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Re: Musings of Mr. Sal Schettino



USDA to Rule on Release of Genetically Engineered Arthropods. Sorry about
the phrase Big money boys.  and They. I am probably not the one to state a
case against genetically engineered arthropods.   I worry that a lot of
folks that raise bio-controls and that the research that goes into
bio-controls sometime is swayed by the people that support them.It is my
understanding that one  cannot own rights to a natural insects, so to make
the research pay off and make big money in bio-control one will want to own
the insect. 
     Now there are folks ,like big seed companies and big chemicals
companies that see bio-control as the new wave of the future and they would
like to own a big part of it.  And one way to set this up and  make big
money is if they could own a insect. It is my understanding that to own an
insect you have to build one in the lab by adding genes .  These big
companies  could distribute it fast because they are all set up to get
product all over the world fast as  they have been doing  with their
genetically engineered   seeds,plants  and chemicals . It is my
understanding that a lot of funding for research and education is given by
some of these big companies and I hate to see all the research wasted and
going to genetically engineered insects when we need funding so badly to
learn about using natural bio-controls. These are the folks I take my hat
off too.  
  Not only that . I feel they may even take some of the good folks raising
natural arthropods now and  pay them to instead raise these genetically
engineered arthropods . Every one know money talks.  I don't not feel man
has the right to invent insects in the lab  and then release them on the
world. The killer bees show me that bugs do  get away and once released bugs
breed and genes change and I worry that the new added genes may change the
natural system and can not be stopped once released. IMHO we need to
understand and research bio-controls that are here now naturally and  not
make the job harder by inventing new ones in the lab with genes from who
knows where.  Will they cross with wild insects?  How you going to keep them
down on the farm.  Look at the killer bee.  How fast have the killer bees
changing genes naturally? "They are  making our nice honey bees which we
farmers need into killers bees. 


It may be already too late.  
http://www.rain.org/~sals/my.html
a homepage for organic farmers
sals@rain.org




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