
Russia bans all GMO food production - notsony
http://www.rt.com/politics/315844-government-decides-to-ban-gmo/
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notsony
[http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1505660](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1505660)

New England Journal of Medicine, Aug 2015

GMOs, Herbicides, and Public Health

"...unlike regulatory bodies in 64 other countries, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) does not require labeling of GM foods.

... determination by the IARC in 2015 that glyphosate is a “probable human
carcinogen”1 and 2,4-D a “possible human carcinogen.”

...These developments suggest that GM foods and the herbicides applied to them
may pose hazards to human health that were not examined in previous
assessments. We believe that the time has therefore come to thoroughly
reconsider all aspects of the safety of plant biotechnology. The National
Academy of Sciences has convened a new committee to reassess the social,
economic, environmental, and human health effects of GM crops.

...we believe the time has come to revisit the United States' reluctance to
label GM foods."

~~~
stonogo
This article is not really a scientific work. It's an opinion piece from some
researchers who are closely aligned with an industry that stands to gain from
anti-GMO scare tactics, and it has a LOT of problems.

Its primary problem -- a problem so fundamental (and sadly common) that it's
usually safe to disregard the scientific opinions of people who do this -- is
the authors' implicit assumption that herbicide resistance is the only
application of genetic modification. This 'single-issue campaigning' isn't
really productive because it sidelines all the other incredibly important
applications of genetic modification.

Also, pretending that glyphosate is only used on GMO crops is ... disingenuous
at best.

Please also note that "probable human carcinogen" classification is grouped
the same as "being a hairdresser" and "heating your house with wood." It's
still up in the air as to whether 2,4-D is even remotely a candidate to be
listed as a carcinogen.

I find it _profoundly_ troubling that the authors chose to name-drop Agent
Orange as a scare tactic, since 2,4-D had nothing to do with the deleterious
effects of Agent Orange on humans. That's bordering on irresponsible.

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JesperRavn
For those mocking Russia for this, note that they are joining Germany and
France in enacting these laws[0]. While I believe in democracy and freedom, I
also think that anti-Russian sentiment is being stirred up for the wrong
reasons, by people who see Russia as an enemy of the US.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_genetically_modi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_genetically_modified_organisms_in_the_European_Union)

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hga
Boy, the Cold War vibes are getting stronger and stronger; will this be
followed by a string of "bad harvests"?

(Actually, returning that level of Stalinist stupidity is unlikely, but given
the low price of oil they need maximum productivity everywhere else possible.)

------
nso95
Mmm, pseudoscience

~~~
hga
You might say they were pioneers in this particular domain:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism)

And how's this for the last sentence in the intro:

 _Lysenkoism is used metaphorically to describe the manipulation or distortion
of the scientific process as a way to reach a predetermined conclusion as
dictated by an ideological bias, often related to social or political
objectives._

