RE: Re[2]: Rootworm resistant corn

From: Wilson, Dale (WILSONDO@phibred.com)
Date: Tue Jan 11 2000 - 14:47:13 EST


Douglas,

> Tuesday, January 11, 2000, 9:21:04 AM, The U.S. Govt. asks Big
> AgriBusiness:

Ted wrote:
>>> Am I missing something? Bt is a soil bacterium, though these
>>> proteins may be novel in the corn plant aren't they pretty
>>> innocuous and ordinary in a soil system?
 
> and Big AgriBusiness reaffirms the pact by stating:

I wrote:
>> ...From what I know about soil microbiology, all
>> these proteins, including Bt toxins, are eaten up
>> pretty quick by the hungry flora.

Douglas, I know you see all this through a political lense. I see it
through a biological lense. In this case the biology doesn't seem nearly as
complicated as the politics. But I agree, more study is needed.

> Is this "collaboration in the public interest" or is more
> going on here than meets the (averted) eye?

What do you have in mind?

> All worldly things can be said to exist and are more or less
> destructive or beneficial, depending on the time, place and
> proportions in which you find them, in relation to other factors.

This is why I reject absolutist attempts to politicize the debate, and to
rigidly categorize into sustainainable vs non-sustainable. None of this is
a purely black-or-white issue, and the biological detail is important. All
these interventions and technologies (including primitive agricultural
practices) must be examined critically.

Dale

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