41–50 of 62 posts
Prepare for Greenpeace et al to shoot this down just like Golden Rice. Decades wasted, millions with damaged eyesight because of some weird Westerners with backwards ideas about what's "natural" telling people in the global south how they should live their lives (or rather, should suffer for their ideals).
Does it really matter what Greenpeace does?
Prepare for Greenpeace et al to shoot this down just like Golden Rice. Decades wasted, millions with damaged eyesight because of some weird Westerners with backwards ideas about what's "natural" telling people in the global south how they should live their lives (or rather, should suffer for their ideals).
At least in America, Greenpeace is on the verge of bankruptcy after they allegedly "incited the Dakota Access protests, funded attacks to damage the pipeline, and spread misinformation about the company and" the Dakota Access Pipeline [1].
[1] https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/the-texas-billionair...
I wanted to say something in favor of sweet potatoes, so did some research: [0] says: The best lettuce has 2.5mg of beta-carotene in 47g of lettuce. The best sweet potato has 31mg of beta-carotene in 328g of sweet potato (sweet potatoes are the beta-carotene leader BTW :strong:). If this modified lettuce can really have 30 times as much beta-carotene, that's a significant amount. I was expecting the numbers to show t…
came to say that sweet potato has high levels of oxolates, if your gut doesn't work properly that can cause all kinds of things
Alternatively, consuming calcium (milk, cheese, etc) with your oxalate-rich food will minimize absorption of the oxalate.
I actually am getting more concerned about transgenic food. Nassim Taleb’s arguments about limited upside with unlikely, but massive downside of these organisms if they have unexpected outcomes. I’m obviously fine with genetic modification to plants to create crossbreeds of various types of, say, lettuce, but it seems like we are trying to change out plants instead of trying to change our farming practices. --- Edit:…
Because investors. Because new plants can be copyrighted/trademarked/patented/owned and then sold. New farming practices must be taught and cannot generally be owned by their inventors.
Amazing. Lettuce that has increased beta carotene content – something we can already get from carrots – and, as a bonus, now looks unappetisingly like past-its-best regular lettuce.
Golden rice had the same problem if I recall correctly. The populations that it was designed to serve were reluctant to eat it because the yellow coloration was similar to that of a particular species of mold they were enculturated to avoid.
I actually am getting more concerned about transgenic food. Nassim Taleb’s arguments about limited upside with unlikely, but massive downside of these organisms if they have unexpected outcomes. I’m obviously fine with genetic modification to plants to create crossbreeds of various types of, say, lettuce, but it seems like we are trying to change out plants instead of trying to change our farming practices. --- Edit:…
> Taleb’s arguments about limited upside with unlikely, but massive downside of these organisms if they have unexpected outcomes When did Taleb become an expert on bioengineering? Nassim Taleb is the Malcom Gladwell of popular finance. He had to shutter his fund in 2005 after three consecutive years of losses [1]. (In fairness, after a 50+ percent gain in 2000. Nobody lost money on him. But a 4% CAGR over four years…
I actually am getting more concerned about transgenic food. Nassim Taleb’s arguments about limited upside with unlikely, but massive downside of these organisms if they have unexpected outcomes. I’m obviously fine with genetic modification to plants to create crossbreeds of various types of, say, lettuce, but it seems like we are trying to change out plants instead of trying to change our farming practices. --- Edit:…
I understand these kind of concerns but it's comes from ignorance of context. Direct genetic modification is an improvement of the previous method of forced mutation by exposing seeds to UV and hoping for positive mutations. That method does not count as GMO. The major concerns of agriculture are still the same, monocultures and disease vulnerability.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Golden rice attempts to solve a real problem: Vitamin A deficiency in many parts of the world, where rice is also a food staple and where the poorest cannot afford a diet with enough vitamin A in it. Golden lettuce solves what?
Isn't it similar? Beta carotene turns into vitamin A in the body.
Hence my question: What problem does golden lettuce solve...
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Golden Rice, developed in the 1980s, which offered similar nutritional benefits. Golden Rice failed to gain significant traction because of dogmatic opposition to bioengineered foods. Personally, I hope Golden Lettuce receives more pragmatic review and support. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rice
Golden rice attempts to solve a real problem: Vitamin A deficiency in many parts of the world, where rice is also a food staple and where the poorest cannot afford a diet with enough vitamin A in it. Golden lettuce solves what?
I see the title was fixed here. The original said 30x more vitamins, but it is only beta-carotene. They created a version of lettuce that has a little more beta carotene than Kale, basically, but not as nutrient dense in any other way.