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Re: Genetic engineering is here!



> How does it affect the ecosystem?
>  ****Given my best information, using Roundup
> is better than using the other chemicals that 
> would be used (proven hazardous qualities)
> or fallowing, and doesn't have 
> irreversible consequences.  Pass.


Jim - Thank you for posting an example of the difficult decision making
process farmers must go through when faced with pressure to use
agri-chemicals. I don't want to trivialize the difficulty, although I
personally feel strongly wary of a chemical-based agriculture, whatever
the reasons. 

In response to what seemed to me to be your pivotal question of whether
using bio-engineered Roundup resistant soybeans affected the ecosystem,
here's what happens when we play God - the journal Nature published a
study in which an herbicide-resistant crop was trialed in the field.
Results showed that within _two_ generations, the genetically coded
herbicide resistance had spread to some of nearby weed species through
cross-breeding. 

Betsy



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