posted
Not all my issues with the labels have to do with health issues, but since you brought it up. I'm not particularly concerned with the extra DNA in the GMO. It can't do anything outside the cell and human cells aren't big on picking up free-floating DNA from their surroundings. And, like you say, it tends to get obliterated in the stomach. But every gene codes for a protein and those may not be destroyed upon entry. There may be an adverse reaction to those. Very slim chance. Then there's the fact that once you start tinkering with genes you're changing the internal environment of the organism and it may start retaining things that it never did before (much more likely than it suddenly starts producing something. And any new omissions will likely be caught during testing). I'm not so concerned about the impact of these things on people who eat them as I am the ecological impact, copyright concerns, the shadiness of the companies selling them (wrt to the practices behind their sales), things along those lines.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
CT, you didn't seem crotchety to me at all And thank you for the compliments on my pretty babies. I do think they happen to be pretty too (To this, I admit my bias).
Bob, great points about GMO foods. Even if they don't pose a danger to us, per se, if they pose an environmental threat I would still be unwilling to knowingly buy them. ( and anything that poses an environmental threat will eventually, in one way or another, affect us)
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
romany IMO that means you need to stop eating all corn on the cob. (actually or anything else that includes cornmeal, cornsyrup etc. Corn was one of the first GMO foods.)
posted
Organic doesn't mean anything in the case of corn. Basically unless you go back and actually eat what is now called "indian corn" which is basically inedible and mostly used for harvest decorations, you are eating a genetically modified food.
AJ
And I'm wrong. Even "indian corn" is genetically modified. Here's interesting article on the subject which shows how long ago "genetic modifications" were taking place... http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,61210,00.html
I agree that the GMOs can have effects on the speicies with cross pollination etc. And they can find some allergies that cross over if they start mixing nuts with other plants. (So they stopped using nuts and plants that people have common food allergies to.) In otherwords I buy BtLs argument, even if I'm not personally terribly concerned about it. But to suggest that the actual ingestion of the stuff is dangerous because of its genetic content when you consider how many bacteria we still consume despite safe food handling practices is pretty absurd, to me.
posted
Sadly, all organic means is that they have the letters "O-R-G-A-N-I-C" in that order somewhere on the label.
Anyway, no corn for you. Wheat's also bad. No potatoes. Tomatoes are getting worse. The amount of canola that's modified is steadily approaching 90% in north america (by far the most popular GMO) and that's just the tip of the ice berg.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
I definately agree with the opinion that there's a big difference between selective breeding and tinkering with a genome, and making cross species changes.
And I grow my own potatos, one of a very few crops I don't kill ( I can also grow squash.)
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
actually BtL, now in the US people aren't allowed to use the word "organic" on a product unless it adheres to these standards. http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/NOPhome.html
but when you get down to the fine print there is a lot of wiggle room. Like how you can convert a dairy to "organic" status.
Isn't soy the number one GMO crop? (And of course, soy protein and other soy stuff is added to an incredible assortment of foods.)
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
On the original subject of autism, I'm the child of two engineers. I wonder if I can blame my lack of social skills on Asperger's? Hmmm....
I'm not particularly concerned about GMO crops. I wouldn't have a problem eating them, though I do think there should be labels. Having a choice is important. However, I think the fear can sometimes be damaging when shipments of food to starving countries are rejected. If our population continues to grow, we may need to grow more genetically modified crops just to feed everyone.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Just so you know you didn't waste your time finding that stuff for me, I just wanted to let you know I've finally finished those links. Lot of good information out there.
I'm still waiting for someone to systematically refute Kennedy's article on the subject. I can't find reliable information that speaks directly to his accusations.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
My husband's employer's daughter just got whooping cough. She's 11. They're now recommending an extra dose of the vaccination for kids between 10 and 13 because immunity doesn't last for everyone and the larger number of unvaccinated children is leading to more and more cases of whooping cough, especially in that age group. (Kids over 14 are generally large enough to recover without incident.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
This is so strange. I was just talking to my room mate about this because of an article that came out last week in a local paper. We promised each other we would find more info on it and share. Now I can look like a google queen, with NO effort. Sweet.
And, where in the world did CT's posts go from the beginning of the thread? It looks like Dag is having an animated conversation with himself. And congratulating himself on a point well made . Funny as that is, I'd like to read Claudias view too...
Posts: 499 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Sigh. I would have been a big poster in this thread if I'd been around then. Now it's not readable because all of CTs posts, possibly others, are missing.
By the way, pertussis immunity wears off for everyone as far as I know but in the past no one cared because it's usually only a serious disease for infants or small children. My son had it at age 4 or 5 and he got over it without any problems. In Canada, they are currently contemplating introducing boosters for pertussis to go with tetanus/diphtheria shots to avoid cases of pertussis in adults.
Posts: 251 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:pertussis immunity wears off for everyone as far as I know
Nope. My mom has been tested several times and is still immune-- she was vaccinated only once, as an adult-- but then, she has a really good immune system. Most kids get their last vaccination at age 5 or 6; for some, that will confer immunity at least until they're old enough to not have problems with it, but for some, it apparently doesn't with the higher levels of exposure going around.
quote:In Canada, they are currently contemplating introducing boosters for pertussis to go with tetanus/diphtheria shots to avoid cases of pertussis in adults.
That's what the first link I posted is about-- the FDA has approved the TDaP (tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis) vaccine for use in teens (and, I think, adults). There's a big push to vaccinate adults and teens, for whom it's not a serious problem, to keep them from infecting smaller children (for whom it can be) going on here, too.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Interesting. Do you think your mom may have had pertussis as an adult without being aware? That may have boosted her immunity.
Posts: 251 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Nope. She also got immunity to something on the first try that most people have to have two or three shots to get immunity for (I forget which one it was, something health care workers have to get.) She almost never gets sick; when she does, about once every two years, it's usually just a cold.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Nice. It's a good thing she checked rather than just getting all the extra boosters!
I wondered since I'm immune to a couple things I wasn't immunized against and never (noticably) had either. Clear I was exposed and developed immunity without symptoms.
Posts: 251 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Pertussis is on the rise throughout the US. In Hawaii, we've investigated more than 100 cases since January, when we typically have fewer than 5 cases a year. Basically, the population goes in cycles and right now, most of the adolescents and adults in the US are not immune. It's not a huge issue because pertussis is typically milder in teens and adults, but the concern is that unimmunized infants will be exposed, and that's a serious health risk.
The new pertussis vaccine is not just a new recommendation, it's an entirely new vaccine, and it was only recently (within the last 6 months or so) licensed. Before that, there was no PERT vaccine licensed for use in anyone over the age of 7. It's generally accepted that PERT vaccine only provides 7-10 years of protection, so that leaves a huge group of people unprotected.
One of the things we do to prevent the spread as much as possible is to treat ALL close contacts of pertussis cases with a full course of antibiotics, whether or not they are symptomatic, regardless of immunization history. We define a close contact as anyone who is in the same room with the case for 5 hours or more per week - which includes the entire household, of course, but also daycares, preschools, co-workers, athletic teams... it's a big job, and not everyone is cooperative.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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And thank you for the compliments on my pretty babies. I do think they happen to be pretty too ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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