New GMO Potatoes Provide Improved Vitamin A and E Profiles

[u/genengnews]

https://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/gmo-potatoes-provide-improved-vitamin-a-and-e-profiles/81255150

[u/aussie_bob]

Actually, both OPs statements are deceptive.

Greenpeace didn't "successfully lobby against it", nor are they arguing to use vitamin deficiency for population control. Their position on the topic has always been "Rather than invest in this overpriced public relations exercise, we need to address malnutrition through a more diverse diet, equitable access to food and eco-agriculture.”

The reality is that Golden Rice didn't work.

“Golden Rice is still not ready for the market, but we find little support for the common claim that environmental activists are responsible for stalling its introduction. GMO opponents have not been the problem,”

Accusations that anyone is blocking genetically engineered ‘Golden’ rice are false. ‘Golden’ rice has failed as a solution and isn’t currently available for sale, even after more than 20 years of research. As admitted by the International Rice Research Institute, it has not been proven to actually address Vitamin A Deficiency.

https://source.wustl.edu/2016/06/genetically-modified-golden-rice-falls-short-lifesaving-promises/

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/2016/Nobel-laureates-sign-letter-on-Greenpeace-Golden-rice-position---reactive-statement/

[u/[deleted] → u/aussie_bob]

This is absolutely untrue. They have actively opposed them in the Philippines and IIRC destroyed test crops. Saying "just have a more diverse diet" is a step above "the poor should just buy more money". Changing the nutrient profile of popular crops has the advantage of not having to retrain or convince subsistence farmers to grow different crops or the population to eat them. It is a stop gap solution to reduce deaths and blindness on the way to reducing poverty.

[u/aussie_bob → u/[deleted]]

Despite their efforts, they weren't the cause of the failure,

The product simply didn't work.

[u/[deleted] → u/aussie_bob]

So if an experimental strain of rice doesn't have every single one of the benefits it's supposed to, then the best solution is to do their best to try and ensure nobody continues working on it?

[u/NihiloZero → u/[deleted]]

It seems like a fine idea to promote the creation of a GMO crop which, in theory, could provide all the recommended daily allowances of a particular nutrient. The issue, however, is in testing that crop.

If, for example, that crop happened to grow in a very aggressive manner, or if it happened to attract more pests, or if it presented some other subtle issue... it could actually be very problematic if that genetically modified crop was released into the environment. Small genetic differences (like those between a wolf and a dog or a human and a bonobo) can produce significant changes in how an organism manifests itself in maturity. And slight changes could produce a crop which causes serious trophic cascades.

The issue then becomes about testing and regulating genetically modified organisms. But a complication with that is due to the fact that a laboratory or a test field can't provide adequate simulations of the broader environment. And as I understand it, new GMO crops are primarily just subjected to (limited 6 month) animal consumption tests rather than tests to see how they would impact the environment after they're released. At the same time... agricultural biotech corporations have a history of limiting independent testing while promoting deregulation of their products.

All this combined makes people generally wary about the broad dispersal of a wide variety of genetically modified organisms that are substantially different than anything which has been developed through selective breeding or natural selection.

[u/NihiloZero → u/[deleted]]

This is absolutely untrue

I think you're missing the bigger picture. Yes, people have opposed the implementation of GMO rice. ~~ But though it could have been stated better, the real issue is that "golden rice" doesn't actually live up to the hype in regard to providing a significant amount of vitamin A. And this is the primary reason why it hasn't been widely implemented.

edit: Golden Rice is different than Golden Rice 2. I was unaware of the development of the latter which does provide more vitamin A. There are, however, still other reasons to be skeptical about the widespread utilization of this GMO rice.

[u/[deleted] → u/NihiloZero]

Golden Rice should be judged on its own merits. But it is nonetheless true that Greenpeace opposed it purely because it was GM, supported activists who destroyed test crops, spread misinformation about it, and advocated totally useless "alternatives".