Bayer (Monsanto) holds American farms at an unfair advantage. They control approximately 60% of the corn and soybean seeds and do not allow saving/reusing seeds. What happens to organic farms get cross pollinated by genetically modified crops? They should not be part of development of any farm bills and should not have direct actions with farmers post-sale of supplies.
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Agreed. This should rise to the level of a national security event, when our food supply is opening being contaminated with genetically modified biological materials through unintentional cross-pollination and destruction of the non-GMO seed strain.
What many do not realize is that when plant life is genetically modified to change specific attributes within the organism (ie: larger bean size, brighter flower petals, shorter plant size, etc), other aspects of the plants genetic characteristics are adversely impacted. We get no free lunch with Mother Nature. Something else has to give. And oftentimes its the viability of future offspring that suffers the greatest hit. Imagine the plant as a bar chart, and when you raise a bar to create a larger flower, another bar is automatically lowered that represents the amount of photosynthesis-dependent chemicals in the leaves, or when you raise the bar to change the color of the flower, it automatically lowered another bar that represents the chances of the resulting seed to become fertile.
And then there is this – For example, suppose I had two sets of pea plants located away from one another. One set is GMO (Genetically Modified) and the other is heirloom (non-GMO). The peas harvested and replanted from the GMO set may show only 75% viability on the next planting, where the non-GMO remains at near 100% viability. The next season, we replant the two groups again, and the GMO is further reduced to 50% viability (meaning only half the seeds sprouted), whereas, the non-GMO peas remained at 100% viability (all of the seeds again sprouted). Eventually, the GMO strain becomes infertile and dies away, where the non-GMO keeps on ticking like the copper-top bunny.
And this, my friends, is why big companies like this want you to run to them every Spring to go buy fresh seed – because they know that, although the peas might turn out nice and fat, the next year, whatver decides to grow (if the pea is even fertile) might be some shrunken withered plant with a single wrinkled non-fertile pea on it. This guarentees repeat customers and sales for them every year. See how this works?
Funny thing is, its kinda like Mother Nature getting pissed off that someone changed her design around, so she is slowly killing off the aboration so that it doesnt stick around to interact with her original design.
Now, from America’s perpective…this is a VERY dangerous outcome, because we are LOOSING our seed diversity to monster corporations with GMO patents and modified biological materials that are basically crapping all over our future food supply. Something has to give, or we will soon be seeing a real National Security, with starving Americans. Hope that helps underscore the importance of this suggested policy post! . 
Thanks yall!
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I’m pleased to answer your question regarding what happens to organic farms. I think this will move the conversation forward dramatically. Just shows up the value of good questions.
Naturally occurring biological organisms cannot be patented. In order to patent something you have to change the DNA.
LEt’s MAke PAtenting DNA ILlegal.
If the DNA from the Monsanto crop gets into an organic field, next year, those seeds of the organic farm reused will have that GMO DNA in it. Then Monsanto has the right and does sue the organic farmer for using its product without authorization. Lotta good small firms went down that way through legal costs.
Let’s make patenting DNA illegal.
Now they got Patents on the DNA they put in to everybody’s body with the Bioweapons. So now they can take a DNA sample from just about anyone and find a product they own in it, so they own the people is legal argument. Everyone becomes the product. Inside and out.
Let’s make patenting DNA illegal.
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A congress woman is talking about rural America and framing right now. Leave a message with her. I don’t remember which one. She’s in the house though. Democrat I think and white. Middle age. Look into her.
This is another very valid point, and a good way to kill off the incentive for large corporations to “enslave” smalller farms via the patenting modified biological materials. This might be a policy change proposal of its very OWN – that is big Aaron. I will put up a policy proposal for a more blanket-wide revamping of the Patent Process and put the link in here and also put a link over there back to you post, Aaron. Thx.
On a wider patent monopoly issue, this link is also supplied…
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I am seeing a lot of “science” about GMOs and such but I am not seeing much about “scientists”. That is, when someone says 'this science" with no attribution showing some competence in the subject. Abscence so credible authority it is a lot of “I heard …” or “I read …” and I lose interest.
Also, every time I see some evil attribute of GMO I am mentally reminded that every human being on the planet is a GMO. We are all the result of mating the components of two organisms with different attrubutes and come out into the world with certain predispositions created by the mixing of two different organisms (people). And you see what THAT has wrought! But then, how dull this world would be if everyone was exactly alike. Ugh!
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I will be honest what I just read I don’t know anything about but as I was reading I was thinking, why not just let the farmers handle everything, after all they are the one been doing farming for 100 years or more, I think they can be professional at it. Back in past years, there didn’t seem to be any problems until, companies got involved with the progress, I think we can see the problem, with a lot of things, companies telling others how to do it, when the people doing have been doing longer then the company has been in existence. My bottom line is, leave it all to the farmers as well leave there land along, give them all the financial help, they need each year, after all they are part of the main source of our food, as well farmers and rancher have suffered more then ever this past four years. It’s time we help them.
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Stephen, as a computer scientist, I can attest that “scientists” are not openly drawn to a political forum like this one [most cant stand dry and seemingly impractical politics or obnoxious air-head politicians]; which is probably why you dont see many “scientists” here. (Side note: if it wasnt being provided on a computer, I probably wouldn’t be here either…lol)
I have a suggestion for you…since your computer is already turned on, and your browser application is already opened, move your mouse over the “new tab” control (it is generally denoted with a “+” icon atop the browser). Click on it. A new tabbed sheet will open. Then locate the address bar and type in the following text “Google(dot)com”. This will take you to a search engine where you will find Scientists all over the planet, posting their work and findings. You will have access to all of the “scientific information” that you can possibly digest, from any field of science that you can even imagine. I hope you have a wonderful experience in your newly found “World of Science”. You will NEVER “loose interest” again! Have fun! 
Amen Waverly! Couldn’t have said it better myself!
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“Farmers” have been at it more like “forever”. Even ignoring the theological creation of man and the rest, “nature” and humans have been mixing attributes of one plant with (hopefully) complimentary attributes. And academia has had a hand in agriculture nearly as long. Universities the world over have major research operations seeking ways, often successful, to increase yields, resist disease, reduce costs, etc. And, by far, the bulk of these modifications have been beneficial to humans.
But, sometimes, we blow it and create harmful attributes. The good part is, however, further research can fix whatever was messed up. Unless, of course, we stop trying.
And, while it is true we can endeavor to “protect” legacy strains (or whatever the term is) we cannot stop the movement of “stuff” in the “wind”. I suppose at some point, we will (or have) genetically modified some organisms to resist some other modified organisms. A potentially vicious circle.
The idea that someone can modify an organism for commercial gain is NOT some horrible evil (remember all of us are also GMOs). Innovation is how we advance our civilization. But there certainly concerns about market domination. Those concerns should be addressed through anti-trust channels that try to throttle results rather than innovation. We need innovation. We do not need domination.
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I agree with a lot of your statements that GMO can be a good thing but the way they’ve been put the ones I’ve been dumped through DNA manipulation not selective breeding or selective harvesting are the ones that we need to look at
I understand your defense of GMO, and the justifications for genetically modifying materials in the first place. I also understand that unfortunate things happen in Life…all of these things that you mention are understandable to most people.
However, what is NOT acceptable, is when YOUR actions (for whatever nobel or just cause) adversely impact other people. This is simply called “The American Way”. You can do anything you desire, in my opinion, as long as you dont crap on my dinner table in the process. How does that work for you? 
Thank you for someone not know much about it, my mom always told me one thing, get back to basics, everyone always seems to make things so complicated, we just need to get back to basics, the fathers of this country laid out a plan that seemed to work for how many years, then greed, people seeing how to rip off the system for years seemed to become a norm and it continued for years after. Now it’s time to return back to basics to the original framing of this country. That should be the starting point of rebuilding this economy.
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I also want to add that if we just get back to give control the farms and stop telling or making them run it more then we think we know how, after all years ago there was always an over abundance of the food, when there did what they need to do, the farmers were thriving lots of food coming in people had more choices better product as well, now the foods don’t look that great, we seem to be importing foods that we can grow right here on our own soil.
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Wait, what? All of us are GMO’s? Where did you get that idea?
GMOs cannot be a good thing. Every study comparing people who took a GMO diet versus a traditional food diet shows the long list of illnesses disappear when people stop eating GMO’s. There’s no advantage to producing a plant which makes people sick just so that someone can profit by fitting more tomatoes in a box by making them square or selling more items because they are a desirable color.
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He is perhaps talking about the slow and deliberate phenotypical and genotypical changes that we experienced as evolving organisms. What he fails to mention is that we didn’t have some idiot in a lab coat with a God complex and a finite understanding of genetics doing these evolutionary changes. It was God…not a wannabe god. So you have a point…genetic evolution is NOT (GMO) in the same sense to which it is now being inferred.
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Describing natural processes of reproduction, and defining them as GMO’s, which are organisms modified in a laboratory by unnatural processes and stating that they are equivalent, does not make it so.
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Agreed, if they are only trying to find a way to increase the food supply naturally, is one thing but there is always some who try different things, in some cases turns into something we don’t want but they think they have a great thing. Who try to improve what mother nature, or God has made, it never seems to work but comes out some abomination, of something that we don’t want.
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