(I know this is about Rifftrax, but we don’t have a Rifftrax community.)

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    This is what these non GMO types always seem to forget: we’ve been modifying the crap out of everything for the past thousands of years. We’re now justuch more efficient and smart about it.

    • Dettweiler@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      They always picture someone in a lab with syringes and special machines to “modify DNA”. Most of the time it’s just a couple of potted plants under a lamp and a cotton swab. For fruit trees, you’re pretty much just replacing a branch with another branch. Tape and staples might be involved.

      • ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Genetically modified plants is very different from selective breeding. Selective breeding mimics the natural evolution process, removing natural selection and replacing it with human decisions.

        Using a separate root stock from your fruiting trees isn’t genetic modification or breeding. It’s just taking desirable size features from a root stock and growing your desired fruit from that. It still remains two different plant, with two different DNAs. The fruit would produce a child of the fruit tree, the same as if it was grown from seed. If the root tree was allowed to flower it would create a seed the same as if it were never grafted.

        GMO are an extremely useful technology. When well regulated and tested will help produce food for the growing world population. The big problems with it are the consequences of it. Plant have been modified to tolerate high doses of weed killer, pesticides and fertilisers. These all help increase the productivity of the land, but the impacts are terrible on the local environment. Residual weed killer and pesticide may pose a risk to human as well.

        • SkippingRelax@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Thanks. Comments above yours are a bit disingenuous, trying to bunch up intrusive lab techniques with selective breeding. While the definition of GMO is pretty vague, let’s not pretend what Monsanto does is exactly the same as what Native Americans did.

          • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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            8 months ago

            It’s not. It’s more advanced, and yes, it’s better.

            You know, more technology becomes available, you use it to make life better for everyone. Monsanto execta can go pound dicks, but in principle, GMO food is perfectly fine, safe, and healthy. If anything, it’ll be more healthy (more vitamins), more plentiful as new crops can withstand droughts better, etc. etc. etc.

            So far the only counter argument to that that I’ve heard here is “nuh uh!”

        • masquenox@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          When well regulated and tested will help produce food for the growing world population.

          No. It won’t.

          The Bill Gates/Monsanto Bootlicker Brigade wants to pretend that it’s (somehow) the actual foodcrops we have at our disposal that is (somehow) “flawed” and therefore requires unnecessary and (thoroughly patentable) meddling to “fix” - but, like all capitalist “solutions” to the problems caused by capitalism, it is merely a disasterous (but profitable) distraction.

          And, of course, this is quite apart from the fact that the right-wing histrionics about “population growth” has turned out like all other right-wing histrionics - false. In a few decades’ time, you’ll see these same capitalist bootlickers peddling the dubious wonders of GMOs now whining about population shrinkage.

          • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            You realize that if you cross breed plants and come up with something new, you can patent it? The only point you actually made about GMO is not specific to GMO.

            • masquenox@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              You realize that if you cross breed plants and come up with something new, you can patent it?

              Yes… I can cross-breed plants. Hell, it’s happening right now in my garden - cross-bred avocados, chillies and mokapanos. And since I’m not a parasitic organisation that only exist to make “red arrow go up” at the expense of everybody and everything on the planet, I can easily decide to simply give it all away for free.

              After all - I don’t benefit in any way when my fellow human beings live in a food insecure hellscape one paycheck away from starvation… but the parasites you lot are shilling for does.

              • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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                8 months ago

                Your complaint seems to be with capitalism and is completely separate from GMO.

                • masquenox@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  Your complaint seems to be with capitalism

                  Who do you think is peddling the (alleged) “need” for GMO food crops, genius? The tooth fairy?

                  • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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                    8 months ago

                    I’ve seen lots of scientists pushing the need for it: decreased land use, decreased pesticides use, drought tolerance, etc.

                    Gmo is just a tool. Sure capitalists will take advantage of it for profit, but again, separate from the tool.

                  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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                    8 months ago

                    “alleged need”

                    The types like you are funny. On the one hand you complain that we can’t use efficient food, but on the other we must feed everyone. Which is it?

                    Being anti science may be cool but it won’t save this world.

                    Yes yes, Monsanto is evil and things need to change and improve, but don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater

    • masquenox@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      This is what these non GMO types always seem to forget

      This is what these nauseating pro-GMO types always seem to forget - developing a food crop for thousands of years to become useful to humanity is not the same thing as destroying food security through capitalist monocropping with the aid of a few dodgy genes injected into something that never needed it in the first place.

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        destroying food security through capitalist monocropping

        This has very little to do with GMOs.

        • masquenox@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          You want to claim that capitalists are (somehow) not the only people that stands to benefit from GMOs?

          Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

          • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            That’s such a stupid statement I don’t even know how to respond. Like I’d probably need to recreate several years of basic education before we could even be in the framework to consider a proper answer to your question. But which point you’d realize what a stupid premise it is.

            Let’s start here: why the hate for GMOs, when your problem is with capitalism?

            • masquenox@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              That’s such a stupid statement

              Good lord - I so hate dealing with liberals.

              The only reason we have GMO food crops in the first place is due to capitalist profiteering - nobody else has any need for it, genius. GMO food crops is a “solution” to a “problem” that never existed.

              Is this hard to understand, liberal?

              • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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                8 months ago

                This has nothing to do with being a liberal. Scientists have said it’s more sustainable to use GMOs because genetic manipulation is just a tool you can use for good or evil. We have a larger population than ever before and an environmental crisis to deal with. We need every technological advantage we can get. This problem isn’t just about capitalism. Even if we get rid of capitalism and find we have enough food it’s always better to use less land and cause less environmental damage by using pest resistant crops and nutritional crops like golden rice. That’s assuming a revolution solves all food shortages despite the progress of climate change and pollution taking their toll on global food security.

                • masquenox@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  This has nothing to do with being a liberal.

                  Yes it does, liberal - you swallowing this liberalese hook, line and sinker has everything to do with your shitty liberal politics.

                  Scientists have said it’s more sustainable to use GMOs

                  Oh, really? And where is their evidence?

                  We have a larger population than ever before

                  So your shitty liberal politics have absolutely nothing to do with the right-wing histrionics you are regurgitating here? You do know that shills get paid for shilling, right? Are you getting yours?

                  it’s always better to use less land and cause less environmental damage

                  You mean that exact thing GMO foodcrops have abysmally failed at accomplishing so far?

                  • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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                    8 months ago

                    I mean from a quick google search I found:

                    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1360138522000048

                    https://www.news-medical.net/news/20201117/Scientists-reveal-how-genetically-modified-organisms-can-help-mitigate-climate-change.aspx

                    https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2021/08/20/how-gmos-can-help-farmers-tackle-climate-change/

                    So your shitty liberal politics have absolutely nothing to do with the right-wing histrionics you are regurgitating here? You do know that shills get paid for shilling, right? Are you getting yours?

                    You mean facts? It’s a fact that the population has been larger than ever and that’s happened largely over the last century. It’s still growing. I don’t expect that to last forever (check the demographic transition model), but I don’t expect it to shrink much either. Current agriculture and industry destroys the planet and had done since the industrial revolution. We need more than just politics to combat that. I know politics is obviously an important part of stopping the climate crisis and I won’t deny capitalisms role in slowing progress and causing issues to be ignored or exacerbated. Capitalism however didn’t invent the steam engine or monocropping.

                    Also I am not a liberal, you are jumping to insane conclusions. If you stop acting insane people might actually listen.

                    You mean that exact thing GMO foodcrops have abysmally failed at accomplishing so far?

                    As everyone here keeps saying a tool can be used for good or ill. Just like how computer technology is used for organising both left and right wing protests. Maybe try to understand what a tool is.

      • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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        8 months ago

        Yeah, all scientists are evil, all corporations are evil, all people working there are evil, it’s all evil.

      • BreadOven@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Yes, while monocultures aren’t great, GMO crops just speed up the process you mentioned first. Developing a food crop over thousands of years. If we can speed up that process and generate better crops, why wouldn’t anyone want that?

        The whole politics around GMOs and greedy companies is something I wish didn’t exist, but GMOs is the way to go.

        • masquenox@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          GMO crops just speed up the process you mentioned first.

          No. It doesn’t. It shits all over the process I mentioned first and then it gets called “progress” by techbros like you.

          If we can speed up that process and generate better crops, why wouldn’t anyone want that?

          Why would we want that when our food crops have already been developed for us over thousands of years before our food supply was hijacked by a class of profiteering parasites?

          Are you listening to yourself?

          but GMOs is the way to go.

          No. It isn’t. Unless you’re a fan of everybody but the ultra-rich suffering famine - then it’s pretty much a ready-made recipe for you.

          • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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            8 months ago

            You literally make one argument: “nuh-uh!”

            Maybe read into GMO, what it does?

            Yeah, companies like Monsanto can suck dicks, but it’s not the only one and even they make loads of advanced too. Blame the managers, not the biologists. Changes to tomato DNA makes it that they stay good much longer, those are the results of GMO, these are the things that people like you are trying to stop.

            If the world is to survive the coming climate change disaster, we’ll NEED GMO more than anything but we can rest easy knowing that people like you will be on the line to stop that and make sure we’ll continue to go hungry.

            Learn a little, become less extremist.

            • masquenox@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Blame the managers

              You mean the people whose propaganda you are shilling here?

              makes it that they stay good much longer,

              Yeah… that’s what’s been holding our civilization back, genius - tomatoes that don’t act according to what your techbro sci-fi fantasies dictate they should.

              If the world is to survive the coming climate change disaster, we’ll NEED GMO

              Right, right… it just so happens (totally coincidentally) that we will (allegedly) “need” the (alleged) “solution” the very capitalists who caused the problem in the first place happens to be selling.

              What else do you believe, liberal? That Musk will reserve a spot for you on his Mars colony?

              • BreadOven@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                No one is mentioning Musk. He can go fuck himself on Mars, he’s a pile of shit.

                It’s a harsh reality that food may become hard to produce with the climate crisis. Obviously it’s large corporations to blame for that, but regardless of the blame, we may need to find new ways to farm depending on the climate.

                I’d rather rely on science than “thousands of years of selective breeding” to achieve the same result.

                • masquenox@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  He can go fuck himself on Mars, he’s a pile of shit.

                  Harsh words for a bunch of people who shares his ideology, methinks. You should’nt be. Either be nice to your idols - or critique him properly. You’re a scientist, right? Shouldn’t be too difficult for you.

                  Obviously it’s large corporations to blame for that,

                  Oh look… another “scientist” that completely fails to apply their “scientific mind” to political reality. Why is that a feature amongst scientists?

                  “thousands of years of selective breeding” to achieve the same result.

                  What kind of scientist doesn’t recognize the scientific process in action? That is… unless you believe that it’s only white people in lab coats who could possibly ever do “science.”

                  • BreadOven@lemmy.world
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                    8 months ago

                    One gross overgeneralization after another. It’s clear that you are just regurgitating bullshit you heard from one “reliable” source.

                    I’m done replying, so kindly, fuck off.

          • BreadOven@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            I’m not into tech, but I am a scientist (chemistry, not biology) but I have a pretty good grasp on it.

            If it can generate more hearty crops, it’s a net good for everyone.

            • masquenox@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              more hearty crops

              Yes, because we don’t already have the ability to do this, right? Our food crops is so “non-hearty” one has to wonder why we bothered with civilization at all.

              • BreadOven@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                That’s an asinine take on everything. The only reason we need “more hearty” crops is the increase in population, and the climate crisis.

                Also “food crops are” not is.

                • masquenox@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  and the climate crisis.

                  Ah, yes… another “scientist” that wants to fix the climate crisis while completely ignoring the very thing that caused the climate crisis in the first place.

                  How “scientific.”

    • Bizzle@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Do you think the Native Americans hundreds of years ago were wearing lab coats in clean rooms, CRISPRing fucking maize? Selective breeding is different than genetic modification. If you don’t even know what it is or what you’re talking about about AT ALL, to the point where you’re conflating two completely dissimilar terms, maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself.