JUNE 25, 2014 BY
In case you missed last night’s talk with Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics at Colorado State University’s Deptartment of Soil & Crop Sciences, Dr. Patrick Byrne, we have uploaded the video content of this evening’s presentation and discussion here: http://youtu.be/kw3wL2685OY
Covering all bases in his discussion, Dr. Byrne discussed the science behind, reasons for, and concerns regarding the genetic modification of crops. While only 8 modified crops are currently on the US market, several are pervasive in our diet – alfalfa, canola, corn, cotton, papaya, soy, squash, and sugar beets. And while the testing has shown that none of these crops affect humans or soil negatively, the controversy exists. Many more crops have gone through the process of modification, but have not been approved or applied. The topic is an extensive one, and can’t be covered in just one night. Of course the modification of genetic DNA in crops has raised many concerns globally regarding diversity, longevity, and health affects, and the discussion following the talk (starting around 50:00) covered resilience, sustainability, labeling, and specifics to Colorado and the US. Given all this, Professor Byrne gave a dynamic, educational speech worth watching (total about 1 hr 20min).
Dr Byrne’s published documents on GM
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/crops/00710.html
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09371.html
For our previous talks and events on Genetic Modification, see these links:
http://yvsc.org/talking-green-tomorrow-night-gmo/
http://yvsc.org/last-nights-electrified-talk-on-gmos/
