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the law of unintended consequences

Oh, come on!

BBC News: Scientists discuss GM threat to butterflies (8 November, 1999)

There has been particular concern about the fate of the familiar insect after Cornell University, US, researchers showed how pollen from corn modified to produce its own insecticide could kill monarch larvae if it landed on milkweed plants, the exclusive food of monarch caterpillars.

Since the Cornell study was published in the science journal Nature last May, environmental lobby groups opposed to GM crops have used the monarch butterfly as a focus for their attacks on the biotech industry.

But at a symposium in Chicago which brought together many scientists working in this area, there appeared to be conflicting evidence as to the true state of play.

The meeting was organised by a consortium of biotechnology and pesticide companies in the US, the Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Working Group. It had commissioned a number of studies in response to the Cornell work, some of which reported preliminary findings at the symposium.

This was eight fucking years ago and the industry not only "commissioned" research [link to our previous discussion on the risks of researchers accepting non-charity money from industry] but was allowed to go ahead and release the crops in the wild, massively.

Unintended consequences my ass.

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Mar 29th, 2007 at 05:56:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The particular issue has diminished  criticality as for now. That is what they will always say: see, that alarm was false again. So we will keep on gambling.

But strange things are happening already, obviously.

by das monde on Thu Mar 29th, 2007 at 06:19:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I didn't say the agents have to care said consequence occurred.

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde
by NordicStorm on Thu Mar 29th, 2007 at 06:23:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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