veg are misshapen, and tastes delicious.

There are three issues here: being organic, grown locally and hybridisation.

Very few fruits and vegetables in their totally natural state taste delicious. They've been bred over thousands of years for taste.

All fruits and veggies begin to lose nutrition and taste after they've been picked, so there's an advantage to being able to eat them soon after harvesting, but that's not always feasible. These days, freezing techniques mean that they are almost as nutritious as the moment they're picked, but some don't freeze successfully, which is why it's an advantage to produce strains which travel well. Sometimes, taste is lost in the process.

I'm not convinced that organically grown fruit and vegetables taste better than those which have had some help from chemicals. They're certainly less productive.

A GM or selectively bred crop could be bred for taste. The trick for scientists is to find a crop which tastes good and is productive. In the end, it doesn't make much difference which method is used. Both change a plant's DNA and we've been surviving on selectively bred foodstuffs for thousands of years.